Commonwealth

Ok, moving on to some SF eatings.  I met up with some good friends to get my SF grubbin' on, now that Triple F and Running Man are out of the eating game with twins girls.  The Pouter was kind enough to make reservations and pick me up for our dinner at Commonwealth.  Now, I did not know this, but living in the Bay Area, is not the same as living in SF.  Non-SFer's hate to come into the city.  It's a hassle, you have to pay tolls to cross the bridge, parking is difficult, road conditions suck, etc etc.  So by the time we got to dinner, The Pouter was in quite the mood.  She has some MASSIVE road rage, so I'll be sure not to make her come into the city again!

Housemade Potato Chips dusted with seaweed
I was so hungry that I really gobbled these up.  They weren't particularly special, but tasted like really good kettle chips but oilier. I can't say I tasted much seaweed.

Malt Vinegar Foam
Dipping the chips in this gave the instant flavor of salt and vinegar chips.  It was clever and tasty.




Chicken Liver Mousse Sandwich pickled shallot, dried fig
 Why does pate pair so nicely with fig or some other fruity jam?  This was no exception.  The mouse was so smooth and light, while the pickled shallots brought some bite and dried figs brought the sweetness.  Yum yum!

Slow Cooked Egg snap peas, mint bread pudding, mushroom cracker, green garlic broth
This was one of the more interest dishes because of the bread pudding and mushroom crackers.  They were nice flavors but delivered via an unusual texture.  All together it was nice with the fatty runny egg, but not my favorite dish of the night.

Sea Urchin sea beans, kumquats, quail egg, brown rice cracker, pickled wasabi leaf
The uni was particularly fresh and sweet.  I let The Pouter have the extra bite since she was a fan of this dish.

Oysters poached in their shell, bacon, nettle gelee, turnip, preserved lemon milk
The oysters were nice, but couldn't beat the uni.  The nettle gelee, which is that green rectangle was interesting but didn't add that much.

Crispy Soft Shell Crab ramp cream, pickled jalapeno, wild cress, lemon verbena gelee
You can never go wrong with a crispy soft shell crab.

Grilled Beef Heart sprouting broccoli, daikon radish, ramps, black garlic, kimchee
There wasn't even the slightest organ taste going on here.  It was just tender delicate flavored beef heart.  The kimchee added quit a kick.

I suppose when I got to Commonwealth I was pretty hungry and really wanted to dig into a large plate of homey goodness, but Commonwealth certainly is not kind of place.  So part of me was disappointed, but luckily all of their innovation and modernity was not lost on me.  Each dish took a delicious protein and transformed it into something beautiful and tasty.  Would I come back?  Probably not, but not because it wasn't good.  There's just so much to eat in SF so I can't be wasting time on repeats.


Commonwealth
2224 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94110