Bar Tartine, San Francisco

 This restaurant has a conceptual theme that may or may not appeal.  I definitely liked it more than my spouse did.  It has an a la carte menu, but I highly recommend going with the prix fixed menu.  It has a wonderful and innovative use of local vegetables, fresh seafood, and lots of grains.  The bread comes from the Tartine Bakery and is the stuff that legends are made of, so naturally, that was a highlight.  The bottom line is that while everything was not a slam dunk winner, it was all very interesting and like nothing that I have had before.

The one down side I would say is that while I thought the food was inspirational, it was not food that I thought was particularly attainable at home, at least not while I am a bit off my cooking game.  So while I own the restaurant's cookbook, i did not return home energized to make it myself.  Maybe I should pick out some recipes and devote a weekend to making a meal from it.  I will get back to you on that.