the rooster
1101 valencia street
Tel: 415-824-1222
El Trebol, 3324 24th Street
"The 'kicker' to this experience was when the hostess presented the check and I saw that each entrée was $3.75." Stu Smith
Mangiafuoco, 1001 Guerrero Street
"I recently rediscovered the ideal neighborhood place, Mangiafuoco, at 22nd and Guerrero. It was like bumping into an old friend and remembering they live close by." Mary Coe
The Slanted Door, 584 Valencia
"But the best entrée was certainly the carmelized shrimp. I actually rolled my eyes to heaven and gasped after tasting one of those beautiful little sea creatures." Leslie Dotson
Ti Couz, 3108 16th Street
"Of course, the menu is choc-a-bloc with crepes. Everything you can ever imagine, including the obvious things like meat crepes, vegetarian crepes such as the ratatouille (yes, take note, this is a good restaurant for veggies), and cheese crepes." Susan MacTavish Best
Whiz Burgers Drive-In, 700 South Van Ness Avenue
"They don't make places like Whiz Burgers anymore." Edward Champion
The Rooster is a well done version of the most welcome phenomena to hit the food scene since I’ve been able to hold a knife and fork, and that’s a long, long time. Located in the heart of the rocking Valencia corridor, home to many of the most exciting new restaurants popping up everywhere, the Rooster is the reality of some pretty cool visionaries. The lines under the logo at the top of the menu pretty much say it all: "Country Cooking from around the world presented by Shaw-Na Lee and her husband, Jean-Paul Billault." We then find Chef Stephen Ganner held accountable for executing the wild and sensational ideas of this intriguing couple who take responsibility for The Rooster.
The décor is homey, southwestern, almost uncomfortable, but looks cuteish in a kid's first apartment kind of way. Cheap and somewhat rickety pine tables and chairs on an uneven tile floor with lots of windows and fabric to muffle the sound and absorb the cold that can make the room almost uninhabitable in cold weather like we’ve had this winter, and this is only amplified if you’re seated near the front door which allows a steady cold wind to whistle in through an endless number of gaping cracks. It’s charming though, and is divided into two odd-sized rooms seating a total of about 55 guests with a small bar in the center of the front room. You enter from the corner of the intersection and when it’s not busy you’re seated quickly, greeted somewhat affably when they are hoping for your tip to be generous, and somewhat rudely when they seem not to care about the color of your stinking dinero. Just about everything about The Rooster is consistently inconsistent and one tends to get used to that type of thing like we grow accustomed to a loved relative with halitosis that never ends. The food, though, is quite sensational, and makes all my visits to this otherwise ordinary joint worthwhile. There’s an earthiness I’ve never seen anywhere else, and it’s enmeshed in the descriptions on the menu in an almost hilarious and nonsensical way. Here is a sampling of the nomenclature that dominates the menu: Papa Lee’s vegetable dumplings, sautéed dumplings with black mushrooms, tofu & rice vermicelli which sits directly above red earth salad described as: greens tossed in a black pepper dressing with candied pecans, baked beets & pistachio crusted goat cheese, or mussels steamed in green curry sauce.
As strange as the descriptions seem, the food is almost great. The always inventive & down to earth soup of the day at 3.95 is hearty and a great value. The appetizers like what I’ve described above and The Rooster’s Caesar salad at 5.95, the wonderful sweet & sour sautéed calamari at 5.95, the cashew dusted shrimp tempura and the mussels I mentioned above at 6.95 are really delicious. Main courses are equally inventive and funky with things like tamarind & soy glazed salmon with ginger rice cakes and sautéed baby bok choy & a red curry coconut sauce at 14.95; a scrumptious new world seafood paella with chorizo featuring smoked salmon, mussels, clams, rock shrimp & sofrito along with braised New Zealand Lamb shank with merguez risotto, English peas & garlic infused lamb sauce both at 14.95, a terrific achiote marinated chicken breast & Peruvian-Chile Mash with a corn, scallion & apple smoked bacon salsa at 14.50 (fantastic), and a unique coriander rubbed corvina with black pudding mashed potatoes, asparagus & lobster-tomato barbecue sauce at 15.50 and two vegetarian offerings complete the printed menu offerings. They normally offer several specials that are truly superior but disappear quickly due to the increasing popularity of this ersatz and funky joint that I highly recommend.
I have to mention just two of the outstanding desserts I’ve enjoyed here, because they are better than just about any I’ve had at far more sophisticated and expensive restaurants in the City: I would almost kill for their Verona chocolate ooze with shortbread and the best vanilla ice cream I can remember ever tasting, and they offer several tarts (plead with them to continue the fresh mango version), a must try roulade that is the stuff miracles are made of and a unique Bailey’s espresso crème brulee that will bring tears to your eyes. Desserts range between 5.50 and 7.00 and are superb.
The Rooster offers beer and a thoughtful wine list at relatively fair prices.
The food here is truly remarkable, and if the service came close to matching the food, this would be a major destination restaurant in the City, but service is their Achilles heel, and something they seem to take an exuberant glee with. I highly recommend The Rooster.
Stu Smith
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