Baker and Banker (and Candlestick Maker?)

Jim has been away deer hunting, so we haven't been cooking all that much (or blogging). He cooked up a storm so that Peta wouldn't have to cook while he was gone (and so that she wouldn't forget him). However, before the trip, Peta's brother Sean, visited from London. We did a bunch of cooking, which we will try to blog about in further posts, but we wanted to write about the wonderful meal to which Sean treated us at Baker and Banker, a husband and wife team cooking in Pacific Heights.

Our reservations were late, at 9:30, after a day of museums, cocktails at Alembic and art galleries. However, we were not seated until 10:00. We had some wine from the knowledgeable sommelier (a Spanish sparkling rosé) and skipped the appetizers. Diving into the menu, Sean had the "Soy and mirin braised black cod, foie gras-shitake sticky rice, grilled bok choy", Peta had the Quail which is not on the current menu but was well-seasoned and Jim had "Seared diver scallops, sweetbreads, artichoke and chanterelle risotto, red wine reduction", although the mushrooms were of a different sort if he recalls correctly.

The food came out promptly and looked great. Peta's and Sean's food was lovely, but Jim's was over-seasoned. He had the other two taste the risotto and they concurred. Luckily, Banker came out to check on us. Jim said that the food was over-seasoned and the chef said immediately that he'd re-fire the dish. A few minutes later, the dish re-emerged and Banker said that the food was over-seasoned. Vindication! Nice.

Jim was offered a comped dessert, which wasn't really necessary because of the attention that the chef had payed to the table, but we got one just for the group just because the Aussies needed to know what a Fig Newton was. Recall the Fig Newton cookies of your childhood. So full of promise, but so short of the mark: bland, soggy, stodgy crust and treacly, thin fig paste. Now imagine the best Fig Newton you can: flaky thick pastry, thick sweet figgy paste and a side of vanilla ice cream with a mint sprig. So, so good. We think that they're crazy for keeping as a dessert special!


Jim and Peta