O' by Claude Le Tohic — Restaurant in San Francisco

There can be two things that happen when a restaurant is hunting for its first of what it hopes are several stars - the diner is either aware the word “Michelin” is used at every service meeting, or it’s an invisible presence that results in perfection. In this instance, the former scenario prevailed.

O’ is a Michelin-focused restaurant, more than it is a diner-focused experience. I’m sure that Claude, if he’s honest with himself, will admit this.

I should say that my meal was excellent. Some highlights included the radish preparation in the caviar course, which was genuinely unique and delicious, and later, a perfect langoustine tail. (Sadly divorced from its body.) There we’re other sublime bites along the way too, but were components of a dish, rather than the dish as a whole.

The first thing you’ll notice is the genuinely abysmal dining room. I have NO IDEA what anyone was thinking when it came to designing it. Imagine an open plan office being converted into a breakfast room for use at a middle of the road hotel. The decor makes no sense - at all. The design, fit and finish of the dining area are, when combined so bad, they serve as a distraction. The close quarters mean you have little privacy, and are forced to listen to other diners.

Service was spotty. It was friendly for sure, but an undertone of solemnity emanates from the kitchen. We had to ask for certain things several times, some things were forgotten, there was little knowledge of the menu (I asked one question about on dish, it was never answered,) and, amazingly for a Saturday service, there was no sommelier present.

The caviar dish was served with metallic cutlery, which absolutely blew my mind. (Speaking of the cutlery and flatware, it was form over function. A strange “spoon” kept appearing, which was completely flat. Perhaps this piece is something I’ve simply not encountered in the past - perhaps it’s a Portuguese thing, but I’ve eaten using Amara utensils plenty of times and this was new. The plating was generally quite chintzy and cheapened the experience. With the backdrop of the dining room - ouch. Not a good look.)

My other complaints would include:

The wagyu cut was misunderstood by the chef or cook. It was prepared perfectly, but the ribbon of connective tissue (so easily avoided) ran through the entirety of the portion, completely ruining the point of the cut. A shame.

Given the time of year, the choice of mushroom (chanterelle) was dull to see. When cauliflower mushroom, lobster mushroom, matsutake ate all available, why chanterelle was chosen as the only mushroom is a mystery. This was compounded by the simple fact that they were not prepared correctly. They should be placed in a large pan on a good heat until they have released all their moisture - which can be saved ad an ingredient or discarded. Then a simple knob of butter is added, and they are tossed until a slight browning is evident. That’s it. There is no other way. Adding them to broths, whatever prior preparation, in the button size ad used on this menu, just makes for a pretty unpleasant bite.

Somehow, the veal was tough. How this was achieved is still a mystery. The mille-feuille de legumes (essentially a layered pate of vegetables) just tasted like over cooked and rather unpleasant canned vegetables. (It was beautiful, and I’m sure the ingredients were good. Simply, it was rather unpleasant, and overpowering for the meats it was served with.

Final gripe would be that the entire dining room had two gendered bathrooms, which is both odd for San Francisco in 2021 and inadequate. We both had to loiter at the end of the two and a half hour service to use them before heading home.

I’m aware this reads like a litany of complaints, but that’s the fine dining game. You are judged on your mistakes and shortcomings. Perfection is expected. The gravity of some of the mistakes made were shocking to me and my dining partner. At this price point, compare to Quince SF for example. There you have an effortless and invisible execution...

Swung in for dinner and my first concern was the completely empty restaurant lol. Uhhhhh why you not busy???? Don't worry they had later dinner times haha.

Anyways, staff were super friendly and informative. Not stuffy at all which can happen at expensive $$$$ places.

Interior is clean with weirdly shaped accents on the walls which they call the fire room cuz the shapes had an orangey fire texture on it.

Food was really nice, we had a choice of a 5-course prefix for $185/person or 9-course for $250. We got the 5-course as we ain't that baller.

To start, the amuse-bouche: pomegranate gazpacho, marmalade of charcoal-roasted beets, herb salad. Salad was fresh and had great flavor and textures.

The seafood salad followed, this was so good! Beautifully plated, delicious and fresh seafood, the dashi gelle had great flavor that paired perfectly with the rest of the meal.

Caramelized black cod followed. Cooked great but if we're paying almost $200/person, why not get a little nicer fish? Cod is so common. Would've loved to see something a little more elevated.

For our main course we could choose between the roasted venison or the Kumamoto wagyu ribeye ($90 supplement). Fiance got the venison and I got the wagyu. Waygu was so perfectly marbled, perfectly cooked. Mushrooms in daikon ravioli was kind of weird imo but the main thing was that it was horribly plated. It just looked gross. The horseradish tuile was just splashed everywhere. Especially compared to every other dish.

I'm not a fan of lamb in general but the venison was also really nice. The pear and parsnip puree was perfect and the sauce grand veneur with black truffle helped remove the gameyness of the meat. Plated beautifully.

Dessert was the mont blanc - vanilla creme brulee, chestnut, cassis, with rum ice cream. Everything was all the same texture, including the creme brulee, so I ended up giving most of this to my fiance. It just wasn't as elevated as the other dishes.

But the mignardises cart... man when the chocolate cart came out, I was somehow hungry again. Let me tell you I wish I was smart and asked for one of everything. They were all so amazing.

Overall, the dining experience was well done. Food was very good and staff were friendly but not snobby. End price was $650 total for two after tax and tip, with one glass of wine with my meal and the wagyu supplement added on. That's really expensive considering they don't even have a Michelin star.

Overall, good meal but not quite worth...

Wow wow wow just simply exquisite! We came in to celebrate a very special occasion and glad we were able to celebrate with such a extraordinary dinner experience. Every dish were innovative and kept us wanting more. The staff were attentive and very friendly.

Our dinner was at 6:30pm and we arrived 30min before to enjoy cocktails at the element bar. Jack made us amazing cocktails, floral fixation and an old fashion. The staff came to get us at the bar when our table was ready.

I love the ambience as I walk in to the dining area. The staff greeted us with menu and wine list as we sat down.

The service was clockwork! Special thanks to all the staff and especially Thao for making us feel welcomed. We started with first bites and were able to choose the breads, of course we had to opt in to try one of each. They were all so delicious so we ended eating all of them even before the amuse bouche came out (oops). I enjoyed the savory take on marmalade bread and cannele, I could eat this for every meal if I can! Also, the shiitake mushroom bread was divine.

Amuse bouche was their own take on burrata and tomato, it was refreshing and so clever! It was followed by caviar composition which consisted of carabineros shrimp tartare with pomegranate gazpacho -- brilliantly balanced! Lobster jelly, extraction of geranium and corn and wild local salmon confit with lemon balm and wasabi also made the appearance. I'm still thinking about it as I write this review.

The next course was smocked matsutake tea with duck liver royale, bean sprouts, daikon and sudachi.

The shellfish dish was one of my top favorite with baby squid, shellfish broth, and scampi and coraline quenelle.

Black cod - roasted with coriander, barigoule jus, artichoke and black truffle

Roasted Venison Loin with condiment on the side The Wagyu supplement was delicious! I would prefer wagyu over the roasted venison loin. Get it! Cooked to perfection with the right amount of flavors, yum.

Claude Le Tohic came out to greet and chat with all the tables which was very appreciated.

We finished with refreshing tropical fruit sorbet with passion fruit and white coffee ice cream dessert dish. Followed by more sweets/ assortment of mignardises. We would definitely will be coming back very soon!

If you are looking to celebrate a special occasion or just want really delicious goodness, look no further. They also have private rooms for...