ChouChou French Bistro — Restaurant in San Francisco

A VERY LONG OVERDUE UPDATE:

An Unrepentant 5 Star Love Note about the complexity of service and production of great food.

When people have an expectation of flawlessness, their lives must be misery. 99% of your meals will be flawless, and 99% of a restaurants production and delivery may be flawless - but invariably, our human condition rears it's head, and something may go awry, amiss, or just plain wrong. THIS is not important - for the realists, these things happen.

All that matters is the reaction, accountability, and response. This old haunt of ours changed hands, and the new ownership is profoundly dedicated, and nothing but committed, to creating wonderful food and experiences for it's guests.

We started with a few Kir Royals, both got Onion Soup (traditional, not overly American - complex, not overly sweet, using all the right onions. The Steak Tartare was traditional, and delicious. The frites were also delicious. We got also got a tasty Burgundy for along the way. =)

I was curious about a new menu item, and got the Mushroom Souffle. This is where the problem arose: the souffle obviously had an extreme amount of some sand or grit in it. I am just a man who knows what he knows, and I am never angry or contentious (nor disappointed) when I have to send something back to be cooked right or re-heated. I note that restaurant owners and servers are so poorly educated or skilled in how to handle these moments, which honestly should pass with amicable mutual respect and low key accountability. The mushrooms or morels in the souffle weren't washed, there was obvious sand, oh well. Honestly, it could have been blended egg shell or something.

I told the server. The server didn't make justifications, excuses, or as so often happens, defensively acts out at me, suggesting I don't know what I am talking about. The server said, "Sorry, I will grab the chef", Chef comes out, obseqious, apologetic, and totally deferential without knowing or understanding the situation - totally accountable before even knowing I was "full of it". He was THE BEST. We chatted for a bit about the change of ownership, his views and missions, passion with food....

Also about his cultural shift from New York to here. That's got to be wild! Hope you are hanging in there, sir!

But his response was everything that is supposed to happen in food service, and never does. He took the souffle to the kitchen, tasted it, came back out and confirmed that it was absolutely wrong, and then preceded to regale us with a couple complimentary sides that were delicious... it was a bit over the top, and we couldn't finish it all, but it was such a grand and rare classy gesture. I wish I could offer more than a review.

When stuff like this happens, I don't care at all. I linger, I am La Flanuer - so I don't really have anywhere to go when I am with my love, eating, and drinking. =) I just deplore when people become unskilled, fall over themselves, act insecure, over-apologize... or worse, don't take accountability, don't taste the food I suggested was wrong or cooked improperly, and then becomes reactive and rude, blaming me, the guest. I know a lot of guests are idiot and full of it, but until you know for sure you have to be calm, patient, and respectful.

The majority of San Francisco's fine dining establishments and other eateries could learn a lot from this restaurant's staff, and chef. It is vital to pe consistent and do the best you can.... but it is also the most extreme of responsibilities to be transparent, accountable, and have the professional confidence, pride, and self-respect to admit failure or mistake. When you can be that humble, you will only learn and grow.

I can't believe how extraordinary experience we had here, with the new ownership. It reminded me how depressing the staff and kitchens at most restaurants are.

Thank you Chouchou. Very much. Bravo...

Update: there's a cook that's suddenly over frying the French fries and not getting the temp right. It was yellow, oily, brown, hard as rocks. I also ordered lobster ravioli that never got made, which was the whole point of my order! It was for the kids! And then a waitress had the nerve to argue with me saying i never ordered it when i KNOW i did. Later when i had to go back to pick up the less rock hard fries remake and ravioli she said "sorry for the misunderstanding" in an insincere way, still not admitting she missed the item. Then asked me to pay for the ravioli, no courtesy anything for having to go back with hungry kids waiting at home. Seriously, this was why i ordered in the first place, the ravioli. Why would i not order the main dish for the kids? I miss the old wait staff and fries. They were so good way back when. Now not so much.

Excellent food, kid friendly, cozy place. Sometimes you have to flag down wait staff to help you but it was Father's Day weekend so they were probably quite busy. Highlights include the fries, duck breast, filet mignon, and lobster ravioli. My only suggestion for improvement is sometimes the meats are a little overcooked. For example I ordered salmon a few weeks ago and it was a little more than medium. My duck breast was almost well done, luckily it was appropriate for the kids but it honestly should be cooked medium rare. The port wine sauce for the duck breast was excellent. The kids ate up all my food including my molten lava dessert. If they could make slight adjustments to make sure meat is cooked at temp, it would be five...

Belated review to thank Chef Michael from Chouchou who did a fantastic job catering our wedding a few years ago. I have been a patron to Chouchou for years as a Foresthill resident. When it came to my wedding, I tasted and get quotes from many vendors but unsatisfied and I thought of Chouchou, to help make our wedding dinning a Californian cuisine with French touch. Chef Michael got exactly what I was looking for. He proposed the menu and during the tasting everything was in point. And on the day of, everything was beyond expectation.

See he made a beautiful cheese table, the salmon was perfectly cooked, that perfectly medium rare beef medallions were melt in the mouth tender , herbal roasted potatoes and Veggies, cooked from scratch and great pairing sauces for all the dishes he served, and so much more. Oh, everyone told us how good the o’hors d'oeuvres were too.

Looking back at our wedding photos looking at everything he served us puts a smile on my face. I have been to a lot of other friends weddings but I got to admit that our wedding probably have some of the best food!

Thank you chef Michael! See you in the...