foodie's » San Francisco, CA

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The eponymous restaurant is spread over two rooms, bringing a sense of intimacy to the space. Strategic lighting brings a muted glow to faces, but lights up the menu and food. Honey-toned walls and a beautiful parquet floor add to its warm tones. The three short-stemmed roses in a silver julep tumbler on each table add another romantic gesture. Like other contemporary California cuisine, Danko’s food roams a bit around the world — Moroccan spiced squab and shellfish with Thai red curry, for example — but it’s also grounded in the French classics. Combinations might be beef filet with Perigord truffles or salmon caviar with buckwheat blini. Roasted lobster, lamb loin and foie gras are always on the menu, though preparation and accompaniments change with the seasons. It’s worth ordering soup — perhaps a chestnut and porcini bisque just to see the cunning presentation with a wide, white collar of the plate surrounding the soup. And save one of your courses on the set menus — three, four or five-courses — for the artisanal cheese. A server will roll the granite cheese cart to your table, where the array will astonish you. And then, of course, there are sweets, such as chocolate soup with triple chocolate mousse, or a divine poached pear and gingerbread.

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