Wayfare Tavern
Popovers with Salted Butter
Devils on horseback – Medjool dates, blue cheese, shiso hazelnut pesto
Organic Fried Chicken – buttermilk brine, roasted garlic, crisp woody herbs, lemon
Darlene Peach Pie – Organic Frog Hollow peaches, brown butter ice cream, rosemary sugar
Admitting up front that I’d not recognize Tyler Florence if I ran into him on the street my visit to Wayfare Tavern was predicated on one thing; a friend’s claim that the restaurant served the best fried chicken he had ever experienced – a bold claim that I hoped to verify while dining at the pass alongside some of San Francisco’s power lunch crowd. A large room, rustic but with high ceilings and large windows adding some levity to the taxidermy, wood, and leather the service at Wayfare Tavern was professional if not friendly and after brushing aside no less than three suggestions to order wine or a cocktail I placed my order and within moments was enjoying the first of two buttery popovers served with salted butter that, had I not limited myself could have easily turned into a half dozen. Moving next to an appetizer suggested as one of the chef’s signature dishes a quartet of enormous dates arrived stuffed with blue cheese and wrapped in prosciutto atop aromatic pesto and shortly thereafter came the chicken, a truly remarkable presentation very lightly breaded and rife with notes of sage, rosemary, thyme, buttermilk, and garlic – it was a dish easily large enough to feed two and if not the best fried chicken I’ve had to date at least a very strong contender for that title, a sentiment that could equally be applied to dessert – a flaky crust literally stuffed to bursting with fresh peaches and topped with a crackling sugar glaze that I was more than happy to take on solo even if it was probably intended to be shared.
www.wayfaretavern.com