In anticipation for this stretch, I plan the annual Cayman trip to top off the fuel gauge. That trip made for some nice experiences, which you can read all about here. Of course there was a celebratory dinner at Coi, and couple nice weekends of Michigan State basketball. But now Michigan State is out of the Big Dance, and it's time to turn my attention to a deeper appreciation of the San Francisco culinary scene. The first restaurant to be crossed off the list: Aster.
Aster - located on the corner of 22nd and Guerrero in San Francisco's Mission District - is the brainchild of Chef Brett Cooper. Prior to opening Aster, Chef Cooper spent five years under renowned Bay Area chefs, including Stuart Brioza of State Bird Provisions, and Daniel Patterson of Coi. With Aster, Chef Cooper strives to serve "creative Californian cuisine in a lively, casual setting."
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| Outside Aster prior to opening for the evening 2017 Aster. San Francisco, CA |
Aster's exterior facade is an unassuming little corner, complete with windowed front, and small brown exterior sign. Entering the establishment, one notes that the large windows in the front let in a nice amount of light to accent the interior. The interior consists of a central table in the center, flanked by booths to the left (looking towards the back), and wall seating on the right.
Table tops are of a lighter wood, seat cushions are of a rich milk chocolate color, and chair and table frames are of a darker brown. Walls featuring a light tan fiber covering, leading up to an "infinity panel" leading to the ceiling, providing a much larger feel to the room. The ceiling itself is covered in a black sound absorbing carpet, accentuated with track lights and free flowing ornamental rope lighting to provide a casual but sophisticated aesthetic.
After entering, I was led to a two-top table along the right wall, and was greeted by a delightful server. After explaining how the menu worked, I ordered a glass of Grüner Veltliner and gave the menu a thorough examination. She arrived with the glass of white wine, and I ordered a four course tasting menu consisting of: 1.) Dry aged beef; 2.) Soft-cooked egg; 3.) Duck; and 4.) Poached Asian pear. As an additional add-on, I ordered the homemade sourdough bread with house cultured butter, and to compliment the meal, wine pairings for each course. With that in the books, let's commence.
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| Dry aged beef with pickled plum, brown rice crisp, kimchi furikake 2017 Aster. San Francisco, CA |
Tonight's first course was the dry aged beef. Dry aged sirloin was cubed tartare style, and served with an aioli, pickled plum, brown rice crisps, and kimchi furikake (Japanese seasoning). Paired with this dish was a glass of Podere il Salento Lambrusco “L’Albone,” a delightful bubbly red wine with crisp mouth feel and nice fruit.
The beef was nice and fresh, with the aioli providing a bit of creamy richness, while the pickled plum brought contrasting notes of fruit while cutting the richness of the beef and aioli with the vinegar undertones. Green herbs lent bursts of freshness, as did the furikake, while the brown rice puff did a nice job providing a texture differential. The wine did a nice job working with the pickled plum to balance the richness, while complimenting the plum flavors with its own fruit tones.
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| Soft-cooked egg with nori, puffed rice, salmon roe and bacon vinaigrette 2017 Aster. San Francisco, CA |
Next up was the soft-cooked egg, served in a bowl with nori, puffed rice, salmon roe and a bacon vinaigrette. This was paired with a Zeitgeist Trousseau Gris from the Russian River Valley of California. By itself, the wine had nice oak flavors with crisp fruit and subdued buttery notes.
Upon stirring the bowl to mix the ingredients at the behest of my server, I was impressed with the various flavors and textures. The egg yoke provided the base richness of the dish, as it mixed and adhered to the other ingredients. The nori provided its signature saline flavors, while bites of the salmon roe lent frequent bursts of its briny goodness to the palette.
The puffed rice provided a nice canvas for all of these flavors to adhere to, while also lending a nice texture differential. Finally, the bacon vinaigrette was fantastic. It added a certain salty bacon richness that worked hand in hand with the egg yoke, and furthermore balanced the saline flavors of the nori and salmon roe. The wine was a nice pairing for this dish, helping control the richness of the egg and bacon vinaigrette, while also lending fruit undertones that rounded out the dish's flavor profile.
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| Duck with spring onion, black garlic tahini, bok choy rabe & kumquat 2017 Aster. San Francisco, CA |
Our third and final main course for the evening was duck, served with spring onion, black truffle tahini, bok choi rabe, and sliced kumquat. This was paired 2014 Heinrich Zweigelt from the Burgenland province of Austria. It offered a cross between a Merlot and a Syrah, with a touch of dryness and soft currant fruit flavor that opened up nicely.
The duck was exceptional, and was actually prepared two different ways: sous vide with a finishing sear or roast; and confit. The sous vide breast was perfectly cooked, with a light pink that was tender and juicy throughout. Furthermore, the skin offered richer duck notes as a finishing flourish with each piece of the breast.
If the skin on the duck breast provided rich duck notes, then the duck confit had that in spades. Duck confit, which is essentially duck seared in its own rendered fat, is full of rich duck flavor. This complimented the duck breast nicely, which sported subtler duck flavor but was a bit more moist in texture. The duck was served atop both black garlic tahini, which complimented the duck by provided nice garlic flavors to the breast.
The bok choi rabe also benefited from the garlic flavors of the tahini, while gaining richness by being tossed with some of the duck au jus. Furthermore, the bok choi lent a nice texture change from that of the duck flesh.The kumquat added nice tart citrus flavor bombs that helps break up the richness of the overall dish. Finally, the wine also paired nicely to round out the showing. The touch of dryness helped reduce the richness of the duck, while its soft fruit flavors did not skew the dish's flavor profile too far in its direction.
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| Poached Asian pear with pistachio and vanilla 2017 Aster. San Francisco, CA |
Tonight's final course was an Asian pear half, poached and served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate disk with pistachio nubs. This was served with a Moscato d'Asti, offering a balanced presentation of sweetness and toffee flavors. The pear itself was a tad under-cooked, requiring a bit more effort to cut than other poached pears that I have had in the past. It was also lacking a little more sweetness, which wasn't compensated by the vanilla ice cream and the cream that it was served with.
The chocolate disk was a nice flourish, with nice chocolate flavor and bits of pistachio goodness. Finally, the wine paired with this dish was excellent, and absolutely helped balance it by lending sweetness and toffee flavors that were not otherwise imbued in the pear during the poaching process.
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| Homemade sourdough bread 2017 Aster. San Francisco, CA |
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing sourdough bread that was an additional item on the menu. The bread was served piping hot, with a healthy serving of homemade butter. Baked to a beautiful crisp crust with excellent flavor, the crumb was equally outstanding with great structure and beautiful sourdough taste.
And with that, our culinary journey is closed for another evening. That leads me to one of the things that make Aster so special: the price. A four course tasting menu is only $65 before taxes and other charges per person, while the additional wine pairings are only $42 per person. You heard me! A four course tasting menu plus wine pairings for under $110! This makes Aster the pound for pound best value in all of San Francisco for haute cuisine.
To recap, I am very impressed with the offering at Aster. Aside from the poached pear desert, every dish offered complex flavor profiles and balanced textures. And even when the poached pear slipped a little, I felt Aster's beverage director really showed her stars. Not only did she continue her excellent wine pairings, but she provided a wine that really helped compliment the weaknesses in the food to bring it back to balance. This is the trademark of an excellent restaurant, and there is no doubt why Chef Cooper has been awarded a Michelin star. I honestly look forward to a return visit, where I can see what new experiences he comes up with next.
Dining date: March 25th, 2017.
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