Dinner @ One Market Restaurant

Sigh.  Yes, another fantastic restaurant dined at (this time, when co-workers were in town visiting San Francisco, rather than me being on a business trip myself), but, yup, another dining experience in the midst of a very busy work week, a slew of social events, and thus, no time to write up my review after each dining adventure.  Of course though, I took great notes so I could write it up a few weeks later, but ... yup, another set of notes lost along the way.

So I present another mostly photos only "review" of a small group dinner at One Market, a Michelin starred restaurant in San Francisco that I had been to once before during SF Restaurant Week, always has a great menu, is located close to my office, AND had a pastry chef I knew.  It was a very easy choice for my dinner recommendation.

If you are familiar with it, it was at one point part of the Lark Creek Restaurant group (yes, like the Lark Creek Grill at SFO), although they had parted ways before this visit.

A Very Delicious Feast!

Our group of 3 opted to share everything, so I got to try 3 appetizers, 2 mains, and, uh, 5 desserts, and for the most part, they let me pick all the dishes.  I remember being blown away by literally every dish - flawless execution that lived up to the tempting sounding menu, fantastic sauces, and, yup, fabulous desserts.

I'll return in a heartbeat.

Setting

One Market is located at, um, One Market Street, right where Market Street meets the Embarcadero.  One whole side of the restaurant runs right down Embarcadero, with plentiful water and bridge views.

Dining Area.

One Market is a quite large restaurant, and it feels very spacious inside.  Seats along the window all have a waterfront view.

Rotisserie & Grill.

The concept is fairly open kitchen as well, with the grill and rotisserie right on display.

Place Settings.

Tables all came with candles.

Dinner

One Market is open for both lunch and dinner, every day, the former being the destination of many a power lunch, as it is regularly filled with suits, given the proximity to the Financial District, and its Michelin status.

Dinner Menu.

The menu at One Market is particularly large for a restaurant of its calibre, with a dozen starters, an equal number of mains, and additional sides.

A menu this large could be a bad sign, but, luckily, it was not.  Picking what to order however, was a challenge!

Bread & Butter.

 Bread and butter was served after our drinks, but I don't really recall much about it.

Starters

To start, we got 3 items to share.  It was remarkably hard to pick just 3 from the dozen options, as the menu was full of ingredients I love - chestnuts, crab in multiple dishes (local crab, it was in season, <3), accents like ponzu, quince, and even ... gingerbread, fascinating "pancetta vinaigrette", oh, and duck liver mousse of course ... so many great dishes to pick from.

Luckily, my dining companions trusted my judgement, and let me pick the 3 we would share, so I got my top 3 picks.

Roasted Autumn Squash Agnolotti. $16.

"Brown butter-balsamic reduction, gingerbread, hazelnuts."

I know, trendy foam aside, this was actually a fascinating and complex dish, housemade squash agnolotti, with insanely delicious brown butter-balsamic reduction, and, yup, gingerbread spicing, plus crunch from complimentary hazelnuts.

We were all impressed.

Hand-picked Dungeness Crab Salad. $18.

"Miso, citrus, seaweed."

Because I love local crab, and it was in season, of course we had to get it in some form, and I opted for the salad, to have a light dish, and really highlight the crab.  It featured a sauce I adored.

Grilled Octopus. $18.

"'Chorizo' purée, avocado chimichurri, parsley."

And finally, the one I was most excited for, the grilled octopus.  I really really love octopus, and it is fairly rare to find on menus, and, hard to get right.  As you can see, we had the avocado chimichurri on the side, as I'm allergic, but I still wanted my dining companions to get to experience the full dish.

It was beautifully grilled, smoky, and not chewy, everything I wanted it to be.

Main Courses

Since we had 3 starters, and had big dessert plans, we decided to just got two mains for our party of 3.  This too was a very hard decision, as the menu had a dozen main dishes too, and a slew of sides, and, much like the starters, there were highlights all around.  I had to look past the bacon wrapped tenderloin, the gnocchi, the swordfish, and even the halibut with sunchokes (zomg, such a Julie dish!).

