Welcome to Annie's Bistro in San Francisco

San Francisco Bay Guardian - July 28, 2004: Best Bistro at Which to Drink California Wines by the Glass or Half Glass

The New Fillmore November 2003

The New Fillmore February 2002

San Francisco Bay Guardian - July 28, 2004

Best Bistro at Which to Drink California Wines by the Glass or Half Glass

This is restaurant wine the way it should be: easy to sample and compare, with the costs of experimenting kept to a minimum.

You're glancing through a wine list and noticing many interesting bottlings, many wines you'd like to try -- but you notice too that only a few of them are available by the glass. There are many layers of meaning here, most of them annoying, but the most important is that you aren't -- but probably should be -- at Annie's Bistro. The food is quite good at this small neighborhood spot in lower Pacific Heights, and it's fairly priced (a pair of real pluses), but the wine list is extraordinary. It isn't extraordinary for its length or breadth (a single page of entries, most from California) but for the fact that you can get almost every wine on the list by the glass or half glass (the wine world's answer to the small plate). This is restaurant wine the way it should be: easy to sample and compare, with the costs of experimenting kept to a minimum. 2819 California, S.F. (415) 922-9669.

The New Fillmore November 2003

Fillmore Food & Wine

By Ed Schwartz

Annie's Bistro is a place you should really check out.

I can't imagine anyone not liking this excellent and different dining experience.

The only thing that seems to be lacking at Annie's Bistro these days is warm, hungry bodies enjoying themselves. We re-visited Annie's at 2819 California Street the other evening and were rewarded with interesting and delicious food, overly attentive service, a terrific wine list and too many empty chairs for a place this good. "Why?" I mused and I couldn't come up with a reason.

True, the place bears no resemblance to the trappings of a trendy restaurant -- décor isn't the high point at Annie's. But it has been dressed up a little bit, and there are some warming candles in the window. Anyway, who can eat décor?

Last year, my doctor, Richard Lanzerotti, (yes, I am gaining weight, Rich, but what's a guy to do?) turned me on to this place and he was right. The menu has gained even more interest and while not every dish hits the gong, one has to admire the creativity and taste behind every item on the focused bistro menu.

A salad of lobster, port-poached figs and sautéed foie gras was so nice that I didn't want to share it with my wife and gourmand granddaughter, Ana Clare Smith, but I did. It's one of those treats that is so good, you just want to have another one. There was also a delicious salad of Roquefort, greens, caramelized pears toasted walnuts with a pear vinaigrette, a tomato and mozzarella salad very much in the Italian tradition and a warming soup of the day. The appetizers hover around $8.

The main courses were such that I know I could have enjoyed any of the six offered. I had the pan-roasted halibut with a superb risotto of mushroom, asparagus and Parmesan and it could not have been better or more enjoyable, the fish crisply done on the outside and tender inside.

My wife had a French bistro take on the Mexican standard Chile Relleno. Instead of a tortilla, the dish was thinly egg wrapped with an excellent combination of chili, mushrooms, olives, cheese and artichoke and a fresh red sauce that pulled it all together into an excellent idea. Roasted medallions of lamb were served with a timbale of white beans. A chicken breast marinated in Cabernet and cocoa looked great as it passed our table. Impressive, too, was the fettuccini topped with lobster, prawns, scallops and fish in a tarragon lobster broth. Prices were in the $12 to $17 range.

Desserts were excellent and the wine list was exceedingly well thought out. Annie's Bistro is a place you should really check out. I can't imagine anyone not liking this excellent and different dining experience.

The New Fillmore February 2002

Fillmore Food & Wine

By Ed Schwartz

Annie's Bistro: a great find!!!

There are all kinds of restaurants in San Francisco: one star, two stars, three stars, and no stars. I wouldn't give "stars" to Annie's Bistro, 2812 California, I would call it a great find with three exclamation points!!! A "great find" in my book means that you should stop reading this review and make a reservation to dine there at once. And how often have I said that? I can be effusive, but to tempt you to read through, I will put the telephone number at the end of this review.

Here's why. A chef wants to do several things: Make the food eye appealing; make it creative; make it taste really good and make the prices reasonable. Annie's chef wins on all counts.

For example, at a recent lunch, an appetizer presented three slices of golden beets topped with white anchovies, roasted peppers, basil, all for $8. Really wonderful fired calamari heaped on the plate with harissa aioli, crispy and hot, for $7. Seared foie gras with pomegranate and lemon sautéed spinach -- great -- and not $20 as at one of the fancy restaurants downtown, but $12. A wonderfully idiosyncratic tomato soup with a goat cheese crouton and basil strips for a steal: $5. What a color!

One appetizer was so good I didn't want to share it with anyone. It was a seafood soup -- a heavenly, light, white cream-based broth, rich and erotic. In the soup: fresh lobster, shrimp, clams and the broth, spotted with light drops of a lobster oil/chili infusion. It was superbly delicious and would be a credit to any restaurant, anywhere. Yes, even a chic spot in Paris. No, I'm not kidding!

If you want to go nuts and splurge to the max, you can get a filet mignon with potato galette with a sauce made from truffles and foie gras, just on the north side of $20. Or a host of wonderful entrees for under $20 at dinner: seared sea bass with a crispy vegetable crepe or a spiced chicken breast with pesto mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus and lemon sauce.

What really knocked me out at lunch-time was a lobster "BLT" with bacon, lettuce and tomato and more lobster in that sandwich that you could ever imagine. It was that thick. When I heard they might take it off the menu because at $10 it was too costly for the kitchen, I told the waiter don't take it off the menu, either cut the lobster portion in half (it would still be more than enough) or raise the price to $15 and it would still be reasonable.

So, all of you out there who read my stuff: go there an get impressed. The food is great. What isn't great is the decor. You will know upon entering that Pat Kuleto did not do this one. For this great food, do not sweat the bizarre setting. Just revel in the fact that rarely if ever are you going to find a find like this find.