Outerlands--San Francisco (Cozy, inventive comfort food)

When I saw this place on Check Please Bay Area, I had to try it and I knew I would like it. Located at 4001 Judah Street in S.F., this looked like the type of place one could go to for any occasion, even just a solo lunch by the beach. When I also heard the husband and wife owners make their own butter to go along with their homemade levain bread, I was sold. Being someone who enjoys baking bread and making little condiments as well, I can appreciate the time and effort it takes to provide these wonderful items to the masses.

For a look at their simple but also rustic and modern looking web site, visit: http://outerlandssf.com/

Nestled in a mostly residential area in the Sunset district, this place looked a bit out of place with its unfinished wood-plank walls and rustic appeal. Parking is not plentiful, but keep your eyes peeled for anyone leaving the beach area after surfing. This place does not take reservations, so be prepared to wait. They do try to make it a comfortable wait though with a cute outdoor waiting area with split logs around the trees and wooden seats on the sidewalk. You can also open a tab and get a couple drinks while you wait. The drinks are a bit light on the alcohol though, so this is not a place to get hammered. The emphasis is on the food and the high-quality, local, seasonal ingredients used for all their offerings.

I arrived at about 7pm on Saturday, so I ended up waiting for one hour. It was worth it though. I started off with one of their seasonal cocktails. Not sure what it was called, but it came in a cute little mason-type jar and had Rum, Armagnac, all spice dram, lime and nutmeg. The nutmeg was an interesting touch and it worked.

Of course, I had to order the Bread & Butter. I think the wait staff expect everyone to order this as well since our waitress finished writing it down before I even said the words. This was a lightly toasted, very thick, hearty bread that had a hefty crust and a nice toasty-ness to it. The homemade butter was soft, warm and sprinkled with a bit of flaky sea salt. Wonderfully comforting.

Next was the Little Gems Salad with turnips, fried pain de mie, fines herb, egg, and grain mustard dressing. The egg was medium boiled, which I prefer, the lettuce was fresh and crisp, and the turnips tasted a bit pickled. It also had just enough dressing. Very nice.

My entree was the Red Trout with Thompson grapes, sprouted nuts and seeds, preserved lemon, sunchoke puree and pomegranate. The combination of grapes and fish was new to me but this dish was so well-balanced, I was amazed at every bite. The different tastes and textures with the sweet grapes and crunchy, salty nuts and seeds, the tart pomegranate and the green garnish kept my palate interested with every bite. The fish was also well prepared and perfectly flaky. Fantastic.

My boyfriend's entree was the Birkshire Pork Belly. Super tender, moist and succulent pork belly was served with braised Savoy cabbage, maitake, pickled negi onion, huckleberries and Banyuls. This was also a very well-balanced dish.

It's interesting how they combine meat with vegetables and fruit to make a different twist on comfort food. Nothing was heavy or full of carbs, but everything was just really good and made you feel good.

The food portions were not enormous so I had just enough room for dessert. We shared the Coffee Creme Brulee with dark chocolate on the bottom, and a really flaky, melt-in-your-mouth passion fruit brown butter wafer. The custard was very light, creamy and smooth with a wonderful aroma of coffee. One of my favorite aspects of a good dessert is not being too sweet and this one came through for me in that regard as well as, again, having a wonderful balance of different flavors and textures.

I also had to try their homemade Apple Cider with bourbon (bourbon optional). This was another nice accompaniment to a very memorable meal.