The Burden of Bix-pectation

Anyone who knows me or has read this blog knows that my favorite San Francisco restaurant is Bix. Due to a few misfires, my trip there Friday night put its Number One status in a bit of jeopardy. Most aspects of it were awe-inspiring, but there were a few moments where I felt something was off. Yes, I walk in expecting the world, so even the slightest boo boo doesn’t go unnoticed.

I walked in and immediately remembered why I love just being there. Delicious food aside, the feeling I get when I walk in is unsurpassed by anywhere else in the city. The interior is grand without being pretentious. There’s a medium-sized dining room bordered by an upstairs balcony area on three sides which adds to its majestic atmosphere. Adrienne and I arrived at 6:59pm for our 7pm reservation. The host informed us our table was just wrapping up dessert and to make ourselves comfortable at the bar (which I didn’t mind one bit). We enjoyed our beverage at the bar but more so enjoyed watching the various types of people Bix brings (a group of about ten men in tuxedos, TV personality Tom Sinkovtiz, pre-theater diners, old folks, young things, etc). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Bix epitomizes old-school San Francisco.

When our table was ready – nearly forty minutes later – we were led upstairs to a corner table on the balcony. It was my first time eating upstairs and I loved having a bird’s eye view of the restaurant. The one sure thing about our dinner was that we were going to have the burger. I’ve had the burger at lunch more times than I can count, but the dinner burger is different (and twice as expensive) and I had to check it out. We opted to split a three appetizers and the burger. Out first was the Dungeness Crab Rolls in Brioche. Each bite size piece seemed to be about 75% bread and 25% crab, and this proportion just wasn’t working for me. The cold, thick bread did nothing to enhance the crab – it completely overpowered it.

Next out were the Potato Pillows with Crème Fraiche and Caviar. These were more pleasing than the crab but not mind-blowing. I remember the fried potato (think hash-brown) bottom more so than the caviar, which kind of makes me laugh. In a combination of the world’s most ready available food (potato) vs. one of the world’s most expensive food (caviar) I far prefer the former. As I expected, the serving of foie gras was about the size of a sand dollar. It’s served with several toasts and cherries, but the tiny dollop of foie gras is hardly enough to go around. That being said, the taste I did have was divine.

At this point, I was antsy for the burger. The one served at lunch is a classic hamburger – brioche bun, thick bacon, etc. In the evening, it is served open-faced on rye. I won’t lie, I was nervous about this. I didn’t know if this presentation was going to work and I was scared it would mar my opinion of the restaurant as a whole. Buns are absolutely integral to the burger. But, when you have beef that taste like Bix’s – there could be six buns, or none, or served on a piece of shoe leather. The beef at Bix is absolutely incomparable. Ice cream cone goes to anyone who can find me better beef: it’s juicy, moist, flavorful, thick, but not-too-thick, and just… perfect. While I was slightly underwhelmed by the appetizers, the quality of the burger more than makes up for it. The truffle fries are A+.

Lastly, we tried the brioche bread pudding – another preferred dish of mine. I thought Bix’s take was solid, but the style/approach wasn’t not my favorite. It’s closer to a dark chocolate cake than a classic bread pudding. I don’t think bread pudding should be predominantly chocolatey; chocolate can (and should) be a supporting player. I confess to being a bread pudding snob, so want to be clear that this version would probably excite most.

As we approach the halfway point of 2011 (yikes!), there are two meals that, all things considered, have Bix beat. Stellina and Picco (a sister restaurant to Bix!) were simply better overall. Let’s see what the second half of the year has in store!

(*Pictures were too dark to post)