Boulevard, San Francisco

Hegui took me to Boulevard for my birthday the other day. I’ve wanted to go back for a while now. This place was really hot when we first moved here from New York in 2003. In fact, it is strewn with numerous awards and the chef, Nancy Oakes, has even won the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award, for “Best Chef in California” according to their web site.

Located in, for San Francisco, an ancient building, the 1889 Audiffred Building was spared in the infamous 1906 earthquake and fire that destroyed most of the City. The pics from our dinner don’t really capture the beauty of this French styled masterpiece. We visited after sunset on a rainy evening so contented ourselves with admiring the interior.

Since my b-day is in December, the place was decked out for Christmas. All of the trees, wreathes, crystal snowflakes, ribbons and ornaments really added to the already stunning interior. The restaurant has a peacock theme. This lovely (but horribly noisy) bird can be found in mosaics on the floors and walls, on their web site, and pops up almost everywhere else. The tables are covered in bright white linens adorned with sparkling stemware and shiny silver flatware.

Boulevard is sort of long and narrow with a very active open kitchen and charming bar area that even boasts stained glass. The vaulted ceilings made of brick always charm me. That is just not something that you see that often in California.

We had an early-ish reservation so when we arrived, it was not that crowded. But that changed fast. Soon the place was bustling and quite full. There is no sense of the Great Recession going on here. The down side of the crowd was that service was really slow. I remember that being a factor on previous visits as well. Neither of us really minded that much. Our waitperson was very nice and we didn’t feel any need to hurry.

The restaurant has a fairly extensive and reasonably priced wine list. We opted for a bottle of 2008 A. Rafanelli Dry Creek Valley zinfandel, as a few years ago we toured that winery on my birthday. The wine was good: rich with fruit, earth and caramel notes with a long finish: perfect for a cold evening.

Boulevard is a meat-lovers dream, though, since we’re us, we went for the appetizers and the not-on-the-menu vegetarian entrée. We started with the Monterey Calamari stuffed with rock shrimp and kabocha pumpkin, the winter citrus and organic arugula salad with smoked Medjool dates and pine nuts, and the Dungeness crab salad with cucumber and heart of palm. All of these were really flavorful and tasty. We were especially enchanted by the smoked Medjool dates. These were smoky, sweet, chewy goodness. Apparently they prepare them themselves at the restaurant using apple wood. Hegui wants to try that at home now. I can’t wait!

I adored the stuffed calamari. Really, I cannot think of any calamari that I don’t like, but these were extra special. The grilled squid had a delightful filling of shrimp and kabocha. The tentacles were breaded and deep-fried. The dish came with a Ginger, Yuzu & Japanese Chili, Shishito Pepper & Lemon Relish. I’ve no idea what that even is but it sure tasted fine.

Hegui had the appetizer portion of soft polenta and organic egg with squash purée and shaved truffle for his main. I tried the vegetarian dish. The polenta was extremely rich. He couldn’t keep his hands off it! The not-that-exciting whole-wheat sourdough bread sure came in handy then to sop up all the yummy-ness.

The vegetarian main was something else again. Putting the various accompanying sides from the meat and seafood main courses all on a single platter makes this “dish”. So really it is an afterthought. This hodge-podge had cooked Asian pear, chanterelle mushrooms, a stuffed artichoke, some parsnips, tomatoes and other things elegantly arranged across a long platter. Each thing tasted good, though the flavors didn’t necessarily go one with another.

Really, I don’t get it. This is San Francisco, after all. It is not that strange to have vegetarian people going for fine dining here. Why in the world doesn’t Boulevard have real options for us? I can’t see how difficult it would be to offer a well thought out vegetarian entrée. Honestly!

Hegui surprised me by ordering not one but two desserts. These came with chocolate placards proclaiming “Happy Birthday” and candles aflame. One was a profiterole stuffed with peanut butter ice cream and drizzled with chocolate; the second, a kind of Meyer lemon cheesecake with sorbet. We enjoyed both. Hegui truly amazed me by eating them with gusto, though he complained afterward that it was too much sugar. Poor thing.

So there you have it. Boulevard is a fine restaurant in a beautiful building with wonderful appetizers and desserts, interesting wine, but is a little sloppy with planning, particularly for those of us who eschew meat or in a hurry. Nevertheless, I would go back, like our waitperson hoped, “To give [them] another chance.”