The restaurant is in the heart of downtown San Francisco, so don’t expect a picturesque setting or a gorgeous view – just a challenge navigating traffic and a maze of one way streets.  Thank goodness there is valet parking — with my now dulled suburban parking skills, I’d have never actually made it out of my car.

Once inside, you will be surprised by how effectively the mad din of the city fades away. The décor is tasteful but fairly standard for the SF fine-dining scene.

We were shown to our table – not a stogy table with chairs for us, but a cozy, comfy booth with cushy couch-like seating.  We were a little close to other tables, and at first, I was a little concerned that my excited little dinner partner would disturb our neighbors, but it was a non-issue as that table didn’t get seated during our meal.

We ordered a glass of wine (good solid pino) for me and a strawberry spritzer with lavender foam for her.  I did get to sample it and was amazed that you got a whiff (and taste?) of lavender with every sip of the surprisingly tart (and not that sweet) spritzer. She liked it so much, she had a few of em over the course of the evening.

The menu is a 5-course menu with 3-4 options for each course.  We made the strategic decision to order different items for each course so that we could experience twice the number of dishes (her idea, not mine).  Totally the right way to approach the meal.  If you have to, make a deal with a neighboring table – don’t be shy, cuz its always nice to make new friends (especially if you are getting to try every dish on the menu).

Favabean falafel with tahini and ring of red onion coated in Egyptian spice.

To share with us the inspiration for the coming meal, a server brought by a display box of some of the many spices that would be featured at various points throughout the meal. This was a nice little bit of dinner theater, and certainly added to our anticipation of the impending meal. This first item was brought to the kitchen my Chef Mina’s mother and it had homemade goodness written all over it. 

The other started included :

Radish dipped in cultured cream with volcanic salt: Crunchy and creamy,  tangy and spicy, a bite of contrasts.  I’d eat more vegies (is radish a veggie?) if they came like this.

Summer Tomato with Spanish sweet pepper (biquinho) garnished with a nasturtium leaf: With the flavor of a habanero but only a very mild heat, the biquinho is the ideal pepper for me.  It paired nicely with the super sweet burst of tomato flavor and the grassiness of the nasturtium leaf.  

Black mission fig served along a sliver Iberian ham: This classic dish was elevated by the super sweet fig, topped with a mixture of spices.  The ham was a bit tough, reminiscent of a jerky, but it worked well from a flavor standpoint.

Favabean falafel with tahini and ring of red onion coated in Egyptian spice.

Black mission fig served along a sliver Iberian ham. 

Nantucket Bay Scallops with cucumber, avocado, melon, served with harissa broth.

Definitely not your standard take on harissa broth, with this light tangy and lemony broth that complimented the pan-seared scallops.  The cucumber, melon and pepper added complexity to this dish that I felt was one of the highlights of the meal.

Tenbrink Heirloom Tomato served with sunflower, Za’atar spice, halloumi and holy basil.

A non-traditional take on the classic tomato, cheese and basil salad, these incredible tomatoes were the star of the dish. The halloumi was a bit dense (I think I would have preferred a lighter cheese) and I could have used a bit more sweet basil, but all-in-all, I really enjoyed this interpretation.   The accompanied burrata with grilled squash and tomato was a nice touch.

Nantucket Bay Scallops with cucumber, avocado, melon, served with harissa broth.

Definitely not your standard take on harissa broth, with this light tangy and lemony broth that complimented the pan-seared scallops.  The cucumber, melon and pepper added complexity to this dish that I felt was one of the highlights of the meal.

Saffron risotto with steamed winter vegetables and a generous helping of white truffle. 

Truffles, saffron and creamy risotto –  ‘Nuf said!

Maine lobster with almond, saffron coconut cream and hand-rolled saffron couscous with golden raisins.

A bit more dinner theater with this course.  One of the staff set up a stand with a candle heating element and a clear glass bowl. Were we going to be doing some cooking of our own? Almost – but not quite.  She then brought out a huge bin of saffron (probably $10K worth if I had to guess) and let us take a whif – don’t sneeze…  she plucked a few strands out and put them in the bowl, added coconut cream and then lit the candle.  Over the next five to ten minutes, the saffron slowly steeped in the warming cream and became progressively more yellow. When the lobster came, the beautiful cream was poured into the center to provide a delicious creamy element to the lobster.  Unfortunately the lobster was overdone and rubbery, which is a shame given the upselling of the dish. The other elements of the dish were solid including the delicious dipping sauce.  I will admit however that I did regret not getting one of the other (cheaper) options…

Seriously big bin of saffron!

Yemenite-Spiced dry aged strip steak with Tenbrink Farms Ronde de Nice and black olive.

Amazing steak cooked to perfection.  I had asked for medium and it came a bit rarer than I’m used to, but other than that, it was an amazingly tender cut of meat.  The dry-rub spices were a perfect compliment to other dishes we had over the evening. The cherry reduction and the spicy mustard dipping sauces were a good compliment to the dish, but those who know me will not be surprised to learn that I much preferred the cherry sauce. The medley of peppers was a nice touch of “vegies”.

Grilled Wolfe Ranch quail with fig, kefta, and Coachella corn.

Nowadays, even the corn gets to go to Coachella…  The quail was nicely prepared with well-seasoned crispy skin and moist meal. It also came with grape leaf wrapped quail kefta which was very good. However, we were starting to get pretty full by this point, so we both only nibbled at this dish.  However, in the future, I might skip the lobster and octopus and save room for this dish instead.  A lesson for next year, I suppose…

Hibiscus shaved ice and mochi with cream.

A delicious palate cleanser.  She like the cream and I liked the shaved ice.  Neither of us was a big fan of the mochi because it was an odd texture in this particular setting. 

Glazed strawberry with black sesame, fromage blanc and perilla.

It’s not easy to find such perfect strawberries in November, so when my daughter saw this option, she jumped to choose this as her desert option.  I was a bit surprised given all the other choices available.  She devoured the strawberries and the accompanying berry sorbet but wasn’t overly excited about the fromage blanc wrapped in filo dough and covered with black sesame seeds.  She still can’t accept the idea of cheese for dessert, and I can’t blame her.

Chocolate pyramid with sunflower praline and gold dusted blackberry.

The height of decadent deserts, I chose this pyramid of wonderfulness in reaction to my daughter picking berries for her dessert.  One of us has to act like a pre-teen when it comes to selecting dessert.  This was an amazing dish with a surprise molten center of the chocolate pyramid cake.  Served with a perfectly paired raspberry sorbet and gold dusted ripe black berries (also hard to find this time of year), it was the perfect desert.  I wanted to meet the new pastry chef based just on this dessert alone.

Birthday love from the staff at MM

Assorted treats for the strong finish

Chocolate cookies

Turkish delight

Biscuit with hazelnut spread and white chocolate.