A mix of old timers and first timers attended this month’s Dine About SF. On the roster:
veterans the Phans and Chos (sans babies), and the Carters (Jon joined, and Ella made her 2nd DASF). Julia Brown, in town visiting from Phoenix, made her 2nd DASF. Newcomers Ehren and Karen Kruger, “long time listeners, first time diners” rounded out our table of 9.
Palmetto, located on bustling Union St., offers fresh, simple, Mediterranean inspired cuisine. An accomplished chef who has worked at high end restaurants elsewhere in the city raised our expectations. And while every plate delivered, nothing truly stood out. Overall an enjoyable dining experience, Palmetto is a place most of us would return to for a reliably good meal, but not for any kind of special occasion.
The Ratings (luckily Julia was here to help me remember the #s!):
Food = 85
Every dish was simple and solid – no bad plates to speak of. But, nothing really impressed. We started with a cleansing, cold tomato flavored soup, compliments of the chef. Outstanding appetizers included the risotto balls, and the tomato salad with some special cheese Phu knew a lot about. Surprisingly, the chicken dish was one of the favorite entrees served with a nice sauce of red peppers and tomatoes. Fish dishes were good, not great (halibut and salmon) and hanger steak with porcini mushrooms had a delectable flavor, but a was too tough (although I’m told hanger steak is supposed to be tough. Perhaps we should have ordered the NY strip instead.) Two good desserts, the phylo-wrapped-lemon-infused-something-or-other excited the palate, and the espresso dunked vanilla bean gelato was outstanding. But the other desserts did not impress – they were out of the chocolate, and the crème brulee was too milky.
Atmosphere = 88
Palmetto is unassuming from the outside, but stylish on the inside. We had a nice booth table at the back of the restaurant – luckily next to some open windows with fresh air in an otherwise stuffy room (once again a very hot restaurant – a trend I’ve noted in previous write ups.). Lighting highlighted the food nicely, and exposed rafters made Jon feel right at home. Noise level was high – but this was good for sleeping baby Ella.
Service = 82
Our waiter was professional and efficient, but did not stand out. He seemed to lack some confidence. And, a few misteps brought down the rating: when the Chos and Jon joined the group a few minutes late, they were not given champagne glasses or poured any bubbly, missing serving spoons, not knowing they were out of chocolate cake when we ordered, and not offering dessert plates. Maybe not big problems for the novice diner, but not much gets by us!
Special note: while the hostesses had panic on their faces when I bounded in with Ella in stroller, they took our stroller without attitude and accommodated our little one without question.
Jon will be adding his "Jon on the Jon" column and I invite all friends of DASF to add comments!
veterans the Phans and Chos (sans babies), and the Carters (Jon joined, and Ella made her 2nd DASF). Julia Brown, in town visiting from Phoenix, made her 2nd DASF. Newcomers Ehren and Karen Kruger, “long time listeners, first time diners” rounded out our table of 9.
Palmetto, located on bustling Union St., offers fresh, simple, Mediterranean inspired cuisine. An accomplished chef who has worked at high end restaurants elsewhere in the city raised our expectations. And while every plate delivered, nothing truly stood out. Overall an enjoyable dining experience, Palmetto is a place most of us would return to for a reliably good meal, but not for any kind of special occasion.
The Ratings (luckily Julia was here to help me remember the #s!):
Food = 85
Every dish was simple and solid – no bad plates to speak of. But, nothing really impressed. We started with a cleansing, cold tomato flavored soup, compliments of the chef. Outstanding appetizers included the risotto balls, and the tomato salad with some special cheese Phu knew a lot about. Surprisingly, the chicken dish was one of the favorite entrees served with a nice sauce of red peppers and tomatoes. Fish dishes were good, not great (halibut and salmon) and hanger steak with porcini mushrooms had a delectable flavor, but a was too tough (although I’m told hanger steak is supposed to be tough. Perhaps we should have ordered the NY strip instead.) Two good desserts, the phylo-wrapped-lemon-infused-something-or-other excited the palate, and the espresso dunked vanilla bean gelato was outstanding. But the other desserts did not impress – they were out of the chocolate, and the crème brulee was too milky.
Atmosphere = 88
Palmetto is unassuming from the outside, but stylish on the inside. We had a nice booth table at the back of the restaurant – luckily next to some open windows with fresh air in an otherwise stuffy room (once again a very hot restaurant – a trend I’ve noted in previous write ups.). Lighting highlighted the food nicely, and exposed rafters made Jon feel right at home. Noise level was high – but this was good for sleeping baby Ella.
Service = 82
Our waiter was professional and efficient, but did not stand out. He seemed to lack some confidence. And, a few misteps brought down the rating: when the Chos and Jon joined the group a few minutes late, they were not given champagne glasses or poured any bubbly, missing serving spoons, not knowing they were out of chocolate cake when we ordered, and not offering dessert plates. Maybe not big problems for the novice diner, but not much gets by us!
Special note: while the hostesses had panic on their faces when I bounded in with Ella in stroller, they took our stroller without attitude and accommodated our little one without question.
Jon will be adding his "Jon on the Jon" column and I invite all friends of DASF to add comments!
See you in October. . .
