Luce

Marjie took me out for an ultra belated birthday dinner at Luce last night. over the course of nearly three hours we indulged in the eight course tasting menu. the weather in SF is doing a good job of representing the beginning of spring, so it was fitting that the menu has been switched to their spring tasting menu recently. everything we had represented the season well. it started off with light and almost refreshing dishes and carried on to heavier dishes (though they were still quite light compared to what you might consider they'd offer for their winter menu). i was impressed with the meal and think that Luce is absolutely worthy of the Michelin star.

thanks, Marjamer, for a lovely dinner and hilarious conversation!

amuse bouche: fennel, peas and i can't remember what else

earthy and light. a nice refreshing start to the meal.

chilled prawns, lightly marinated. with blood orange, saffron and winter radishes

super citrusy and light. a great representation of a spring dish.

first of the season asparagus, meyer lemon, quinoa, brown butter and sorrel

crispy sweetbreads, quail egg, new potato, truffle and mustard

you can't see the sweetbreads nor the egg hiding underneath these thin layers of truffled crisp potatoes, but they're there. this was an intro into the more savory dishes of the night. a nicely rich and creamy dish.

beets and buttermilk with savory granola

a palate cleanser into the main courses. the other beets were heavily pickled and brought a punch of sour to the dish. 

butter poached lobster, peas and ricotta agnolotti

sweet sweet lobster cooked just right with slightly underdone peas (purposeful i would assume) and creamy little pasta pockets to round out the dish.

roasted squab and leg confit. onions done three ways, cauliflower and medjool dates

the breast was cooked perfectly and the leg confit was just what i expected. the sweet date puree complimented the slightly gamy meat well.

papaya and carrot sorbet

a refreshing palate cleanser before dessert

strawberry and chambord opera cake with thyme sorbet

the sorbet was suuuuuper thymey and almost overpowering without the opera cake. but of course it was meant to be eaten together. the pairing played off of each other nicely.

mignardises

mini strawberry and basil and salted caramel macarons