Served with peaches, raspberries and whipped cream. $9
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
This dessert was very good. The polenta cake was perfectly baked, and I loved the texture. You could feel the polenta grains playing in your mouth. The peaches were simply prepared, but were ripe and delicious. And the raspberries looked beautiful on the plate. The syrup added extra sweetness and moisture to the entire dish. Simple and delicious!
Served with lemon verbena ice cream and a ginger crumble. $9
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
While this desert tasted fine, there was something about it that felt a little flat. Perhaps the portion was too small, or perhaps the plate looked a little sad – I’m not sure. I did love the additional fo the ginger flavored crumble. It added a great flavor and texture to an otherwise boring(ish) plate.
Thick cut shortribs with scarlet turnips, padron peppers and romesco sauce. $30
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
This was one of my favorite dishes at Bar Agricole. I guess you can’t go wrong with perfectly grilled, fatty shortribs, lol! It’s hard to see from the pic, but there was a lot of ribs on the plate. I actually couldn’t finish all of them, but not wanting them to go to waste, I had them boxed up (hehe). The padron peppers were SO yummy, but I’m biased since padron peppers are my favorite. The turnips were good, but some pieces were a little dry. The romesco sauce provided another wonderful flavor and went perfectly with the grilled beef. I would order this again in a quick second!
Rabbit two ways – braised leg and a roasted saddle wrapped in pancetta. Served with Jimmy Nardello peppers, Romano beans, and farro. $30
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
This dish was just OK for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the pancetta wrapped saddle – it was cooked perfectly and tasted amazing! However, the braised leg in combination with the sauce was SO salty! And that says a lot coming from me, a salt monger. I did love the Jimmy Nardellos – they looked great and tasted even better. I’ve recently noticed more restaurants using these lately, as well as shishito and padron peppers. I won’t complain because I love them all. The remainder of the plate was forgettable…
Tender white sea bass with summer squash, plum tomatoes, purslane(?), saffron and aioli. $29
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
The fish was cooked perfectly, but I must say that the broth stole the show. It was so flavorful and refined. The chunky cuts of plum tomatoes and squash were perfectly proportioned and provided great color. What I didn’t like was the purslane. It looked cool as a garnish, but it was too slimy and the fleshy texture was off-putting. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to eat it, lol!
Mixed lettuces with Chioggia beets, avocado, toast and a tarragon vinaigrette. $13
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
This dish was absolutely beautiful with the pinkish red beets, green lettuces and avocado, pale vinaigrette, and dark toast. I didn’t know what a Chioggia beet was, but apparently Chioggia is a coastal town near Venice and the beets have concentric white and pink stripes before they’re cooked. They tasted great! Not sure where the mixed lettuces were though. There was only one type of green, and it appeared to be some type of cress.
Slice of pork pate served with toast, aspic, mustard and caper berries. $10
Bar Agricole, San Francisco
The server explained that the pate was “country style” since it consisted of chunkier pieces, not the smoother pates you usually see. This pork pate was absolutely delicious and filling! I just wish it came with more bread because the pate slice was pretty sizable. I’m guessing that the aspic was also from pork, but I’m not sure. Regardless, everything tasted great together!
Someone at the table didn’t know what aspic was, and I smiled because I remembered having to look it up while reading Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential”, lol! I was happy to explain that it’s a jelly made from a stock (usually meat or fish) and gelatin.