Pan-Seared Red Snapper. $33.50.

"Kohlrabi kraut, apple purée, caramelized apple cider."

The group had a slight preference for the red snapper over the halibut, thus, I went with the group decision, and it did not lead us astray.  The crispy skin was beautiful, although, the wet kohlrabi kraut on top did somewhat defeat the purpose (Gordon Ramsey would NOT be pleased!).

Pan-seared Day Boat Scallops . $33.

"Persimmons, parsley root, asian pear."

You know how much I love scallops, and, persimmons, so this was a no brainer.  Perfectly seared, delicious and unique sauce.  Yes, yes, yes.

Dessert

I often say dessert is a highlight for me, but, in this case, I did actually pick One Market for the dessert, as I was familiar with the pastry chef, and couldn't wait to see his work in this setting.  Luckily, I had a group as execited about dessert as I was.

Dessert Menu.

The dessert menu is broken down into 4 sections, which I really appreciate.  First, the "Singular Sensations", with 5 options, sized smaller than traditional restaurant sized desserts, available as singles for $7.50 or a trio for $19.50.  I adore everything about this dessert size - perfect for when you just want a smaller treat to finish a big meal, or don't have anyone else at the table who wants to share desserts, or, when you do want plentiful dessert, but want to try a few.  Singular Sensations meet all those needs.

Then there are the "Signature Desserts", basically, large format normal restaurant desserts.  For one person, but, you know, larger size, often shared.  Next is the section devoted to "Frozen Treats", and then ... "Take me Home", yup, treats designed just to take home.  I think I love the fact that they include take home treats even more than the great portion size options!

Table of Desserts!

I was very happy that my dining companions were as willing as I was to indulge in desserts.  Two large, two smaller, for just 3 people was reasonable right?

Signature Dessert: Roasted Pear Galette. $11.

"Blackberry compote, vanilla bean ice cream."

First up, one of my picks, the seasonal fruit galette, served warm, with ice cream, and plenty of other goodies.  I remember loving the sauces and the brittle in particular.

Signature Desserts: Pumpkin Tart. $11.

"White chocolate-pumpkin mousse, bourbon caramel, pecan-praline cremeux."

Next, a super unique one, the "Pumpkin Tart", which, looked nothing like a classic tart.  If you expected just a small personal pumpkin pie or something, this was certainly not that.

It did actually have a tart base, and there was something sorta akin to a pumpkin pie layer inside, but, there was much, much more.

Pumpkin Tart: Inside.

Here you can see all the glory - the tart base, the pumpkin layer, but also it was all surrounded by the white chocolate pumpkin mousse (so fluffy!), there was a pecan-praline cremeux dome inside as well, plus the stunning glossy enrobing.  Throw in some bourbon caramel, snow, candied nuts ... and, yeah, swoon.

Clearly so much love (and likely R&D!) went into this. 

Singular Sensations: Mint Espresso Cheesecake. $7.50.

"Mint cream, chocolate sauce, chocolate streusel."

We moved on to the cheesecake, this one a "singular sensation", so as you can see, it is still a perfectly adequately size dessert, one that most folks would feel completed their meal well, and wouldn't consider it mini.

Singular Sensations: Bradley's Butterscotch Pudding. $7.50.

"Chantilly cream, pecan wedding cookie."

And last, this is the most famous dessert at One Market, it has been on the menu ~forever, a signature item from their head chef, that has followed him from restaurant to restaurant.  And since I adore pudding, you know this was a must-have for me anyway (and, I've had it before, at one of their sister restaurants).

It is a signature item for a reason, textbook consistency, not to sweet but plenty sweet, and the pecan wedding cookie on the side pairs remarkably well.

Caramels.

And yup, of course we got caramels to take home!  Soft, sweet, buttery, <3