Roasted Duck Breast (Maverick, SF)

PAN ROASTED LIBERTY DUCK BREAST

What a panoply of flavors from Chef Scott Youkilis at Maverick in this duck dish.  The Liberty Farms duck breast is perfectly pan-roasted, medium-rare, and as succulent as a great fowl can be. Then there’s  crookneck squash and goat cheese custard, figs, some glorious duck jus…zoinks.

Fantastic duck at Maverick, SF

It’s a  full-flavor bonanza and an architectural wonder, stacked with colors and textures like some kid assembled various shapes from board games, models, and construction toys into an imaginary fort. A little fort hiding a sacred duck; sounds like a Japanese film. A fort ready to be forked. The colors alone: pink, purple, varying browns from sienna to umber to Mississippi mud, with stripes of green and gold–make eating at Maverick a blast. One of my favorite duck dishes this year.

THE GRADE: AWESOME (highest grade)
THE DAMAGE:  $26
 THE SKINNY: MAVERICK

3316 17th Street San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415) 863-3061

Make a free reservation for Maverick here on OpenTable.com.

Maverick SF – a foodie respite in the Mission

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Prosciutto & Melon

NEWSOM’S KENTUCKY PROSCIUTTO

Newsom’s Kentucky Prosciutto

 I knew bourbon came from Kentucky but never suspected it also kicks out one of the best prosciutto products you might find in the US. Robust and full-flavored, this is one fantastic appetizer at Maverick restaurant in San Francisco. The prosciutto’s so good, you might forget to wrap it around the melon chunks (canteloupe).  A few basil tips flesh out a mouthful of flavors and oh, there’s also a little dry Jack cheese mousse. The flavors of the shoot-o, basil, and melon were plenty, so I doled my mouse onto a snip of sourdough instead. A great app to share with a friend or two.

Lagniappe: Great NYT story on country ham includes a bit on Colonel Newsom and his Kentucky prosciutto:http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/17/dining/taste-my-prosciutto-he-said-with-a-drawl.html?pagewanted=1

Newsom’s Kentucky Prosciutto is available online if you can read the tiny Little League 1970s font that somehow remains popular among people who probably don’t read much. So you can order yourself some good ole country ham prosciutto for later, after you try it at Maverick. I do reckon you’ll order it at both.

Newsom’s Kentucky Prosciutto

THE GRADE: AWESOME (highest grade)
THE DAMAGE: $12
THE SKINNY: MAVERICK
3316 17th Street San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415) 863-3061

Antelope Tartare – Maverick, SF

Antelope Tartare – Maverick SF

I’m a huge fan of beef tartare and this was my first experience having antelope tartare. While beef tartare is fabulous because it’s meaty, fatty and rich, antelope tartare rocks in a far leaner manner, still rich with taste but without the kind of knockout punch fattier beef can have on the body. The antelope meat is sourced from Broken Arrow Ranch, which has been selling wild game meats for over 25 years.

Antelope Tartare (detail) – Maverick, SF

The leanness of the meat and its wonderful tones, imbued throughout via a mildly piquant ancho chile sauce, were a revelation. The ancho heat slow-rolled in the mouth and lingered long in the finish, making each bite slowed to enjoy the experience. Now I wish more restaurants would serve wild game tartare; it was not gamey at all. My friends and I loved this appetizer; it’s a little masterpiece from Chef Scott Youkilis of Maverick. The little greens (purslane) added a good dirty crunch to the savory smoothness of the antelope meat. The only minor wish was more toast points because they’re soaked with olive oil and quite delicious, but the bread at Maverick is quite good and sated our need to request the points.

THE GRADE: AWESOME (highest grade)
THE DAMAGE: $13
THE SKINNY: MAVERICK
3316 17th Street San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415) 863-3061

Make a free reservation for Maverick here on OpenTable.com.