San Francisco'S Masa’s RESTAURANT: Awards & Accolades

Masa's is well on its way to reclaiming its past glory
- Michael Bauer, Chronicle Restaurant Critic
Friday, August 26, 2005

Masa's is a restaurant that's steeped in lore, indelibly branded on the culinary map since its founding chef, Masataka Kobayashi, was murdered more than 20 years ago. The crime has never been solved.

Under each succeeding chef, the place continued to thrive: Bill Galloway took over the kitchen for more than two years and Julian Serrano stayed for more than a decade. When Serrano left to open Picasso in Las Vegas, sous chef Chad Callahan, who now owns Fish in Sausalito, took the helm.

About four years ago as the interior began to fray, the then-owner Kimpton Group closed for a few months to remodel before bringing on chef Ron Siegel, who had earned a four-star review at Charles Nob Hill. Siegel left more than a year ago to head to the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco.

Kimpton has since sold the restaurant and adjoining hotel to the Vancouver-based Executive Hotels. Richard Reddington took over the kitchen on a short-term basis, which gave newly hired executive chef Gregory Short time to get up speed. It seems to have paid off: Short, who worked for seven years at the French Laundry, seems well on his way to bringing back the glory days.

Diners have a choice between a four-course tasting menu ($79), with choices in each category; a six-course tasting menu ($90), also available in a vegetarian option ($76); and a nine-course tasting menu ($120), which has no printed menu because Short cooks for the table. His creations can be matched with wines for $89 a person.

When diners are seated, they're welcomed with a shot of melon soup backed with just enough chile heat to tweak the palate. After diners make a selection, another surprise arrives, a tidbit that turns out to be one of the most memorable of the night -- two shrimp on a bed of fava beans and crunchy vegetables that formed waves of undulating texture and bright diamonds of flavor.

We ordered the chef's tasting menu because I thought it would best show off what the chef could do. Each diner at the table gets a different preparation. Mine started with domestic osetra caviar on potato blini with a slice of house-smoked sturgeon, a dollop of creme fraiche and a puddle of Hollandaise. My tablemate had osetra with salmon tartare and miso mustard sauce.

Master Sommelier Alan Murray orchestrates the wine as carefully as Short crafts the food. With the caviar he pours Wakatake Daigingo "Onikoroshi'' sake, whose fruity, cleansing qualities light up the palate, making the flavors pop. For the sturgeon he brought out 2003 Willakenzie Estate Pinot Gris, which highlighted the freshness of the tartare.

Throughout the meal Murray continued to wow us with a sweet Vouvray, a Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands, Madeira and Royal Tokaji 5 Puttanyos, among others. The selections are international and the choices are exciting.

It's become de rigueur to have at least one raw fish dish on menus of this caliber; aside from the salmon tartare, Short offers yellowfin tuna with perfect dices of mango and avocado, placed off-center on an oblong plate with dots of mango vinaigrette.

Presentations are artistic, but not overworked. Chilled Maine crab salad, which also appears on the regular menu, is carefully displayed behind a stylized V of tomato gazpacho with a thread of cilantro oil in the center and cubes of cucumber gelee that catch the light like emeralds. Every dinner at a top restaurant needs a few "wow'' moments, and this is certainly one of them.

The pan-seared foie gras is another. One of us had it with morel mushrooms, Champagne grapes and a tellicherry pepper sauce; the other with roasted figs, caramelized fennel and port reduction. Both brought out different aspects of the liver, while still highlighting the luxurious product.

The menu continues to build with a fish course followed by squab with summer beans and a confit leg, and lamb with chanterelles and caramelized fennel with a drizzle of curry oil.

Another stellar moment comes after the cheese course when the waiter brings bubble tea -- a shot glass of green tea, with tiny pearls of clear tapioca, shiso ice and green tea foam. It's a refreshing bridge to the dessert of tiny blueberry blinis with young ginger ice cream and a Suzette sauce flavored with orange.

The crowning moment comes when the waiter wheels over a cart lined with rows of chocolates, bite-size pastries, wrapped candies and beautiful jewel- toned lollipops in flavors such as pineapple and watermelon. Even the subdued business executives who pepper the restaurant act like children at a candy counter as they try to figure out which to choose. For their part, the waiters seem to take devilish pride in enticing diners to eat even more.

Throughout the four-hour meal, the service, guided by Todd Stillman, is impeccable. Waiters are knowledgeable and poised, and have mastered the art of making their presence known without being intrusive. It was interesting to watch them engage tables that clearly wanted to chat, but to step back when couples were romantically celebrating an important occasion.

The exacting standards of the food and service are also reflected in the look of the interior and patrons. Masa's is one of the few restaurants in the city with a jackets-required policy. The toile chairs, dark brown walls and the vivid red drum shades hanging from the ceiling give an elegant, buoyant feel. A bouquet of white, pale pink and fuschia-colored roses decorate each table, which are luxuriously sized and nicely spaced.

The only down side is the bathroom, which is part of the hotel next door and looks like something you'd find in an aging office building. With laminated stalls it has few of the accents customers expect when dining in this type of environment.

Masa's is certainly a restaurant to watch. When I first visited the restaurant this year, in February, the meal was excellent, but now it's even better as Short continues to grow into his new position. Masa's may be just shy of a four-star rating, but in no time at all could easily find its way to the top.