Hilda and Jesse — Restaurant in San Francisco

My boss recommended this place (twice because he forgot the first time he told me lol). So after hearing it a second time, I knew I had to check it out.

My friend and I have some of dietary restrictions between us so we were going to order a la carte. But we changed our minds and got the Chef’s Adventure Menu. The host asked us about our allergies and was so accommodating and communicative that we felt our restrictions wouldn’t restrict the chef from their creativity.

I’m so glad we got the adventure menu because everything was amazing! The first course was shrimp toast and avocado “toast.” The shrimp toast had such great texture from the bouncy shrimp to the crunchy toast. The “toast” for the avocado toast was a tempura sweet potato that was nicely crisp with a good balance of sour cream & onion horseradish to give it a kick.

The next course was hamachi with a citrus gelée and green garlic oil. I almost licked the bowl - that oil was delicious! The hamachi was delicate and the gelée added another dimension of acidity.

Up next was the Napa cabbage with “outrageous brown butter.” The way it was cooked gave it a heartier texture. The brown butter went well with the carrot dill. I love dill flavors and it was a nice surprise to me how yummy it was with the brown butter.

The next course consisted of lamb with ramps along with beets with puffed rice. Yum!! I had ramps for the first time recently when my friends from NYC gave me a bunch. They don’t grow in California. From what I’ve read, they’re hard to grow and basically are foraged in the East Coast. So I was excited to eat them and they were delicious with the lamb. They added garlicky-onion flavors to the well-seasoned, tender lamb. I really like beets so I enjoyed them, especially with the crunchy puffed rice.

The dessert course marked the end of the adventure menu. It consisted of lava cake made with Dandelion chocolate and topped with passion fruit, paired with a mint ice cream and cacao nibs. My one minor critique is that the passion fruit overpowered the chocolate because it was really tart. But clearly I still enjoyed it because I cleaned that plate. The lava cake was moist and the chocolate inside was warm and gooey. The mint ice cream was a nice and light contrast to the cake, and paired well with the slight bitterness of the nibs.

And we were not done yet. We had to get the pancakes because we saw the table next to us get them. They were so delicious! They had a nice crust from the caramelization. I loved the grilled cranberry maple syrup. At first I thought it was bacon because it has that sweet-smoky profile. I loved it! So after 6 courses, we were full, but not stuffed. It was just right.

For drinks, I just ordered one which was the Show Me the Honey cocktail, which has jasmine oolong, sparking honey mead, and Meyer lemon. It was light and a touch of sweetness. Perfect on a sunny Sunday morning.

Service was absolutely fantastic! I’m an introvert and my social battery was on the lower side after a difficult week at work. But the staff were so nice and welcoming that I was comfortable and at ease to talk.

And the ambiance is really cool. Their hashtag says it all: #funluxury. It’s inviting and open, with mid-century modern vibes. I overheard the one of the staff say that they get their plates from Stuff, which is a really cool furnishing store in Russian Hill that focuses on mid-century.

So, dear reader, you’ve made it this far into my review and I’m sure you’ll be reading others. Before you move on, please take note: change your mindset before dining here. Hilda and Jesse isn’t like the other places in the city with ridiculously large portions of a half-reimagined brunch menu.

This is approachable fine dining. The ingredients are high quality. The menu is thoughtful. And the food is adventurous.

So if you want the standard brunch menu, which is fine, but then dine somewhere else. Dine at Hilda and Jesse if you want an experience that is creative, imaginative,...

I have long been a fan of Rachel and Ollie's Hilda and Jesse, first back in their pop-up days, and more recently on finally getting to try their permanent location several times for dinner over the course of a few months. They and their staff are absolutely wonderful, they care deeply about your experience and their food and drink, but they also care about their community and the world they exist in. And they're all great people!

But OK, is the food good? It is! I think H&J is consistently putting out some of the most interesting and delicious food around. I have yet to go back for brunch, but I'm so glad to see that they've really nailed dinner too. They even made me like beets in a couple of dishes, which I normally hate 😄. The menu is ever-changing, so there's not much point in me suggesting particular dishes, though the Pancakes are I think always available and are excellent. They're a bit smokey mind you, and the kitchen tends to add smoky flavors to dishes somewhat often, but I think they handle it well. Almost everything I've had there has been delicious, often in delightfully surprising ways.

They also do a great job with a fun drink selection and pairing. In general they lean a bit funkier and more unusual there, especially (in my past experience) with the pairings, so if you're a wine-only pairings person it might not be your thing. But if you're a bit exploratory they will definitely take you on a great journey that vibes well with each course! They also offer low-ABV mixed drinks, many of which are good, though they do vary in sweetness and overall uniqueness. I've had more hits than misses there as well though.

For as much as I enjoy my visits there I'm surprised I haven't made it back for brunch yet. Chalk it up to the challenges of getting to - and parking in - North Beach for an East Bay resident. But I know it'll be great when I finally make it back for that! Oh and in terms of the atmosphere, my one little star deduction is for the lighting which I find overall rather "cold", which isn't my thing. But it's a super cute, unique space that is thoughtfully done, so it's more of a nit-pick. Overall H&J is worth your time and...

TL;DR - Hilde and Jesse is a great culinary experience to kick off the day. Has the charm of a small cafe with the creative palate complexities of a seasoned restaurant.

Full review:

Before jumping into the highlights, I did deep dive and read all the negative reviews (1 or 2 stars) within the past 3 months. While I can commiserate with some of the points, most of them were an unfair assessment of this establishment or presented an issue that was not their onus. For example, penalizing them for having smaller plates instead of having huge portions like a bowl of pho is a questionable comparison at best. It's not a great comparison because at Hilde & Jesse, you are getting high quality, fresh, tested, ingredients that constantly change across weeks and seasons, with the experience of trying something new and complex. At your local Vietnamese spot, it's a tried and true classic with constant supply chains for ingredients and minimal changes week to week.

Now onto the highlights.

I came here for brunch to celebrate my wife's birthday (at the recommendation of a friend). The staff were very friendly and made us feel like regulars despite our first time going there. The warmness is reflected in both the staff and the decor.

For the food, it was clearly a thought out menu that went through several iterations of recipe testing. I appreciate the different flavor profiles they brought to each dish, done in a way that was impactful without overwhelming the main star of the show. There was one dish that didn't resonate with me, but that was more due to my preference in flavors and textures (I can tell it was high quality, just not my cup of tea). Some must orders are the grilled beef tongue and early girl tomatoes.

Overall I would highly recommend and look forward to coming back...