Dine About Town, Round 2 - One Market

(Apologies for the pictures, I didn't have my camera with me, so I had to take these with my cell phone. And no amount of photoshopping can save these photos. I've tried.)

Dine About Town continued tonight with a visit to One Market with Mark and his friend, Paul. Considering its location in the heart of the Financial District (also bordering the Embarcadero), you can tell immediately that this place generally serves a more upscale clientèle.

I was informed during dinner that this place was awarded a Michelin Star ("Ooo la la!"). Quite frankly, that comes as a bit of a surprise. Not to say that the experience was bad, I just expected so much more. Perhaps to expect is simply to set ourselves up for disappointment. On to the food.

Seared Tuna with something-something

Alright, I didn't pay attention to what they said this was. This was the complimentary amuse-bouche that was brought out just after we ordered. The tuna was very fresh and the herbs complemented the fish well. A wonderful start to the meal, though to be honest, I'm impressed merely at the fact that they serve amuse-bouche (it's a fun word to say, too). My only complaint was that we only got one bite =(

Cauliflower Soup with Nantucket Bay scallops, asian pears, pickled ramps

The soup was creamy without being overly heavy. The Asian pears were a bit of a surprise; for a while, I couldn't decide if that was good or bad. I'm a fan of the texture and the added crunch, but it's a weird flavor to mix with the otherwise savory soup. The scallops were delicious though.

Grilled Bay Leaf Marinated Skirt Steak, “boulangere” potatoes, red wine shallot reduction

Though the photo above is dark and grainy, honestly it's a pretty good representation of what was served. The portions were good and the steak was fine on the inside, but it was inexplicably blackened and charred on the outside. Perhaps I had angered a chef for ordering my steak medium (blasphemy to some, I know). For a while I thought that the burnt taste came from the steak, but soon I realized that the sauce tasted burnt too. That was a major downer. The meat and potatoes sat on top of the red wine sauce and, as I soon found out, a sad squished little pile of spinach underneath. I ate the spinach anyway, but considering that it was the only source of color in the dish, I had to wonder why it was tucked away and drowned in the sauce.

Dulce de Leche Bread Pudding, caramel rum sauce, pecans, Tahitian vanilla bean ice cream

Throughout the entire meal, I kept waiting to be blown away; after the disappointing steak, I was ready to give up entirely. And when dessert came out, blown away I was. The bread pudding had a slightly crisp shell on the outside and was soft and warm inside. The candied pecans were toasted nicely. Even the ice cream made Dreyer's taste like a frozen pile of dog turds (comparatively speaking, of course). I should note that Mark ordered the chocolate souffle with chocolate/blood orange ice cream, and that too was absolutely perfect. Hats off to dessert chef. This is the definition of decadence.

So to recap, the soup = pretty good; the entree = eh; the dessert = fantastic. Would I come here again? Maybe next year for Dine About Town. Or maybe just stop by for dessert.

Total with tax and tip, $45. Quite a pretty penny.

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http://www.yelp.com/biz/one-market-san-francisco
1 Market Plaza, San Francisco, CA 94105