La Société Bar & Café

It has been a while since I've had the chance to organize a large-ish group dining event, but finally, holiday season 2023, I had the opportunity, the first time post-Covid.  I had a work group of 35 to accommodate, with all the standard dietary restrictions (vegetarian, gluten-free, etc).  Our biggest constraints were the date (we had no flexibility, and it fell *right* in the middle of busy December holiday season) and budget (fairly frugal).  When I started reaching out to restaurants months in advance, >50% were already booked, and another 30% were over budget (either due to F&B minimums or set menus with too high of a price point).  I had limited choices, and it took some effort, but I found a venue to bring my group to: La Société Bar & Café, a French restaurant located in the Hyatt.

This was my first visit to La Société, but it had been on my list for a while (in particular, for their duck liver mousse, their tarte flambeé, and other classic French dishes with great sauces (mmm, butter and cream!).  The restaurant was remarkably easy to work with, and it is clear they do large events all the time.  Securing our date was easy, group dining menus and options were clearly communicated, the service staff were adept at handling groups.  Definitely a good choice on these dimensions.

The logistics worked out well, but I'm not sure I'd go back with a large group myself.  The food was all fine but not great, a notch above standard wedding quality catering, but not particularly good.  The private room was nice as a space, but really quite loud.  Overall, I'd consider it a success, but would pick somewhere else in the future for a group.  I'm still interested in returning as a regular diner however to try the duck liver mousse and other desserts in particular. 

Private Room.

Our event was held in a large private room in the back, set with two long tables.

The tables were attractive marble, the chairs more comfortable than average.  The room had basically no noise dampening, which made it extraordinarily hard to hear even the people seated directly next to, or across from, each of us.  All hard surfaces - the floor, walls, ceiling, tables.  A nice space on some dimensions, but, wow, the noise level was extreme, and we were not a particularly noisy bunch.

La Société Classic Experience Menu. $98/pp.

Due to our budget constraints, we picked the least expensive group dining option available, the La Société Classic Experience.  

This menu offers a choice of two salads to start (but we had to pick one that everyone would get), a choice of 4 main dishes (we could pick 3 to offer), and a choice of three desserts (but again, we could only pick a single option). The printed menu came with the selections we had pre-chosen listed, along with our custom logo on top.  Salads, mains, and desserts were individually plated, the side dishes shared family style.  All dishes come from their regular menu.

Upgrades were available to this menu to offer a steak option ($15 pp for hanger or $20 for filet), or to add appetizers, but we did not add any of these things.  The "Signature Experience" is their next tier of menu, at $148 per person, that adds in more exciting starter choices, and additional course.

The restaurant handled our group very well.  There were enough servers to make sure our glasses were always refilled, be it with water or wine, and for those ordering cocktails, they were offered additional ones, or something else.  Plates were cleared efficiently between courses.  Service flowed fairly well, starting with drinks, then the bread and salad course soon after.  There was a slightly longer lag before main dishes and desserts than I'd prefer, but partially that was just because it was the end of a long day.  We had a few people leave before dessert, but the entire meal was completed in 2.5 hours.  Main dishes were served with specific silverware for each dish (e.g. sharp knife for those who ordered the pork chop, etc), and were brought out in quick succession, starting with the most common dish (pork), moving on to the next (chicken), and finishing with the vegetarian option, and then the side dishes.  I didn't see them get anyone's order wrong.

Here Figgy Figgy. $17.

"Brothers bond bourbon, fig shrub, lemon, tonic."

To get started, I ordered a cocktail off the regular menu.  I was drawn in by the bourbon and figs.  Others followed my lead and ordered the same.

It came attractively garnished with a full fig, and a sprig of ... rosemary?  It turned out more fruity than I was expecting.  I wanted to taste more bourbon, less fruit.  It was fine, and interesting, but, just not quite what I was looking for.  ***.

Interestingly, two of my co-workers who ordered the same had no fig garnish on theirs, so, consistency was a bit of an issue.

One65 Traditional Baguette / Salted French Butter. $8.

Our meal began with warm bread for the table, served soon after we had all ordered our drinks and settled in.

I was looking forward to the baguette, as One65 is well known for their quality French baked goods, but, my co-workers said it was sourdough, so I skipped it.  I still just don't like sourdough (such a bad San Franciscan!).

The presentation was lovely though, and it sounded nicely crusty as folks broke into it.

First: La Société Salad. $15.

"Radish, green apple, ricotta salata, tarragon-dijon vinaigrette."

Next up, served right after the bread, we all started with the exact same salad, their namesake salad.  It featured big uncut pieces of red leaf lettuce, a few tiny bits of radish, thinly sliced green apple, a bit of ricotta salata, and a vinaigrette.

Regular readers of my blog will know how I feel about vinaigrettes (can't stand them!), and I hoped it would come with dressing on the side, but alas, it came dressed.  I didn't want to be complicated and specifically ask for it on the side, but I wished I had.

The lettuce was crisp and fine, and I wished for far more radish and ricotta salata, and could do without the green apple, but the real issue for me was the dressing, as expected.  It did have a nice dijon tang, and wasn't necessarily overdressed, but, some pieces were pretty laden with it, and I just didn't care for it.  If you don't mind vinaigrette, I think this was a fine, basic salad, but for me it was a big "meh". 

