A note on Gary Danko upon request.
Several weeks ago, I and D ventured into SF for a weekend and we finally managed to make a visit at Gary Danko on our second night in town. D claimed that he was really not much of a foodie - in the sense that he doesn’t keep in touch with which restaurant has who cooking at it, or hasn’t been to too many revered spots. Gary Danko was our first visit to an SF restaurant that gets a whole lot of hype. Over all, our impression was good. The service was absolutely wonderful and pleasant. The food was all very good, although nothing I ate was so memorable that several weeks later, I am enamored by it.
Since we usually prefer smaller kitchens where we can taste the spirit of the cook in the food, these bigger establishments with what feels like a ton of cooks working together sort of dilutes the impression of the food. We couldn’t see/taste the cook behind the food…But we did learn a few things there. The first and foremost was the importance of plating. Each plate was exquisitely plated and visually appetizing. The dish was plated with the elements of a perfect photograph. And it made a very big difference in the enjoyment of food. I also learned that fruits go well in sauces (although the Vietnamese have also taught me this already before in their mam nem - more on that later). And that a parting gift of a muffin makes customers remember the evening well into the next day and beyond.
They gave us a pineapple muffin in a Gary Danko wrapper. The muffin itself wasn’t particularly memorable either, but the gesture was. May our education in SF fine dining continue…
