Recently, my husband and I dined at Saison in SF. We’ve been to a few 1 Michelin star restaurants in the city, but this was our first time experiencing a 2 Michelin star restaurant. As I was celebrating my 40th, our initial plan was to go all out at a 3 Michelin star restaurant, such as French Laundry (bucket list restaurant) or Quince. Given that reservations are hard to come by at FL and reviews of Quince from this subreddit were underwhelming, we looked at Lazy Bear (closed for renovations my birthday month) and Saison.
While Saison wasn’t our first choice, holy cow am I glad we ended up celebrating there. What an absolutely incredible experience!
When we first arrived, I asked the host, Jason, if we could have our picture taken before being seated. He proceeded to arrange a mini photo shoot, including outside with the sign, standing in the open kitchen, and, towards the end of the evening, we were invited to take a picture with the entire kitchen staff!
Per other reviews of Saison, we chose to sit with a view of the kitchen, which was hands down the way to go. We very much enjoyed watching a kitchen staff of this caliber operate.
We opted for the wine pairing and my husband added on the supplemental uni toast. As I don’t eat seafood, the restaurant did a nice job of providing me with substitutions when necessary. They accidentally served me a dish with caviar and almost served a dish with prawns; however, they promptly corrected both errors. While I wasn’t phased by this mistake in the slightest, I’m guessing they were embarrassed, as they gave us two dishes of the supplemental wagyu beef and a tasting of sake for the uni toast on the house. We were so delighted by the kind gesture! To compliment our supplemental courses, we were presented with a selection of sake cups as well as steak knives to choose from.
Although the meal as a whole was wonderful, certain courses stand out in particular: The cup of tea presented shortly after arrival was beautifully balanced in its unique array of flavors. In first bites, the currant tomato with gazpacho served over a bed of tiny tomatoes on the vine, while simple in appearance, was bursting with a complexity of flavor. The lamb course, particularly the charred cube of lamb, was beautifully moist and so flavorful. Lastly, as many have previously stated, the uni toast was one of the best bites my husband has ever had. I even tried a tiny taste of the uni toast and was impressed by its incredibly smooth and rich flavor. If you love seafood - or even if you don’t - I get the hype.
It should also be noted that as if cooking at a Michelin level of cuisine was not complex enough, Saison cooks everything on an open fire. Their ability to cook with such precision using the least precise method of cooking blew us away.
We also loved each of the wines poured in the pairing. Molly, who was standing in for the somm that day, was such a joy to converse with throughout the meal.
At the end of the meal, we were given our menus in a wax sealed envelope along with a goodie bag of fresh cookies, cookie butter spread, and loose leaf tea to brew.
From start to finish, it was such a special experience and I could not have asked for a better dinner to celebrate this milestone.
by mschellbell
6 Comments
Recently, my husband and I dined at Saison in SF. We’ve been to a few 1 Michelin star restaurants in the city, but this was our first time experiencing a 2 Michelin star restaurant. As I was celebrating my 40th, our initial plan was to go all out at a 3 Michelin star restaurant, such as French Laundry (bucket list restaurant) or Quince. Given that reservations are hard to come by at FL and reviews of Quince from this subreddit were underwhelming, we looked at Lazy Bear (closed for renovations my birthday month) and Saison.
While Saison wasn’t our first choice, holy cow am I glad we ended up celebrating there. What an absolutely incredible experience!
When we first arrived, I asked the host, Jason, if we could have our picture taken before being seated. He proceeded to arrange a mini photo shoot, including outside with the sign, standing in the open kitchen, and, towards the end of the evening, we were invited to take a picture with the entire kitchen staff!
Per other reviews of Saison, we chose to sit with a view of the kitchen, which was hands down the way to go. We very much enjoyed watching a kitchen staff of this caliber operate.
We opted for the wine pairing and my husband added on the supplemental uni toast. As I don’t eat seafood, the restaurant did a nice job of providing me with substitutions when necessary. They accidentally served me a dish with caviar and almost served a dish with prawns; however, they promptly corrected both errors. While I wasn’t phased by this mistake in the slightest, I’m guessing they were embarrassed, as they gave us two dishes of the supplemental wagyu beef and a tasting of sake for the uni toast on the house. We were so delighted by the kind gesture! To compliment our supplemental courses, we were presented with a selection of sake cups as well as steak knives to choose from.
Although the meal as a whole was wonderful, certain courses stand out in particular: The cup of tea presented shortly after arrival was beautifully balanced in its unique array of flavors. In first bites, the currant tomato with gazpacho served over a bed of tiny tomatoes on the vine, while simple in appearance, was bursting with a complexity of flavor. The lamb course, particularly the charred cube of lamb, was beautifully moist and so flavorful. Lastly, as many have previously stated, the uni toast was one of the best bites my husband has ever had. I even tried a tiny taste of the uni toast and was impressed by its incredibly smooth and rich flavor. If you love seafood – or even if you don’t – I get the hype. Recently, my husband and I dined at Saison in SF. We’ve been to a few 1 Michelin star restaurants in the city, but this was our first time experiencing a 2 Michelin star restaurant. As I was celebrating my 40th, our initial plan was to go all out at a 3 Michelin star restaurant, such as French Laundry (bucket list restaurant) or Quince. Given that reservations are hard to come by at FL and reviews of Quince from this subreddit were underwhelming, we looked at Lazy Bear (closed for renovations my birthday month) and Saison.
Thank you! I couldn’t figure out why the font came out like that or how to fix it, but I knew it no one would want to read it like that 😛
Saison is such an incredible experience!
One of the best experiences in the city truly!
That menu needs a decent graphic designer and a proofreader
We had such a similar experience with Saison—couldn’t get a rez at our favorite place and “settled” on Saison but were blown away by the end of the meal. Amazing!