Saison — Restaurant in San Francisco

We reserved a kitchen table and were led to a booth. The exposed kitchen revealed chefs bent over their workstations. The walls held various animal heads, a little jarring. They began with champagne, Pierre Paillard, Bouzy Grand Cru, Les Parcelle, in custom made glasses. The sommelier made recommendations and we chose the $88 Louis Michel & Fils 2015 Chablis Grand Cru, Vaudesir, which was excellent. Then we received some lavender tea. Tableside, they pour hot water over the sachets in a set of flowery teacups. The waiter recommended that we let it steep for a few minutes, but after a while the flavor didn't really build.

Tai Snapper with pickled ginger, kombu, & verbena: Good! The chilled red snapper came in a tall dish with a shallow container, perhaps to keep it cold. It was beautifully plated, but I didn't think the verbena flowers added anything to the dish. The snapper was acidic and quite refreshing.

Dungeness Crab with sunchoke and hot oil: Excellent! The tender crab and sunchoke sat in a creamy broth with carrot shavings on top.

Cauliflower slow roasted from wood oven with crema and dill purée: Excellent! The cauliflower was presented from a hot box. A single cauliflower with dill puree was delicately plated table-side. I love roasted cauliflower and this was probably the best cauliflower I have ever had. We learned that the cauliflower is slow roasted for 24 hours. That must be how they achieve the very tender texture inside, on top of the golden brown glaze on top. I could eat a whole plate of these.

Sea Urchin on grilled bread in uni oil: Amazing! Uni was delicious as expected, but what put it over the top was how satisfying the delivery mechanism turned out to be. I was expecting it to be uni on buttery toast, but the toast was drenched in and completely absorbed uni oil like a sponge. Yet the toast still retained some of its crunch. I could probably eat about 10 of these.

King Salmon cured over sake lees topped with togarashi, with celery root puree and toasted rice broth: Great! This perfectly shaped cube of salmon with seared, crunchy togarashi on top sat in a shallow pool of broth. The toasted rice broth had a very subtly savory flavor, and the celery puree just added a slight bit of creamy texture. Imagine a spin on the components of a lox bagel without the bagel.

It was at this point they presented us with an assortment of serrated knives and had us select a knife of our choosing. I just had to go with the bear knife.

Barbecued Squab with roasted pumpkin: Great! The various cuts of squab with pumpkin puree had a caramelized glaze and it was very tender. A few moments later, a second plate appeared with barbecued legs. Even these skinny legs had tender meat on them with a nice char.

Whole Radish: Ok! Several cold baby radishes, with cubes of what tasted like soy sauce, sat on top of some seaweed.

Venison with Tendon puffs with sumac and deer butter: Good! The tender venison was smothered in creamy, sweet sauce. The tendon puffs resembled shrimp chips covered in sumac powder and had a whole lot of flavor. The side of roasted avocado was very buttery. I couldn't quite see how these three components were meant to comprise one cohesive dish.

Chicken broth and mushrooms, and chicken dumpling: Very good! A couple of mushrooms and dumplings sat in a coppery bowl and they ladle hot savory broth over it. There were a couple of baby spinach leaves floating on top that added to the woodsy look. The tender chicken dumplings just disintegrate right in your mouth.

Hachiya Persimmon in Cognac and Madagascar vanilla: Good! A persimmon wedge sitting in what seems to be amped up syrup Pear Sorbet & yuzu: Good! I love a refreshing citrus dessert. Chocolate bonbon with gold leaf paired with a long-stemmed candle: Good! The last dessert course was a chocolate bonbon decorated with caramelized shavings and a generous amount of gold foil.

The entire tasting consisted of 2.5 hours of well orchestrated dishes and service, even if some courses were far better...

Best meal in San Francisco I've had in the 3 years I've been here. I think it was even better than Alinea in Chicago, who is one of the top 10 restaurants in the world (according to San Pellegrino's World Top 50 Restaurants - but just like Michelin Star restaurants, it's all very subjective :))

Going to Saison is a top-notch experience. We walked into the door, they sat us down by the bar / lounge, which was gorgeous (apparently the Josh Skenes is thinking of having a separate bar menu towards the summer, might be worth trying, they used to serve the tasting menu at the bar but apparently it didn't quite work out). As we sat down, they offered us a glass of Krug champagne (already a nice touch, although it's really all packaged in the menu). They were all really friendly. We had our drink and once we're done, our table was ready for us to eat!

