New York Steak – Steak Frites

New York Steak – Garcon, San Francisco

Grilled New York Steak, Garcon, SF CA

Garcon is sadly overlooked as a favored French bistro in San Francisco. But they should be more known because owner Jerome Rivoire and his crew at Garcon serve up some pretty great food. The grilled New York steak is one example. Appropriately rare and wrapped with a dripping coat of spicy green peppercorn sauce, it’s a great little steak frites. The fries, in this case, are crispy garlic-parsley potatoes. These, and some sourdough, and you’re well appointed to mop up the fantastic gravy that the steak doesn’t skate through. The third wheel on this plate is some sort of seasonal greens (either French beans or a salad). Described on the menu: Grilled New York steak, haricots verts, garlic & parsley potatoes, green peppercorn sauce.

The Grade: Great

The Damage: $23

The Skinny: Garcon
1101 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415) 401-8959
Website: http://www.garconsf.com
Reservations: http://www.garconsf.com/reservations.html

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Veal Sweetbreads (Chez Spencer, SF)

Serious Sweetbreads in San Francisco

Veal Sweetbreads, Chez Spencer, SF

Veal Sweetbreads, Chez Spencer, SF

Like their signature filet mignon capped with creamy morels & truffle butter, the sautéed veal sweetbreads at Chez Spencer are simply over the top. This pheromone-jolting little plate is rich, rich, rich. Not bourgeois rich, not nouveau-riche, but dirty-old-money, we-don’t-look-at-prices rich.

Chez Spencer’s sweetbreads draw that perfect balance of slightly crisp outside and wonderfully chewy within, with sienna brown gravy (sherry wine vinegar and truffle vinaigrette) that’s waiting for a pirouette of torn bread to dance across its muddled floor. The little glands have a fallen ceiling of crisp baby spinach and a big, flat roof of a Parmesan crisp to add a tiny cheese-tang to the mild tang of the sherry wine vinegar. Some of the best sweetbreads in San Francisco, to be sure, and thankfully, they’re a staple on the menu of this little French hideaway where the Mission District meets the even more grungy South Van Ness and 14th Streets.

The Grade: Exceptional (5 out of 5). This is a large appetizer that should be shared, preferably by 3 people.
The Damage: $17
The Skinny: Chez Spencer 82 14th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: (415) 864-2191
Website: www.chezspencer.net