Nilay chose Boulevard for dinner Tuesday night, one of many "farewell Nilay" dinners (some of which he didn't attend. Go figure). Boulevard is definitely on the high end of San Francisco dining - it has that kind of a reputation. You will leave the restaurant spending at least $75 a person and you will be rewarded with a memorable and elegant meal, with few shortcuts and served in a grand tradition.
We started with drinks at Slanted Door. The new space at the Ferry Building is elegant and an excellent place for after work drinks and a few appetizers. That would be, if we worked in downtown San Francisco. For now, we'll improvise. I don't quite recall the name of my cocktail, only that it involved lime juice and some sort of rum that left a pleasant aftertaste of cloves. Yes, I once used to smoke cloves and I still miss them.
Nilay, Emil, Carrie and I shared appetizers. Seared scallops. Venison tartare with shaved truffles. Salad with walnuts and blue cheese (actually some type of blue that I'm unable to remember the name of, but we did debate the correct pronunciation.) Emil and I both had the filet, medium rare. It was perfectly salted and peppered (I must remember, more seasoning on my meat), plated on top of sauteed spinach and topped with a light bearnaise sauce. Perfect square of fried potatoes were served alongside. Nilay had halibut, which if I were a halibut fan, would have loved, but am not and still thought it was good. Carrie had a tasty duck "I can make steak or fish at home, I never make duck!" We shared a chocolate tasting, three scrumptious desserts.
Boulevard was a great meal. Not the best ever, but great. The only down note occurred at the end, when we realized that someone had walked away with Carrie's ultra-cool umbrella, and my four-year old slightly broken down and "good for the rest of this rainy season and then to umbrella heaven", which I had thoughtfully looped around the stolen item. The manager gave us cheap replacements, making me think that Boulevard's clientele may suffer from a case of kleptomania.
The next night, Nilay, Emil and I met at Jade for drinks and appetizers (fyi, Jade makes excellent tuna tartare). We then went to Midori, our favorite sushi place, and for what became our last dinner at Midori. Gerard, the masterful and somewhat stoned chef owner, had been evicted. He was in a sad and verklempt mood. We had two mediocre rolls, and then he said, no more. Nilay bought some records from him (ostensibly for Carrie, who is babysitting his turntable while he's in London), and we ended the night with take-out hamburgers and fries at Flipper's.
Four very different extremes in dining over two days, a quintessential San Francisco experience.
