COI — Restaurant in San Francisco

Quite the extensive tasting menu. “Energetic” environment (people talking loudly) with light 80’s music playing in the background. We ended up playing “guess the song and artist with the table next to us. As the sound level of other patrons grew a little on the louder side, it impeded us from hearing the music enough to play our game. :-) Not a complaint. :-) But, it was part of the experience. Dress code appeared to range from casual (jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts) to business casual (jacket and dresses). The food was plentiful, they called it a 9 course meal, but we had more.  The following (transcribed right from their menu (with ‘*’ denoting the unplanned surprises), they described them slightly differently and with more detail at the restaurant.

Great food presentation.

1. Black truffle tartlette with spring onion and bacon, -This was a great starter. Warm, creamy, mushroom-y savory, flavorful. Yummy!!
2. Geoduck: crispy kombu, caramelized duck cream -Crispy crunchy texture, very tasty, but with a bit of an overtone of “fishy”, we couldn't figure out why, but agreed on the unexpected overtone.
3. Oyster: cucumber, tomato water, horseradish -Very unique, fun,  thin ice surface to break through to get to the tasty cream/custard textured surprise underneath along with little flowers.
4. Fluke: shitake mushroom, meyer lemon jelly -This was quite flavorful. Lots of different tastes as you bit in to each piece. Liquid light but flavorful. *) unplanned “bread”, which was more of a sort of savory cake. -Hints of green onion, crumbly, very tasty, accompanied by salted butter, and a savory jam. All very good.
5. Dungeness Crab: pear, black sesame, citrus leaf -Very flavorful accompaniments to the crab terrine. We did not taste much crab in this.
6. Grilled Spanish Octopus: pimenton caramel, crispy artichoke, white bean -This was my favorite. Loved the octopus and the sauce it was in, as well as loved the artichoke (and I'm normally not a fan of artichoke), the white bean was a nice compliment to this plate.
7. Quail: morel mushroom, preserved ramp -My wife loved this plate. She wasn't as much of a fan of the mushroom stuffed with mushrooms, but I was !! She loved both the bone in piece as well as the “meatier” piece of quail.
8. Duck: green olive, potato, caramelized shallot -My wife loved this plate. She loved the duck, the olives and especially loved the caramelized shallot. I liked this plate a lot as well.
9. Yuzu: Lemon poppyseed This was an AWESOME dessert. The one dish that we both loved equally. Light but tasty and not over powering. Delightful.
10. Black Truffle -This was a wonderful unique dessert mixture of sweet and savory mixed together. Break the orange mock-egg and flavorful tastes flow out into the crafted edible holder, turning what looks like an egg in a holder, to an eclectic mixture of tastes. *) Chef surprise chocolate mousse and ice cream -Very rich and delightful ! I think this pushed it over the top for my wife. She was full full after this.
11. Mignardises -4 different tastes. 3 sided on the sour side and 1 on the sweet. It was a nice finish to a nice meal.

Some of the sauces were very good and my wife was only disappointed they there was some kind of true bread or something else to try to get to every drop. We discretely scraped the plates as much as possible with the spoons and forks, to get every last drop.

We have been celebrating our wedding anniversary for the last month spoiling ourselves with dining at various fine restaurants in San Francisco and surrounding areas. When given the option during the reservation process, or when called and asked, we “admit” to celebrating our anniversary. This was the first place, although it was part of the reservation process to indicate as such, where the restaurant not only didn't make a big deal, they didn't mention it. Other places had nice touches of mentioning it upon arrival, at our table, at the end of the evening, printing menus with our names and wishing us a Happy Anniversary (pics out of order, couldn't...

I am not sure where to go with this, yet. I will write down the courses and wine pairings, but I realized why I wasn't excited to write a review, and why it was going to take a bit to work up the energy.... and that simple reason is because I came out of the experience, immediately with passive ambivalence. After a meal like that, and a check like that, there should be nothing but active raving. But it's almost that I wanted it behind me.... it was fantastic, beautiful, and delicious...

The product here is so unbelievable in the Bay Area, the execution matters so much more.... all the product is the best in the world, in this area, so plating is vital. All the chefs go to the same markets, they are using the same products from the same farmers... so unless you grow stuff yourself (which so many chefs are doing), there is no real way to differentiate yourself beyond the plating and execution..... therefore we find more insecurity, and too much flourish, capping the SF food scene - people jockeying for position with little daring maneuvers and attempts.

Coi was taking simple, beautiful, accessible products and making them uppity with no real depth, or too inaccessible, favoring art over function. It was not disappointing, but I should be raving.

This one sentence sort of explains it.... I just wrote it to a chef friend:

"Daniel is epic, and art is fun, but when the form goes so far over function, that the beauty on the front end is tempered by the fact you are just eating fancy veggies, the bill gives you a sticker shock that makes you forget about the plating."

That is as simple as I could put it. When getting into multi-coursed stuff, maybe I want something a bit more traditional, or maybe I like artistic food to match it's visibly distinguished exterior, but in the end it just felt like fresh veggies that were played with for a bit too long. It was delicious, and the product was solid - but making such obviously simple stuff into expressively pretentious plates fell far shorter to my mind than the final bill did.

I am waffling on making this a 2... so I leave it 3 hoping the review speaks for itself, and I don't have to court negative energy with that yellow looking...

For the caliber of restaurant that COI is, I have to be really tough grading - which is why you see only four stars. But make no mistake, you should still pay this amazing restaurant a visit! Staff is always the make-or-break of a restaurant and it is no different at COI. The staff looks to see that you are coming. They open doors for you, take your coat, and treat you as an old friend coming back to visit. The space is very chic - it almost feels sci-fi with slit windows between dining spaces, outdoors, and the kitchen. The tree-slab tabletops bring a richness and humanity back , making the scene feel more like a log cabin. The meal feels like all the passion for quality that you can see the staff put into it. The dishes shine from sheer execution (such as a perfectly cooked duck) or vibrant and unique flavors like the fish and chicken heart reduction, the meat pie, or the duck pastry. There are things to be had at COI that will delight you and surprise you. As of this writing, this restaurant has earned three Michelin stars - so I know the staff has the passion to be worthy of them. As a gesture of respect to the great work of this staff, I will offer some observations: The first dish - while beautiful and delicious - was difficult to eat. It squished in my fingers and the staff had to bring me a hot towel. During dessert, the drinks did not arrive before the food - or at the same time. As a very minor suggestion as a guest, I would ask for a just a bit more advice to diners how to eat a dish and/or greater simplicity in preparation. I recommend making a stop at COI. You'll have a wonderful evening with a friendly and warm staff. There's a parking lot next door, though I strongly recommend taking Uber. San Francisco can be chilly, so be sure to bring a warm layer. Pavement can be uneven in this part of the city so ladies in heels...