Fifth Floor (San Francisco)

For my 35th birthday in september, my wife and i went to the Fifth Floor restaurant at Hotel Palomar (12 Fourth Street, San Francisco). True to its reputation, everything from the decor and service to the food reeked of unabashed, in-your-face elegance. With 35 being something of a milestone birthday, we decided to go all out and each ordered the 7-course chef prix fixe with wine pairing. (a cool $200 per). If nothing else, it was a long meal with plenty of variety. The deal with this "chef's tasting menu" is that for a party of two, you each get a different dish for each course! Add to this the 2 free amuse-bouche thingies, and we each got to taste a whopping 16 dishes. (and 14 wines). What a load of food. The food certainly reflects the restaurant's stated ingredient-driven philosophy. Simple and elegant, while restrained and expressive at the same time. In particular, the yellowtail sashimi and salmon dishes really let the ingredients shine through. The fact that we got two different plates for each course was especially useful when we came upon the obligatory fois gras course. We got served a warm fois and a cold fois, and i was saved the dilemma of choosing which version of the fatty delight to indulge in. Not even the fact that we were given a couple of pours of the lofty ice wine (one from canada and the other from alaska), rather than a sauterne could detract us (significantly) from the enjoyment. There were though a couple of not so memorable plates. The lobster tail dish in particular fell short on the excitement scale. It was just too bland and perhaps even unimaginative. All in all, it was highly enjoyable experience, and worth the big bucks. I'm not sure if Fifth Floor is on par (in my humble opinion) with the other french greats in the city like Gary Danko or Fleur de Lys, but a superb joint nonetheless. http://www.fifthfloorrestaurant.com/