7 Adams — Restaurant in San Francisco

Fantastic new restaurant in the Fillmore neighborhood offering a prix fixe seasonal, five course tasting menu with a fusion of modern cuisines (our meal had Japanese, Italian, and Californian influences). Everything was delicious, especially the kombu cured kampachi, red kabocha squash caramelle, lamb tagliatelle, and A5 wagyu ribeye!

Service and ambience were equally solid. If they keep this up, they'll definitely get a Michelin Star soon, so go now before prices jump!

Note that while they advertise a $87 per person tasting menu, because they include a 28.24% mandatory tip/service, it ends up being $111.57 before tax, and $119.07 after tax.

Honestly, the meal is amazing and worth every penny. The servers and staff deserve that amazing tip. But I think it's unethical to misrepresent additional fees and try to distort pricing to feel lower to increase demand.

NOTE ON PRICING ===

First, let me say that the restaurant business is hard, especially in an inflationary environment with increasingly high costs of capital. Servers and staff deserve higher pay, job protection, healthcare, commuter benefits, and more, and the entrepreneurs and investors also deserve an opportunity for return on their hard work/investment.

However, I also believe that restaurant guests deserve honest, transparent pricing. And these don't have to be mutually exclusive goals.

Unfortunately, SF restaurants seem to be aligning on deceptive practices and hidden fees to raise revenue, rather than simply raising prices.

Here's how this looks at 7 Adams for just the meal:

$87 per person meal 20% mandatory tip = $17.40 5% "SF Mandate" surcharge = $4.36 [But they actually calculate the surcharge on top of the tip, so it's really 6%] 1% extra surcharge = $0.87 8.625% SF Tax = $7.50 [But they actually calculate tip on top of the now 26% surcharges] 2.243% SF Tax Overcharge = $1.95 Total: $119.07

I'm actually okay with a 20% mandatory service charge / ti, but the SF Mandate Charges are a total scam. And the fact that they claim it's 5% when it's actually 6% is annoying. See below for my note on these fees.

And then they calculate the SF 8.625% SF sales tax ON TOP of the now 26% included service fees. (Typically tipping is done on the pre-tax subtotal.)

Please, @7Adams staff, please just raise your prices to include all your fees. Your staff absolutely deserve healthcare, commuter benefits, and a higher wage, but those should be priced into the menu, not added after the fact.

NOTE ON SF MANDATES ===

This is NOT a tax, fee, or charge imposed by the city!

Instead, San Francisco requires that businesses provide minimum benefits to employees, such as an $18.07 minimum wage, commuter benefits, and healthcare benefits for businesses over 20 employees.

Restaurants should already have been offering these benefits (and many were). These labor costs should be paid out of the revenues generated, and so should factor into setting the menu prices - the way any business considers costs (both marginal/COGS and fixed/avg) in the price of goods. However, SF restaurants feared that raising prices would reduce demand, so instead they began quietly adding a surcharge to bills.

These charges can be a flat fee or a percent of the bill, and range from 1% to 6%. They go by many names, including "Health SF Tax" or "SF Employer Mandates."

Many visitors, especially tourists, are surprises to find this additional charge on the bill, but assume it is a city tax. Research has shown that guests order more food than they would have if these added costs were included in the menu prices, which is precisely why restaurants continue to hide bake in more fees, rather than raise menu prices.

But this is unethical and deceptive and we San Franciscans need to start pushing back. Over the past couple of years, I've seen these fees go up from 1 or 2% to now averaging about 5%....

Ideally a 3.5/ 5.

7 Adams gets high marks for the ambiance and the service. The dim, chic space is perfect for a special occasion, and the staff is incredibly attentive and friendly. They explain the menu thoroughly and ensure a smooth dining experience.

Here's the thing, though: reservations seem a bit pointless. While they mentioned a time limit, we waited 15 minutes past our reservation for our table.

We were there to try out their 5 course tasting menu. The first 2 courses of the tasting menu were fixed, but each of the last 3 courses offered 2 options to pick from. The highlight of the meal was definitely the service. From the complimentary champagne to the detailed course explanations, everything felt polished.

We kicked things off with complimentary champagne and some fantastic housemade milkbread. The bread was light and airy, with a perfect chew, and the cultured butter added a touch of tangy richness. It was a delightful way to prime our palates for the upcoming courses.

