Mercury
540 Howard Street
Tel: 415.777.1419
It goes down real smooth. The food, the décor, the music. An evening at Mercury is soothing to the soul.
Now onto its third month, Mercury has become the topic of conversation amongst the chattering beauties in San Francisco. Initially, no doubt, because of its celebrated design by Craige Walters and Charles Doell (think Red Room, Commodore Hotel, BackFlip). However, the food merits as much attention and ovation as the decoration.
Remember DV8 down on Howard Street? That's the space that Mercury is now in so there are numerous levels, corners, and nooks 'n' crannies in which tables are nestled. With sand-blasted glass walls and subtle floor lighting casting long shadows towards the ceiling, the atmosphere suggests the mystery of a smoke-filled supper club and the peacefulness of underwater (despite Louisiana's finest, Guy Martin, having designed the metallic column strappings). Fortunately, for your hair, you're in neither.
We went for dinner on a Tuesday night and while the main dining room wasn't madly packed, they still had a substantial crowd for an early week evening. Wait another month and I suspect you'll be lucky to get a reservation before 10pm. All of the tables are very private whether you're in one of the sumptuous wall booths or one of the circular open booths scattered throughout. With the music at just the perfect volume, you're completely unaware of other guests. Think dinner-date venue.
We ordered wild mushroom soup and organic greens to start. The soup was hearty without being heavy, a sort of puree of mushies. The greens were greens. Good. Fresh. They were our righteous dish--our daily dose of folic acid. I tucked into some ahi for my main course which was heavenly! Singed merely on the outside, it was tender and simply disintegrated into my mouth. Always a good sign when something melts! My partner had the filet mignon which arrived perched on top a bed of small new potatoes and other tubers. Thumbs up from that camp; the steak was soon history. And it was a hearty-sized steak to boot!We were sufficiently sufficed at this point so did not indulge in any of the desserts. Though I did note there was a Crème Brule which definitely demands investigation next time.
The service at Mercury is sporadic. The atmosphere and the food merit excellent service yet it's not there yet: our appetizers were forgotten and our water wasn't filled until our main courses arrived. Hopefully, with a few more weeks under their feet, management will tighten this up.
The restaurant is currently only open for dinner, Monday-Saturday. Of course, depending on the public's demands, it may open up for lunch. It'll need a loyal following to do that as it's not located in a high pedestrian traffic area. Though, neither is the Ramp. So, fingers crossed.
Susan MacTavish Best
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