I’m always on the look out for something new and interesting to try. Pop-up restaurants and new openings are my kryptonite, so when I ran across the pre-opening pop-up going on at R.T.B., I was eager to book it. They have apparently been doing the pop-up at other locations around San Francisco and have been setting up and taking down a restaurant nightly. It’s a lot like when they do restaurant week on Top Chef (or so the chef told us; I would personally have no idea what that involves). They were serving a ten course meal with two supplemental courses and optional wine pairing (and as we were trying it out, we felt the need to go whole hog and get everything)!
When we arrived, we were greeted by the warm and welcoming sommelier, who poured us a glass of champagne and showed us to our seats. The venue is very small, as the downstairs seating area only had eight seats in it (of which only two others were taken while we were there, which led to a quiet, intimate and amazing dining experience). As the location on Fillmore Street is going to become the permanent home of the restaurant, we were eventually told how the new venue was going to be set up. There will be some private dining upstairs with a few more tables and seats downstairs in the main seating area.
Our meal started with a broth made of toasted grains with melted butter on top. It was very similar to some grain teas I’ve had from other restaurants, but with richness from the melted butter. It was a great way to start the meal. This was followed by smoked oysters served with a very light rosé from Provence. The oysters had really amazing flavor, and drinking the wine did make me feel like I was in France enjoying myself (which is what the sommelier told us the wine reminded him of). This was followed by a lobster crudo. I really enjoyed the flavor, but for me, the raw lobster was a bit chewy. It was my partner’s favorite dish of the night, so clearly seemed to a be a dish that split opinions. We were then presented with trout roe in a light Parmesan broth with fresh peas. This was also served with some lightly cooked trout with perfectly cooked skin. The saltiness of the roe went well with the broth and peas, and the trout was some of the best fish I had eaten. While I don’t remember specifically the wines we had, I remember that we had some really interesting and unusual wines that paired well with the courses.
Next we had savory abelskiver. Abelskiver originate from Danmark and are similar to a doughnut hole. They are usually served sweet, but this savory bite was really similar to one I had at Noma in Copenhagen. After the abelskiver, we were presented with abalone with seaweed. The abalone was perfectly cooked, and it was not at all chewy, which is very much unlike any abalone I’ve had anywhere else. It was really one of the stand out dishes of the night. This was followed by some ramen noodles in a spicy lobster broth. It smelled and looked so tasty that I forgot to get a photo (oops!), but the flavors were absolutely perfect. I personally could have had it a bit spicier, but the mix of flavors was really amazing. We were then presented with a main course of Tortellini en Brodo served with pork belly. This is also when our first supplemental course of wagyu beef and picked cucumber arrived. The tortellini were incredibly tasty and both the pork belly and the beef were very well cooked. Our final course before dessert was the second supplemental course of the night: Caviar served on top of a nut crusted banana slice. I really enjoyed the combination of caviar and banana, but I feel the banana slice could be slightly thinner as it did overpower the caviar somewhat.
Our first dessert course was a hot cheese tart with a buckwheat crust. It really was an innovative way to serve a cheese course, and the cheese was served hot. The tart was incredibly tasty, and was a great way to start dessert.
The last two dessert courses were a smoked ice cream and a cake topped with foie gras. Chef Wages told us this was the first night they had made the ice cream as he was trying out something new. It was served with some raw rhubarb. The ice cream was another one of the stand out dishes of the evening, and it had an intense smoky flavor, reminiscent of an Islay whisky (my favorite type of Scotch whisky). The acid and tartness from the rhubarb counteracted it wonderfully, and we praised the chef for what I hope will become a regular dish. The final dish was a bite of cake with a slice of foie gras on top that served as the “icing” on the cake. This was also a spectacular dish as the foie gras added a richness to the cake without making it overly sweet as many icings do. The desserts were served with a very rich, intense sake, which is an unusual way to go, but it was almost like drinking a strong whiskey with dessert.
Since we were the only people in the restaurant at this time, the chef came out and had a long and interesting conversation with us about the restaurant. He told us how he planned on doing it, and how he was enjoying be able to branch out on his own and try his own style of cooking. I have to agree, I was quite impressed with his ability to take ingredients and present them in an innovative way, but still making the dishes have outstanding flavor. I was also happy with the unusual wines they paired, but how they didn’t serve us these wines to present something unusual, they really wanted the wine to go well with the course. I have had too many wine pairings where they served wines to challenge the palate, and ultimately they didn’t really go with the dish. All the pairings were well though out, and the courses did interesting things with the food, but were cohesive dishes. I was also blown away by the fact that the whole thing was done by two people: the sommelier and the chef. There were no other staff, and the whole night ran as smoothly as if they had an entire restaurant staff at their disposal. If I had people visiting who wanted to get an interesting menu that isn’t an expensive as many of the tasting menus out there, I would throw R.T.B. out as a suggestion for dinner.
Food: ★★★★☆
Service: ★★★★★
Atmosphere: ★★★★★
Value: ★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★★☆
Price (at time of dining): $89 pp for the tasting menu and $75 pp for the wine pairing
R.T.B.
1552 Fillmore
San Francisco, CA 94115
This all looks amazing Grant!
I’m glad you started writing again too. 🙂
Thanks Josy! I’m hoping to do some Ramen reviews too!
Yes!! Right before I come to visit!
It’s a bit hot here for ramen so far…I’m eating all the sushi!