San Francisco: 25 Lusk

My ahyi was adamant that she treat me to a nice dinner as my graduation gift.  After several attempts to talk her into taking me to Taqueria Las Vegas (or even better, cooking for me), I finally gave up and let her choose the restaurant. 

Apparently, my ahyi's cousin had lots of good things to say about 25 Lusk: 

We got to San Francisco super early to avoid traffic and spent some time walking around the piers before going to dinner.

The place was pretty empty when we got there.  At least it was upstairs.  The lounge downstairs seemed quite busy.  My favorite part of the restaurant was our view of the kitchen:

Our meal started innocently enough with some complimentary bread.  Our server came to our table with a large platter and asked us whether we wanted a baguette or focaccia.  Uh...both?  He looked a little taken aback at first and then started smiling really wide.

I don't know what he found funny.  Isn't asking for both options perfectly normal?:

The bread came with cow butter and sheep butter and a little dish of sea salt.  I ended up being the weakest link.  I could only fit in another serving and a half of bread while my sister and my ahyi courageously tackled their third.  Our server was actually surprised when they finally turned down his offer of bread.

The amuse bouche was cute, though I don't remember exactly what was in it.  Something about peaches and maybe prosciutto:

This is when things started getting a little crazy.  My ahyi was dead set on ordering every single appetizer on the menu.  That's right.  All nine of them.  It took a lot of haggling and reasoning to get her to settle for six.  That woman is insane.

Here's what made the cut.

The marin miyagi oysters with marinated cucumber, radish, and avocado granite:

The local yellowtail sashimi with kiwi, chive blossom, fig leaf oil, and smoked ginger puree:

The arugula salad with roasted corn, pecorino, prosciutto, glazed fig, and strawberry vinaigrette:

The pork belly confit with manila clams, candied orange, grapefruit, and manila clam broth:

Rosemary steamed halibut with cauliflower, blueberries, lemon, fried nettles, and black garlic:

And last but not least, the yukon gold gnocchi with mousserons, chickpeas, smoked tomato coulis, parmesan, and mache:

I was already reaching max capacity after all the bread and appetizers, but my ahyi was relentless.  I managed to talk her down from three entrees to two.

First there was the rack of lamb with garbanzo bean puree, toy box squash, and spearmint:

Second was the seared ahi tuna with roasted shallot, sea beans, amaranth, cucumber gazpacho, ginger, and soy:

Everything was delicious (especially the lamb and surprisingly the salad too), but what really blew my socks off was the cauliflower creme brulee:

So rich, so creamy.  Somewhat cheesy too.  So good.

Nothing could stop my ahyi from ordering dessert.  Two desserts.

There was the strawberry lasagna with creme fraiche ice cream, white chocolate, and lime:

And the salted caramel swirl brownie with mint chocolate chip ice cream (real mint!) and anise meringue (probably the most interesting thing I put in my mouth all night):

After we asked for our bill, which I was afraid to look at it, we were brought some coconut brittle:

I think there were coffee bean bits in it.  A little too bitter for me.

A big thank you to my generous-to-the-point-of-being-ridiculous ahyi for a fabulous meal.  I just found out today that I'll be employed for the next year (yay!), so I'll be sure the return the favor.  Well, at least I'll try.  My measly fellowship fund probably won't be able to handle a restaurant like 25 Lusk, but we'll make do.

You're the best, ahyi!


25 Lusk
25 Lusk St
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 495-5875
http://www.25lusk.com/