San Francisco
By
Carol & Joe Davis
Dining Detectives
It
was another San Francisco summer day with the fog thick in the
morning but by late afternoon it was sunny, windy and beautifully
mild. The Bay glistened as we walked down The Embarcadero to our
dining destination. The Plant Café Organic Restaurant
is located at PIER 3 which in a recently renovated historic green
waterfront building which has rooftop solar with on site electrical
energy production. The Plant opened a few years
ago and has been known for great Bay views for Breakfast, Lunch
and Cocktails but had a limited Dinner Menu. Now Executive Chef
Sascha Weiss, who we were pleased to meet and
chat with has added a new Dinner Menu which makes it a true evening
option and a real dinner house. They use organic and locally sourced
ingredients, offer fresh Organic Juices and have menu items that
are Vegetarian, Vegan and Wheat Free..
We
were seated on their heated outdoor waterfront patio where we
had a lovely Bay view and were impressed by the décor which
included lovely sunflowers on every table. We ordered cocktails
including a perfectly potent Cosmopolitan with fresh
lime juice and a tempting, tasty and tart Red Blossom
made with Square One Vodka, Kombucha, fresh berries, hibiscus
and framboise.
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The
Appetizers that we chose were all quite impressive, fresh and
flavorful. We enjoyed the spicy Shrimp Dumpling which
was a tasty shrimp wonton with roasted poblano chili broth and
cilantro. The Duck Shitake Spring Roll was
wrapped in rice paper with soy ginger sauce and sliced mango were
also excellent. We also loved the Linguini with Maitake and
English Peas. The fresh pea pesto and lemon basil was a perfect
light sauce for the luscious pasta with peas and mushrooms.
The
Pan-Seared Day Boat Scallops with luscious
mango lime reduction and citrus were crispy and juicy. We also
loved their Soup of the Day which was a made with delicious fennel,
tomato and basil. Next, we had a Pizza. The Wild Mushroom
Pizza with truffle oil, mozzarella, parmesan and evoo had
a great thin crust and was quite aromatic....truly fantastic!
The Entrée that we enjoyed was the Coconut
Crusted Pacific Halibut with coconut lime reduction
and a side of kale.
The
Plant Café Organic has a full bar and offers over
twenty interesting wines by the glass for pairing. We enjoyed
the 2010 Biohoff Weinwertel Austrian Gruner Veltliner,
the 2009 Navarro Anderson Valley Riesling, the 2008 Domaine
Carneros Pinot Noir and the 2006 Michele Schlumberger Dry
Creek Merlot.
As
you know, we always save room for Dessert. We loved the Raw Raspberry
Cashew Cheesecake with young coconut pecan date
crust and blackberry pepper sauce. It was amazing....vegan, subtle
and nourishing! The TCHO Chocolate Cake with Blue Bottle
coffee ice cream and almond-cocoa nib tuile was decadent. A pot
of French Press Blue Bottle Coffee and a sweet Yalumba
Botrytis Voignier after dinner drink from Southern Australia were
the perfect finish to our excellent dinner.
The
Plant Café Organic is committed to furthering
sustainable practices and healthy living. We loved the whole experience,
including the fresh creative cuisine, lovely décor, dramatic
Bay View, experienced fun staff and light background music. We
also enjoyed chatting with fellow diners, which included locals
and others in town for business or vacation. We appreciated that
there is parking at PIER 3, as we hate to get parking tickets!
You will truly enjoy Plant Cafe Organic and isn't
it great to eat healthy!
The
Plant Café Organic
Piers 3, The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA. 94111
415-984-1973
www.ThePlantCafe.com