** due to taste, probably a *** for most.

Acquerello Carnaroli Risotto. $29.

"Butternut squash, maitake mushroom, parmigiano reggiano."

Vegetarians had the token risotto dish.  It made me wish I liked risotto, as I do really like butternut squash, and the maitakes perched on top were so inviting.  The one vegetarian I asked said it was really good.

Grilled Berkshire Pork Chop. $39.

"Potato mille-feuille, spring onions, sauce charcutière."

The majority of the group went for the pork chop, which is one of La Société's most well reviewed dishes.  I was glad we were able to offer it to them, and I nearly went for it myself, having seen the photos and great reviews.  Plus, I was very drawn in to the sides.  But, although I like a few bites of pork from time to time, I'm not one to dig in to a big pork chop.  

I did get to try a bite, compliments of a co-worker who was willing to share.  I was impressed with the execution.  The pork was perfectly juicy, and really well seasoned.  It honestly didn't need the sauce, and I say this as a serious sauce person.  The sauce was fine, but tasted a bit basic.  The pork though, cooked beautifully.

I didn't get to try the potato mille-feuille, although it looked as great as I thought it would be, layers of super thin crispy potato, nor the spring onions, that looked expertly grilled.  Some diners got two portions of the spring onions, and others only one, so again, not entirely consistent.  The pork chops varied in size and thickness, although that is to be expected.

Overall, a very good dish, and everyone who got it seemed pleased.  Impressive to pull off at our group size.  **** on execution of the pork, ***+ overall as the sauce actually took it down a notch for me.

Pan Roasted Petrale Sole. $39.

"Leek cream, cauliflower mushroom, crispy kataifi, scallion oil."

Our set menu had the three choices of chicken, pork, or risotto, but I was able to order a pescatarian dish.

This dish didn't necessarily look very attractive, really quite beige, but the crispy kataifi on top were quite tasty, even if they made it look a bit messy.  They were crispy, starchy, and well seasoned.  I appreciated the salt level.  A touch annoying to eat politely with a fork, but my favorite part.

Under the mound of crispy was the fish.  A large piece, fairly mild white fish, petrale sole.  I found the texture a bit mushy, but that is generally how I feel about sole.  I'm never excited by it.  It wasn't fishy, and was seasoned fine.  

The sauce was leek cream, which seems like I'd adore it, but it had a flavor to it that I couldn't pinpoint, and didn't love.  Combined with the crispy things, it also made it overall a kinda heavy dish, which you don't expect from sole.

And finally, the cauliflower mushrooms, which I did really quite like.  Nicely sautéed, soft but with a bit of bite, and well seasoned.  And not a mushroom I see frequently anywhere really.

Overall, it was a fine dish, but not one I'd get again.  I was glad we had the additional sides, as it needed something like mashed potatoes to pair better with the sauce, and I really found myself wanting a lighter vegetable, and not just the mushrooms (even though I liked them).  ***.

Side: Pomme Purée. $12.

On the side we had classic pomme purée, or, you know, mashed potatoes.  The dish was attractively garnished with fresh chive and a drizzle of olive oil.

It was a totally acceptable version of mashed potatoes, a smooth style (pomme purée after all, not a rustic mash).  Thick but not gloopy.  Not particularly creamy, a bit rich, but, decent.  Reasonably well seasoned.  ***.

I also got a chance to try the pomme frittes, a special treat brought out for the birthday girl in our group (with a candle and everything!).  They were above average fries, a somewhat thick style, and really well seasoned.  In general, I found the salt level on everything quite appealing.  

Side: Seasonal Sautéed Vegetables. $12.

The seasonal vegetable side turned out to be just broccolini, one of my least favorite green vegetables, just because my cafe at work serves it all the time.  That said, they did a nice job with this, it was lightly smoky, had a bit of char, a touch of seasoning.  It was nicely crisp still, not too mushy.  About as good as broccolini will ever be for me.  Boring, but well executed.  ***.

Dessert: Classic Vanilla Bean Créme Brulée. $12.

"Fresh & preserved raspberries."

For group dining, we had to pick a single dessert for the group, from their selection of standard 3 desserts: classic créme brulée, warm apple tart tatin with vanilla ice cream, and a chocolate pot de créme.  As you may know, I have a label on my blog just for créme brulée, because I love it so much, but I actually advocated for the tart tatin, as I was really craving something like that.  I love a great warm dessert paired with cold ice cream.  But alas, I was overruled, and we went with the créme brulée, which truly was my second choice anyway, so I was still looking forward to it.

The créme brulée was solidly lackluster, but not bad exactly.  I think it was a decent *pudding*, and I do adore pudding, but, it wasn't a good créme brulée.  To start, the initial test of a créme brulée, the tap test.  As you can probably tell from the photo, this didn't have much of a beautiful bruléed top.  It was very very lightly torched, had no snap, and barely any caramelization.  It failed the tap test entirely.

The body of the créme brulée was smooth, creamy, well set.  Not grainy.  It lacked any particular flavor though, certainly no vanilla bean.  There were no visible specs either.  It was basically just a decent plain pudding, better than a Snack Pack certainly, but lacked any depth.

The fresh raspberries were fine, the bits of freeze dried raspberry were fine, and the mint garnish was really the most flavorful part.

So overall, yup, average pudding, not good créme brulée. **+.