Kokkari

200 Jackson Street (at Front)
San Francisco, CA 94111

Greek in Jackson Square (more like the edge of Financial)



I visited this bustling place sometime last November or December for dinner. I went with my friend Frank, his roommate, and Frank's friend Jason who was in San Francisco for business. That meant, of course, that some corporation would be paying for our meal. Sweet.

The environs of the restaurant are great: The lighting and interior color scheme are set such that the evening can be romantic or corporate. In addition, the decor follows a cohesive and conservative theme that helps make the patron feel a little like a traveller. The four of us sat in a booth like the ones of the right side of the following picture (the restaurant is more dimly lit in real life than in the photo):



Because none of us would be personally footing the bill, each of us ordered with minimal restraint. We got a variety of dishes and two bottles of wine. One dish I remember was arnisia paidakia -- grilled lamb riblets with lemon and oregano accompanied by potatoes. The meat was succulent and seasoned perfectly. The horiatiki -- a tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, onion, oregano, olive and feta salad -- was crisp, fresh, and sharp-tasting at all the right notes. We also got a fish dish, but that was forgettable (as you can see). The appetizers were good. Totally don't remember what I got though.

The highlight was the dessert: galaktoboureko -- semolina custard wrapped in filo with huckleberry compote and pear sorbet. This was the best dessert I've ever had in my life. It was refined but not snobby, rich but not corpulent, and sweet but not sickening. It was a successful balancing of tastes, textures, and temperatures. When dining at restaurants, I don't order dessert that often, so take my review of galaktoboureko with a grain of salt. I thought it was pretty good, but maybe my expectations were too high. It's definitely not the best I've had, but I'm probably also more picky than jesse is =P

Go to Kokkari at least once in your life, if just for the dessert. They also serve Greek coffee, which is stone-ground coffee heated over hot sand.



-J - k

(All photos courtesy www.kokkari.com.)

I like how jesse is so careful about copyrighting/giving credit haha