postrio
545 post street
Tel: 415-776-7825
On April Fool’s Day, 1989, San Francisco became home to one of Wolfgang Puck’s first outposts of culinary empire, and it has been a spectacular and consistent success since that opening day.
Postrio is also the work of a younger and more innocent Pat Kuleto and his earlier work stands the test of time with a grace hard to imagine of later and more ego driven apparitions like Farallon.
Puck is one of the true pioneers of fusion cooking, of the modern display kitchen and of bringing a true participatory sense of community to every zip code he favors with a Puck food emporium. Postrio begins for me as I enter the bar area and feel the good vibes that emanate from a crush of people with a variety of reasons to be where they are at the moment I encounter them. There are those waiting for their table, and they vanish or depart quickly because Postrio treats the business of reservations seriously and with honor unlike so many other expensive eateries here. Then there are those supping on delicious bar food, a menu that is served all day long until closing and features just about the best bar pizza available anywhere. There are small groups of shoppers, convention attendees, people gawkers, solo business types and hotel guests which makes an eclectic and exciting blend of action. Postrio is almost a nuisance to nearby residents and businesses since opening because it is a ‘big business’ and requires a lot of supplies and services to be delivered on a daily basis which causes myriad traffic problems, sometimes making it impossible and impassable even for the maligned Muni bus lines that pass in front throughout the day and night. Then there is the crush of autos that are parked by the small army of valets employed by Puck for his SUV driving fans who only make the mess worse. It reaches its most maddening when President Clinton is in town and insists on dropping by for his favorite San Francisco food which has been too frequent the past several years.
The bar is great, fine displays of great wines, champagnes, spirits and beers abound. The drinks are generous and perfectly prepared. The food is terrific for bar food and the feel is always upbeat. Postrio is perceived primarily as a dinner house, but it starts serving breakfast every day at 7:00 a.m. and then offers lunch from 11:00 till 2:30 and dinner from 5:30 till at least 10:00 with the bar menu being available all day until closing. The menus change daily and actually captures and exploits the seasonal nature of the bountiful harvest of produce that is so abundant in Northern California year round. I love having breakfast here, it’s never over crowded, the place feels fresh and new, the smells are seductive and sensual, and no one does soft scrambled eggs with lobster, mascarpone and chives the way Postrio does. It is one of my favorite breakfasts in the world and only a few places will even attempt it. They also can claim some of the best bacon and pastries to be found anywhere.
For lunch I will often ask if I can get a lobster club which is not always on the menu, but which the kitchen will make if they are featuring lobster in any other preparation that day. The breads, pastries and baked goods are the brilliant work of pastry chef Susan Brinkley, a star in her own right, and elevate all of this ambitious kitchens efforts a notch or two above almost all other relatively equal restaurants hereabouts. Other outstanding breakfast and lunch choices are the beef brisket hash with poached eggs and roasted red pepper aioli at 9.00, the grilled duck and fruit sausage with soft scrambled eggs at 10.00, the breakfast pizza, the banana fritters with cinnamon crème fraiche and wild flower honey at 7.00. At lunch any version of potsticker being served will be outstanding, the stir fried garlic chicken in radicchio cups with green onions and crispy garlic chips at 10.00, the homemade charcuterie plate with marinated olives at 9.50 in appetizers, followed by superb pastas like herb gnocchi with lamb tenderloin, roasted garlic and nicoise olive sauce at 13.50 and entrees such as the saffron risotto paella at 16.00, the Sonoma lamb pot roast with celery root puree and Indonesian Curry at 14.50 or the grilled salmon with wasabi mashed potatoes, Szechuan glaze and miso dressing at 15.50. Dinner brings out the big guns and among my favorites are appetizers like Postrio’s cioppino with shellfish, oregano and extra virgin olive oil at 9.00, smoked rabbit and foie gras springroll with English peas, asparagus and mushroom reduction at 14.00 and the sensational brochette of calamari with celery reduction and bacon sherry vinaigrette at 14.00, followed by entrees such as grilled Sonoma lamb chops with braised greens, lamb ravioli, foie gras cream and Madeira wine jus at 28.00, sautéed sweetbreads with sweet shrimp, baby spinach and coffee mushroom jus at 27.00 or the sensational grilled Paine Ranch Squab with roasted baby artichokes, foie gras, olives and crispy polenta at 26.00. I have to extol the heavenly decadence of Susan Brinkley’s desserts once more before concluding this review. She is an artist and genius and among my most memorable dessert offerings as prepared under her vivid imagination are: Sonoma Cheve Cheesecake with Port Jelly and Spiced Pecans; Warm Apple-Apricot Tart Tatin with Cardamom Ice Cream; Double Fudge Brownie Sundae with Malted Milk Chocolate Ice Cream and her ‘out of this world’ Scharffenberger Chocolate Crème Brulee in a Hazelnut Cookie Stack. There are more desserts offered and like the menu these change daily. All desserts are 8.00, a sampler for two or more is offered for 8.50 per person and a cheese selection is offered for 12.00. Each item I have sampled on the dessert menu, like the breakfast, lunch and dinner menu’s has been superb, and after ten years this April, I must concur with my fellow critics and an adoring public that Postrio is a unique and dynamic part of the cultural scene here is San Francisco.
Postrio is ambitious and consistently earns each of the stars it has been granted by critics everywhere and more importantly a devoted public. I highly recommend Postrio.
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