The food itself was a mixed bag. The first course, however, was a bit of a letdown. The Hokkaido scallop, while cooked perfectly, was overshadowed by the tangy green tomato vinaigrette. The expected sweetness of the scallop was lost.

The second course fared better. The chilled corn veloute was a pleasant surprise. The corn flavor wasn't as sweet as I had expected, but the velvety texture and a hint of spice (which added a little kick to the dish) made for a refreshing and interesting course. The serpent cucumber and burnt avocado added unique textural and smoky notes.

Now, for the choose-your-own adventure part of the meal! We opted for one dish from each pair:

Cocoa Pappardelle vs. Saffron Cavatelli: Both pasta dishes were cooked perfectly, but a recurring theme emerged – a heavy hand with the salt. The cocoa pappardelle with braised lamb was intriguing, but the smokiness of the cotija cheese clashed a bit with the richness of the cocoa. The saffron cavatelli with summer beans and crispy chicken skin sounded delightful, but again, the salt overpowered the delicate flavors.

Seared Black Cod vs. Berkshire Pork Collar: The black cod was a bit dry, but the delicious sauce grenobloise saved the day. The capers added a pop of briny flavor that balanced the dish nicely. The berkshire pork collar, on the other hand, suffered from a lack of sauce. While cooked well, the meat felt a tad dry, and the lollipop kale and cherry mustard couldn't quite compensate.

Finally, dessert. We tried both options:

Chocolate Semifreddo: This could have been a winner, but a large, overly salty graham cracker crumble threw the whole thing off balance. The chocolate semifreddo itself was smooth and decadent, and the tart strawberries added a nice touch.

Market Fruit Sundae: Unfortunately, the fruit in this sundae overpowered the other elements. The lemon yogurt cake was refreshing, but the apricot peach preserves were quite tart, making the entire dessert a bit too one-note.

Overall, 7 Adams has a lot of potential. The service is excellent, and the atmosphere is chic and perfect for a special occasion. However, some of the dishes can use some tweaking to make it a truly...

A place that just kept popping up on lists of best Bay Area restaurants I had to put it on my agenda in San Francisco. Glad I did. I read and heard great things about the chefs which was a plus.

A 5 course tasting menu that actually came with a few options to choose from, nice touch. I was also celebrating my birthday and was greeted with a birthday card along with my menu.

I opted for the smoked ricotta cappelletti ($65 supplement) by accident along with the berkshire pork collar and winter citrus for dessert.

They brought out the milk bread and butter 10/5 and OMG it was sublime, one of the top five breads that I've ever eaten, probably top three. What a way to start a meal. I could have eaten a dozen of them.

First course was hokkaido scallop w/ roasted kombu, hazelnut, & cara cara. 3.5/5 It was nice, nothing wrong with it, just not memorable compared to all other courses.

Second course was winter squash veloute w/ red endive, wagyu vinaigrette, & crème fraîche 5/5 I'm not a soup person but this was really astounding to me.

Third course I chose the smoked ricotta cappelletti w/ white truffle, poached new crop chestnut, & parmesan (supplemental $65) 4/5 I actually meant to order the roasted cauliflower cavatelli, but this didn't disappoint. Besides with truffles how can you miss?

For the fourth course I chose the berkshire pork collar w/ castelfranco, king richard leek, & ruby streak. 4.5/5 So very tender and full of flavor.

yukon gold potato terrine, black garlic mayonnaise 5/5

Fifth and final course was dessert. Now I am a chocolate lover so if there is anything with chocolate I'm gonna get it. So there was chocolate & rye but my server insisted that I try the winter citrus, swears by it. So against my better judgment I get it. The winter citrus is graham cracker, yogurt mousse, & mandarin sherbet 5/5 So glad I got it, it was the second best thing after the milk bread. So after a great meal this was an excellent way to close it out except I was given a scoop of Chef Serena Chow Fisher's Jack & Remi ice cream, cocoa lavender flavor 5/5 I asked my server about it and he lets me know I can get it from DoorDash or at Luke’s Local Grocery but unfortunately I wasn’t able to pick up a pint before I left the Bay Area.

I would like to congratulate Chefs Serena Chow Fisher and David Fisher on opening 7 Adams and wishing continued success. I would also like to thank them for having a great restaurant with an affordable tasting menu available to everyone. I did have a chance to briefly speak them before I left. Also thanks to the wonderful staff and my...