(off Montgomery, between Pacific and Jackson), San Francisco (415) 433-6300. Find his blog at and his reviews on E-mail: Twitter: ★ ★ĥ6 Gold St. Michael Bauer is The San Francisco Chronicle’s restaurant critic and editor at large. I see people standing three deep at the bar and hear the melodic tinkle of cocktails being shaken, and it’s obvious why Bix has endured. The chocolate brioche bread pudding ($10) had good flavor, but the sandy grains of undissolved sugar were distracting, and when I tasted the financier ($10), I heard Richard Harris singing, “Someone left the cake out in the rain.” Both deflate the high of the savory courses.īut then the live music washes over the dining room, with its impressive columns and soaring ceiling. Now the kitchen needs to turn attention to dessert. The waiter is happy to split the order - and it’s a perfect celebration of the season. He’s also carrying on the tradition of the tomato cart ($17), where several types of tomatoes, burrata and a confetti of basil are arranged on the plate and dressed with a simple vinaigrette table side. Yet Bix attracts a wide-ranging crowd, and Eng is able to produce classics such as the chicken hash ($8) and the lobster spaghetti ($37) while adding his stamp to items such as the California white sea bass ($35) perched on a pile of sauteed spinach with green olives and chunks of firm, acidic tomatoes. With their vests and ties, servers are the antithesis of the jeans-and-T-shirt-clad staff that seems to populate most new restaurants. Once we were seated, service was as smooth and professional as it’s always been. Given the circumstances, that felt right. The host was able to give us a table, with the proviso that another party would need it at 8 p.m. Somehow I screwed up on OpenTable I thought I had booked for 6:30 p.m., but my name (fake, of course) was nowhere to be found on the reservation list. Service continues to remain on point - adult servers for an adult restaurant. Here five slices of hamachi are draped over chunks of just-ripe avocado scattered with chiles, ginger and toasted corn nuts. His more refined side shows on such dishes as a la minute ceviche ($16). He’s created a version of General Tso fried chicken ($10) with just the right amount of sweetness in the sauce coating the crisp nuggets, making the dish well tailored to one of the always well-crafted classic cocktails. He never found his footing there, but at Bix he combines casual and more buttoned-down genres. However, with the help of chef de cuisine Emmanuel Eng, best known for his work at Maverick, the menu at Bix is taking on a new polish.Įng most recently was the chef at Bartlett Hall. Hill is an excellent chef, but with so many restaurants to watch over, it’s tough to consistently produce three-star food. It’s always been one of my favorite places, and the food has been consistently good under Bruce Hill, who is also involved in Picco in Larkspur and Zero Zero and Fog City in San Francisco. The feel is akin to a supper club - the low lighting is keyed to romance, and the location in an alley makes it feel like a speakeasy.īix is a restaurant that’s for all seasons, and all reasons. Both areas weave a tale of nostalgia and romance.īix, which opened in 1988, is one of the rare restaurants that’s been able to walk the line between tradition and innovation. Upstairs, the mezzanine overlooking the always-packed bar and dining room is lined with booths that give diners an added sense of privacy.
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