Dine About Town

Every year from January 15th to January 31st, San Francisco's best restaurants put together a prix fixe $35 dinner and $22 lunch menu. A self-proclaimed foodie, I take advantage of these 16 days and visit as many restaurants as I can without going broke.

Last year I went to dinner at Supper Club and Foreign Cinema, and lunch at Absinthe. Supper Club was overrated and kind of freaky, Foreign Cinema was fun and delicious, but Absinthe took the cake with their French inspired menu, and the fact that I got my in with Top Chef's Jamie Lauren.

This year I went to lunch at One Market, and dinner at Cassis, Foreign Cinema and Luna Park. Here's what I thought (ratings are on a Zagat scale):

ONE MARKET
First of all, they have amazing warm crescent rolls - some of the best table bread I have ever had! I ordered a glass of white wine (yay for boozing on lunch breaks), farmers market salad and dock confit. The salad was light and refreshing, a good start but nothing special. The duck confit was delicious! Not too heavy (even with a bowl of risotto), lots of great flavors, interesting texture. My co-worker ordered the Cobb salad. When it arrived we were both a little confused. It appeared to be a couple pieces of lettuce, some avocado slices, bacon and poached quail eggs on top of something that resembled a pita or flat bread. Turns out it was thinly pounded boneless, skinless chicken breast under the salad! Very well seasoned, the chicken alone encompassed all flavors that go into a Cobb salad. It was a very unique presentation on a classic favorite. The only bad thing about the meal was that our server was kind of all over the place, and she took a very long time to bring our entrees. Other than that, she was very nice and polite - probably just a little busy during the lunch hour.
Food: 20
Decor: 20
Service: 16
Cost: $37

CASSIS
I went here with my close friend and we left very pleased with our evening! We split a bottle of the Viognier, which was reasonably priced at $37 and a perfect fit for the meal. My friend ordered off the main menu: chorizo-wrapped scallops to start, and the duck confit for dinner. I ordered off the DAT menu: duck foie gras (suggested by the waitress - who was French and had a very high-pitched bubbly voice - "because it is a FRENCH restaurant after all"), day boat scallops with crispy Californian wild rice and chorizo, and of course the dulce de leche and hazelnut profiteroles for dessert. Both scallop dishes were delicious. I thought the wild rice was a little undercooked, but then again it was supposed to be crispy so maybe that was the point. The fois gras came with cornbread and blueberry port wine jam. The fois gras was so smooth and creamy - it almost tasted like butter (maybe a little too much), but combined with the cornbread and jam it was an explosion of flavor in my mouth! We decided to top off the meal with some Kir Matisse, because why not? When the waitress brought out the dessert, there was a candle on top and she started singing "Happy Birthday." She placed the plate out in front of me and prompted me for my name when it came to that part of the song. She told me to make a wish and blow out the candle, and then scampered off. It wasn't my birthday, or my friends, and the plate said "Happy Birthday Elyse" on it. It was pretty funny, but we told the hostess it was a mistake. She brought it back to the kitchen, wiped off the birthday message and removed the candle. Oops!
Food: 23
Decor: 19
Service: 20
Cost: $80

FOREIGN CINEMA
Always a pleasure, and great for a small group or a couple. I went here on a double date with my boyfriend and two friends of ours. We ordered a bottle of Cotes du Rhone for the table, and we each ordered off the DAT menu. I had a salad with fennel, croutons and Green Goddess dressing, the cioppino and creme brulee (I also tried the chocolate pot de creme). Everything was delicious, flavorful, light and fresh; I will vow to go back to this restaurant for all future DATs. They were also playing Casablanca on the big screen, which was a beautiful backdrop.
Food: 24
Decor: 25
Service: 24
Cost: $60 per person, I think. Thanks, boys :-)

LUNA PARK
I was with a group of 9 for this meal, and we made the reservation a month in advance. We were seated at a round table, which was very nice because we could all talk to each other. Though, the restaurant was so loud that it was hard to converse with anyone who wasn't sitting near you. It took them a while to take our orders; some people ordered off the regular menu, and some ordered off the DAT menu. My boyfriend and I split a Scorpion Bowl, which surprisingly didn't get us that drunk. Everyone was given a carrot soup amuse bouche, but it came the same time as our appetizers which was a little weird. I ordered an poke tuna appetizer, salmon in a tomato-based broth with fava beans, and make-your-own s'mores (that I happily shared with everyone). The tuna was nothing special; it tasted how all poke tastes but I guess that's what you expect. The salmon was good, but not memorable (maybe because of the Scorpion Bowl?), and the s'mores were good but I was a little too full to finish more than one. Overall, it was a fun night (thanks to the company) but I was a little disappointed with the restaurant itself.
Food: 15
Decor: 12
Service: 13
Cost: $58

Overall, I was very pleased with my Dine About Town experiences and I will certainly go back to Cassis again. I'm happy to have tried One Market and Luna Park, but I probably won't be back there. And to Foreign Cinema, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.