Fingerling potato, celery, saffron broth, frites, aioli. $11
Wine Kitchen, San Francisco CA
Mmm, I really liked this dish. The mussels were a bit sour and tart from the marinade, but I thought it worked well with the saffron broth and aioli. The components seemed a bit odd to me at first, but they all tasted great together.
Flights of wine.
Weird head sculpture, SoMa.
With saffron and olive oil. $5
Briscola, Reno NV
I don’t expect baby octopus served in Reno to be the freshest in the world, but these were disgusting! You could definitely feel the defrosted texture of these sad creatures in your mouth. The saffron dipping sauce was also chalky. I’m gonna continue with another complaint of this abominable restaurant – the clueless waiter kept bringing us dishes we didn’t order and ended up charging us anyway. Sheesh!
Focaccia and crudite. Complimentary
The focaccia was undercooked and still doughy in the middle, yuck! The large tomato cans that they use as stands at your table were a tacky touch.
Red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa, Adoxaceae), Mount Rose Summit Trail.
Fennel, saffron, chorizo. $10
Social Wine Bar, Charleston SC
This wasn’t my favorite. The mussels were on the small side and the fennel slices were too large and got in the way when navigating through the mussels. The flavors were good though, but how can you really go wrong with chorizo?!
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!
Vittle Monster 