Bar Tartine--San Francisco (Modern Eastern European-influenced cuisine)

In spite of fleet week and a music festival and one or two games going on in the city this past weekend, I still went there just for dinner. Luckily, the 16th Street BART station wasn't too far from Bar Tartine, located at 561 Valencia Street in San Francisco. I was glad I went though, because everything I had there was presented in a way that I would not and could not have imagined...in a good way. For a look at their menu, here is their web site.
http://www.bartartine.com/

I've heard of Bar Tartine's sandwich shop before, Tartine, and thought this was the place where I would get some awesome grilled cheese sandwiches and pickles. Not so. Here is what I ate.

I started off with a very nice glass of Chardonnay from Anderson Valley. It was mild, light and went down very easily with my Smoked Onion Goat Cheese. The goat cheese also came with fried kale, fried shallots and sprouted rye bread. The goat cheese was very creamy (and covered with a green powder-like food that I did not recognize) and mild and paired very well with the kale and onions. A very nice start.

The next appetizer was the most surprising. I never thought I would be so impressed with a Beet Salad. This had various lettuces, chives, fresh dill and a sprinkling of blue cheese. It had a beet puree on the bottom, was delicately dressed with a sweet vinaigrette and it blew my mind. I could've just had two of those for dinner and called it a day.

For my entree I had the Nokedli, which are cheese dumplings. Another item that wasn't even close to what I was picturing in my mind. This was fresh cheese that was pan fried until golden brown on the outside and served with lobster mushrooms, cabbage and fresh dill in a very savory cream sauce. I also added Bottarga, which is a Scandinavian caviar. The bottarga added a briny saltiness that went very well with this mild cheese.

Dessert was also beautifully presented. A simple sounding Chocolate & Hazelnut Ice Cream Sandwich came looking like a work of art. This also had candied sweet potatoes, which were interesting, as well as a pear cream and burnt sugar. Everything was mildy sweet and was a nice ending to a fantastic meal.

I definitely want to try their sandwich shop, located at 600 Guerrero Street, for some amazing-sounding sandwiches and baked goods. Stay tuned.