Octavia, San Francisco, 03/10/2018
Octavia opened in 2015 by Melissa Perello and earned a Michelin Star in its first year. Octavia is located in Pacific Heights in San Francisco and is named after the street on which the restaurant is perched on. Melissa is no stranger to the San Francisco restaurant scene and reached the top of her game with her Castro based Frances, earning a Michelin star with the six year old restaurant (which she subsequently lost in 2014). Octavia is borrowing much of Frances’ winning formula, offering refined yet unpretentious dishes in an approachable and relaxed setting and is basically a bigger, bolder incarnation of Frances,,,,,or that's what I was told.
The store front of Octavia.
I called 2 weeks ahead and the only time they could accommodate us is at 5:15PM which is super earlier but we decided to take it anyway.
I have to say that this is the first time we are eating dinner this early.
The inside of Octavia is comfortable with a seamless blend of original history and modern elegance. Octavia's natural light-soaked, open floor plan make you feel welcome and has a very good vibe.
Like I said, we were the first wave to arrive for dinner so the restaurant was still very empty.
Looking from our table to Octavia street.
I was told that the 50-seat space is definitely reminiscent of Frances, with lots of textured wood, black accents, and minimalist art.
The interior is Spare yet warm, with wide-planked distressed floors, black Shaker-style chairs, and servers clad in long denim aprons.
We brought our own wine from our travel in Bordeaux.
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Basically, you can order a la carte or you can order the Chef menu which is about 10 course for $70. We opted for the Chef menu.
Starting the meal with the first course is the Deviled egg, with house baked bread, and gougeres.
Deviled Egg
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Deviled egg, Dolcini Farm egg, fresno chili relish, marash pepper & spice
The egg is sous-vide is nestled in the center of a bowl and surrounded by Fresno chile relish and a thick dusting of Marash peppers and other spices, delivering a touch of heat to the now-classic item and is always on the menu.
Once you cut the egg, the yolk oozed out, and the dried chile coating hits the tongue, it wakes up you palate.
Very nice!
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Cheese gougeres complimentary of the house was not that great! I did not like the texture so we just took a bite and left the remaining on the plate. |
Sarah's house baked Levain, toasted seed and purple barley. Excellent house baked bread with butter sprinkled with butter. |
Halibut Crudo
Halibut crudo, marinated kohlrabi, almond leche de tigre, jalapeno pepper.
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Love this dish! so refreshing and the level of acidity was just perfect for a ceviche.
Charred snap peas
Charred snap peas browkaw avocado, ricotta, lemon vinaigrette, sesame dukkah
Hoa usually does not care much for salad but he loves this one. The snap peas were so sweet and delicious, paired with the richness of the ricotta, avocado was so satisfying. The waiter told me that the peas were the first of the season (so good).
Here at Octavia, all the dishes are served family style and they always bring two dishes a the time.
So here the halibut crudo is served with the salad.
Fettuccine primavera
Fettuccine Primavera, spring asparagus, anchovy, yogurt & pangrattato
The fettuccine was made in house, cooked al dente, lightly creamy and the crispy bread crumbs (pangrattato) gives the dish another interesting texture.
Chicory lettuce, spring onion, feta cheese, shinko pear, shallot & ages parmesan
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The salad is fine but I thought it was not necessary to serve a 2nd salad. I probably would like to see a dish with more substance or something more interesting.
The pasta and the salad were served together.
Grilled Petit Filet, three grain risotto, roasted cauliflower, fava greens, Bordelaise
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The beef was amazing with so much flavor! We enjoyed every single bite of it.
King salmon, routed fennel, English pea, green garlic & preserved Meyer lemon
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Very good fish but we are getting a bit full by now.
That's the end of the savory dishes.
Desserts
Chocolate mousse, lemon tart, blueberries compote, crumbles , and crème fraiche ice cream
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The lemon tart was well balanced with the perfect acidity, the ice cream was also so delightful with a tinge of acidity from the crème fraiche.
Beautifully presentation.
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Chocolate mousse also excellent but we could not finish it (simply too full).
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Ending the meal with a nice cup of coffee which is the perfect pairing with dessert.
Ending our meal around 7:30PM and as you can see the restaurant is totally full now.
Clearly Melissa Perello is no stranger to high quality dinning and our meal were marked by fresh ingredients, refined preparations, and overall flavor balance. Service was attentive, great and relaxing atmosphere, we definitely enjoyed our meal here and will be back again.
Octavia
1701 Octovia Street, San Francisco
Tel: 415 408 7507
NEXT... OCTAVIA 2019
Filed under: Restaurants
