Quince

My summer of fancy schmancy eating didn't end with Grace.  Oh no, no, it just started there and continued with my visit to Quince with The Pouter.  It felt like a hot date.  We both got all dolled up, she picked me up,  we had wine, great conversation, and then the date took a turn towards doomsville.  The check came and we went dutch!  Well not every date that starts well, ends well =P.  Anyways, the place is pretty elegant, and would be a great place to celebrate a special occasion.  The Pouter and I were celebrating, um...life, love, and food?  Heck, we don't really need an occasion to blow some cash on any ole weekday.  I guess I was visiting SF, so that was occasion enough!

Green Garlic Parmesan Chips
They had the texture of shrimp chips with a very subtle cheesy taste.  A bit on the greasy side but its just so easy to eat anything in chip form.

Pickled Green Tomato Tartlet squash chips
These were some of the best bites of the night.  This one tasted like a fresh tomato pie.

Arugula Financier seville orange purée
Wow, this was soo good!  Like a sweet yet savory vegetable pound cake.  I wanted a whole loaf.

Russet Potato Skin guanciale marmalade
Yum!  A singular bite that encompassed all the flavors of an awesome baked potato.

Gnocchi Frito dyed squid ink, goat cheese, dehydrated onion powder
Black as night, but light and delicate.

Tea Sandwich compressed cucumber 
So cute and elegant, and really tasted like those little cucumber tea sandwiches.

Verjus Granita grapes, tarragon
Tart, savory, creamy.  The tarragon wasn't very prominent.

Caviar creme fraiche, kristin's rooftop flowers, brioche

I'm not a huge fan of caviar, but this was paired so well with the buttery toasty brioche and the creamy hollandaise in the middle.

Milk Bread celery salt
Light, fluffy, buttery.

Sungold Gooseberry gooseberry, sungold tomatoes 
The gooseberries were quite tart, but the sungold tomatoes added this wonderful summery sweetness.

Santa Barbara Spot Prawn melon, ginger, sorrel
More tastes of summer with the melons, enhanced by the spiciness of ginger and herbaceous qualities of sorrel.  The spot prawns were tender and sweet.

Trofie black eyed pea, cockscomb
The pasta was fresh, maybe a little too al dente, but went deliciously with the tomato sauce and singular chunk of lobster.  I'm not sure if I really liked the beans in here.

Strichetti Integrale black truffle, freewheelin fava bean, anchovy
Another delicious pasta dish, though there was a bit of graininess in the sauce maybe from the anchovies?  The truffly goodness helped me overlook this minor flaw.

Loup de Mer haricot verts, cauliflower, sea urchin
I started getting pretty full here, but I could not resist the moist fish with its perfectly crisped up skin.  There was cauliflower foam and slices of delicate cauliflower.  The bit of uni didn't seem to fit in, buuuut I won't complain when high quality uni is served in front of me.

Fiesta Farm Rabbit artichoke, carrot, chervil 
The refinement with restraint continued.  The rabbit was perfectly cooked but seriously I was busting at the seams.

Cote de Boeuf sunchoke, eggplant, corno di toro pepper
The beef was so tender.  I was not a fan of the olives, but the sunchokes and sauce made for some tasty accompaniments.

Middleton Berries mascarpone bocconcini, lemon verbena
Even though the berries appear to be lacking in color and possibly underripened, they were so sweet!  The lightly sweetened bit of mascarpone brought some delicate creaminess.  The opaque irregular pieces are like lemony ice chips.  Added a nice cool textural element.

Mignardises
This part of the meal usually is disappointing, but I guess I shouldn't complain because its complimentary.  These were some oversweetened balls of something.  Bleh...

A coconut macaroon.  Bleh...

Some sort of marshmellow thing.  Bleh.

Some sort of spongy cookie.  Bleh.

Like a canele.  Bleh.

I was actually quite impressed with Quince.  I really had no expectations coming in because I hadn't done much research with this restaurant since The Pouter picked the place and made the reservations.  I really felt like I came along for the ride, but in the end it was a delicious culinary adventure.  I think it was overall, tastier than Grace, but not to the same level of innovation and technique.  But I don't think its aiming to be that type of restaurant.  It's just seasonal, tasty, well executed food.  This is San Franciso, right??  Skip the mignardises because they are frankly bad, but I'm pretty happy we went with the 9 course tasting menu.  Two thumbs up.