AQ
Carraway Poppyseed Bread and Cultured Butter
Celery, Lime, and Herb Bitters
Taco of Red Torpedo Onion, Sprouts, Mint, Caramelized Olives, Sardines /Sweet Corn Cromesquis & Cilantro Stem Vinegar /Yogurt with Tarragon Cake and Fresh Tarragon
House Made Butter, Acorn Fed Cured Pork Lomo, Preserved Green Peppers, Whey and Lemon Verbena, Brioche Bread, Chervil
Basil, Charred White Nectarines, Razor Clams in Yuzu Kosho and Tapioca Pearls, Chilled Ramp and Marcona Almond Soup
Nepitilla Octopus Mapo with Garden Peas, Smoked Potato, Okra, Crumble of dried Spicy Herbs, Szechuan Peppercorn, Soy Milk Custard
Lemon Balm caramelized Black footed Iberico Pork and Blood Pudding, Puffed Rice, Beets Roasted for Four Hours and finished with anise seed, preserved sour grapes
Rose Geranium, Local Goat Cheese Marinated with Young Olive Oil and Bay Leaf, Crystalized Rose Geranium, Raspberry
Tarragon Ice Cream, warm early summer corn spoon bread, sweet woodruff infused caramelized condensed milk
Sour Cherry Pate de fruit
In all reality I had no intention of sitting down to a full dinner at AQ when I entered the restaurant at 5:30pm and took a seat at the pass; I was there for a few snacks and a cocktail before dinner at Sons and Daughters a few hours later…at least until my waitress Whitney told me that this night marked the first night for the early summer tasting menu and that I could be the very first guest to experience Chef Liberman’s newest interpretation of Northern California’s bounty of herbs and produce, a quick perusal of the menu assuring me this was an opportunity I shouldn’t miss. With a chef from Sonoma and substantial focus on all that is local and seasonal – on the plate, in the glass, and even hanging from the walls – plus classic French sensibilities on full display it would be difficult to sum up the experience that is a meal at AQ without using the phrase “California Cuisine,” but unlike many places in San Francisco where this can be seen as a slight due to the homogeneity of the market, here it should be seen as a compliment with each plate bright, fresh, and invigorating. Starting with a simple herbal elixir before progressing though plate after plate of intricately layered flavors and textures including an Octopus Mapo that ranks amongst the best things I’ve eaten this year to caramelized pork cooked by bathing the loin at least fifty times in braising liquid to a dessert cornbread that redefined the simple southern classic all while Chef Liberman watched, taught, tweaked, and improvised on the fly…if there is a better $70 tasting menu in America I’d like to book my plane tickets now.