We ordered the $248 tasting menu, which to be honest, was already alot of food. The tables next to us ordered the $398 discovery menu and we were served at similar times so I got a sense of what we didn't get, there was something with Uni (which I would have loved) but overall they got like 5 extra dishes. Up to you whether you think it's worth the extra $150.

Before you start eating, they give you a nice cup of warm tea made with flowers to cleanse your palate and open up your appetite, it's a nice touch, not too sweet, very clean and simple.

Now let's talk about the dishes. Saison is predominantly more of a seafood menu. Everything was very delicate and a burst of flavors. My favorite dishes were the sturgeon / caviar dish right at the start, the texture and flavor was so fresh and complex. The abalone, trout, steak were all cooked perfectly. They were tender complemented very well with the sauces. The only thing that I didn't love about the whole meal was the liver mousse thing, the flavors were a little too strong for my liking. Everything else was amazing but the most perfect thing I had of the night was the bread, the was the best bread I've ever had, I wanted to eat an entire loaf because it was that good. When I complimented the chef on the bread, she even offered to give me a loaf home and I very much appreciated that.

I also loved sitting at the table where I was watching the chef cook all night. It's an open kitchen (huge open kitchen) so it was an experience watching them perform their art. What made it even better was that each chef came to present a dish to you. We had like 10 different chefs bring the dish directly to you and explain each dish. They were so friendly and gracious about it. If you ask them questions, they'll answer it, just really nice friendly banter, which made the experience even better.

Remember to eat the truffles at the end that they give you in the end in one go. Just pop it in your mouth. Bite into it and EXPLODE! A burst of flavor literally and it was amazing.

Most people say Saison is too expensive for them to go. The way I see it is, once I spend the money at Saison, I'll just eat a month worth of ramen noodles and a month of detox from alcohol, it all balances out. I spend similar amounts of money in that month but I received an experience of a lifetime.

For me, I want to go back soon because I loved it that much, I couldn't say the same for Alinea. Another month of ramen noodles is...

I felt it important to not write my review of Saison before contemplating my experience there.

A few years ago I went to a jazz concert. The band was comprised of many phenomenal musicians. Each a master of their instrument. Watching them I could tell each one of them was taking great pride in their skill and execution of each note. The paid excruciating detail to ensure their instruments produced exactly the note they wanted. The music was the least harmonious unrhythmic dreck I have ever had to endure. Watching a group of masters of their craft self pleasure themselves is not something I knowingly would repeat. But yet here I am in Saison.

First the good. As with so many Michelin stared restaurants these days the staff is comprised of young eager people that have grown up watching Top Chef and aim to make sure you feel special and have a wonderful evening. Any mistakes they make are more than compensated for by their youthful vigor and joie de viver. The calls of “yes chef!!” from the kitchen staff are comically cute and brought a smile to my date and I.

The wine service was good. I prefer over the top Sommeliers that provide crazy descriptions of the wine and it’s production leaving you feeling that somehow they managed to grow up childhood friends of each vintner of every bottle they present. Saison is one step below this. Good explanation, not too brief, but perhaps a little tame for my tastes. We had the superior wine pairing. The bottles and vintages relied on your lack of familiarity with them to feel special. I travel to Portugal frequently. The Portuguese white is indeed good. A great value choice. But it hardly rises to a superior choice. Most of the other parings are the same. Good pairings mind you. Unusual and well matched. But not particularly superior.

Now what you really want to know: the food. As with my Jazz experience; the chefs are indeed masters in execution. It takes incredible skill to perfectly sear a steak and yet leave the insides raw. Amazing talent to create sublimely crispy skin on duck and have me worry about dysentery from the undercooked meat. Rabbit that I was concerned might kick me to death on its way out the door.

I am sure there is some “foodie” that is reading this that is saying “you just don’t get it, you just don’t understand the perfect temperature for those meats”. No. Great food is great because everyone that tastes it says it’s great. Great food is not an acquired taste.

The verdict: exceptionally expensive, exceptionally executed and terrible. Avoid unless you don’t know better. I’m disappointed in the Michelin judges that would award a single star, let alone two: do better. For the price of this meal I could have flown to Europe and had a better meal at a restaurant that is worth the 2-stars awarded. If you have never been to a Michelin restaurant I beg you not to make this your first.

About me: you may be wondering if I should be relied on to review a Michelin starred restaurant, let alone one with 2-stars. I have waited to start my Michelin reviews until I had enough experience to feel justified in my views. Yesterday I dined at Maison Pic. Anne Sophie Pic’s 3-Star restaurant in Valence, France. It was my 8th 3-star restaurant. It was worthy of the 3-star rating. See my profile for...