Birthdays and anniversaries are funny for me. Oe one hand, I want to really go all out and do some amazing work in the kitchen, but on the other, I really just want to go out and enjoy myself and let someone else do the hard work. In order to scratch the former itch, I choose to do the Valentine’s thing at home, and often try to book places for other annual events. This year, I chose to give Palatte a try.
They currently have three different options: A tasting menu indoors in the dining room, a more casual vibe outside on the terrace, and a cocktail centric menu in the Gallery. I decided the bar menu had some amazing looking dishes on it, plus I’m always intrigued by an interesting cocktail menu, so the Gallery was the choice of the evening. It also helped that they had a pretty extensive Absinthe menu, and I’m a sucker for the green fairy.
There is definitely a huge selection of cocktails, of which we tried several over the course of the evening. They have a foraged old fashioned that changes seasonally with what foraged ingredients are available. There are also a few drinks based on the subject of the art on display in the gallery, and the month we were there it was the garden. There is a huge selection of Absinthe cocktails as well as other sweet and more boozy options, so there definitely were a lot to try and a lot to please a variety of palates. I definitely found myself enjoying quite a few over the course of the evening.
Food wise, we opted for the smoked sturgeon, a broccoli dip with fried beef tendon, vegetable tempura and smoked bone marrow. Honestly, any sort of bone marrow would have to be ordered if we saw it in a restaurant, and this version did not disappoint. In fact, it might have been the best bone marrow dish I’ve eaten in a very long time. Honestly, the flavor of the rest of the dishes were also spectacular. I love the idea of eating a dip with puffed meat, so it was a treat. The smoked sturgeon was absolutely stunning. The only small issue was with the tempura. The dipping sauces with it were amazing, but the batter itself was a bit heavy and doughy. If we wanted to be very extravagant, they offer quite a few caviars on the menu too, but honestly, it’s one of those things we usually save to have at home (as the prices of nice caviar can get quite expensive in restaurants).
Of course, that let us to needing some absinthe between our savory and sweet courses, and the list was pretty amazing. They have absinthe from all over the world, and it’s always really exciting to see how different areas use different botanicals to add flavor to it. We tried a few selections (all good) and moved on to dessert.
We chose the trio of eclairs and a couple of the ice creams for dessert. The eclairs were a creme brulee eclair, a corn and blueberry, and a black sesame and huckleberry. The eclairs change seasonally which is definitely exciting for me, as it leads to trying even more things on return trips. My favorite of the three was the creme brulee, as it pretty much ended up being a finger of creme brulee sitting right on top of the eclair. The other two were also tasty, but lacked the wow factor a bit in flavor, although the corn one had a topping to make it look like corn which was a very exciting way to be presented. The ice cream flavors we chose were a porcini and truffle ice cream and an absinthe ice cream. Both were really fantastic. The porcini one was very savory and rich and the absinthe one really refreshed the palate after the meal. Their signature dessert appears to be an absinthe baked Alaska which was incredibly tempting when we saw it come to the table next to us, but I was more interested in trying a few things instead of a single dessert.
My trip to the Gallery at Palette was absolutely phenomenal. The bar is really fun inside and the local artwork is definitely a bonus. The service was really good and all of the food was interesting and tasty. I also love inventive cocktails even if sometimes they end up a bit too sweet for me, but having a large selection always allows me to find something that I’ll enjoy. It’s definitely a great place for a date or a gathering, and it made me excited to come back for more cocktails, absinthe and smoked bone marrow. Although this little teaser also has me very interested in coming back to try the full tasting experience in the dining room. If you’re a fan of cocktails and absinthe, definitely give it a try!
Score: 5/5
Recommendations: Smoked Bone Marrow, a Foraged Old Fashioned and, of course, lots of absinthe!
Palatte
816 Folsom Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
