Title: Gaspar Brasserie @Galleria Park Hotel
Author: jean komatsu
Last saved by: ENU

July 2014: Bauer liked Gaspar, and so did we: http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Gaspar-Brasserie-revives-French-food-5679917.php. Gaspar Brasserie, 185 Sutter St. (near Kearny Street), San Francisco; (415) 576-8800. L/D, www.gasparbrasserie.com 

Gaspar Brasserie @Galleria Park Hotel
185 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA
https://www.menumodo.com/app.php/viewer/index/11598/7443
Review date: June 2014

It's hard to believe, but there was a time when people discussed restaurants, not chefs. In every city, only a very few restaurateurs were widely known. Chefs were almost never acknowledged by anyone other than their professional peers.

Times have changed. Between Food Network and the Internet, everyone now knows the names of at least a dozen or more chefs, not including Food Network stars. And serious foodies have begun to follow the habits of Chinese cognoscenti, which is to not care about restaurants so much as who is cooking in them that evening.

In four years of dining at hundreds of different restaurants, we have found a number of chefs we truly respect, as well as a much larger number of chefs we don't. Carlos and I appreciate the discipline of classic haute cuisine, something we find less and less of in many young chefs who are looking for their 42 commercial-free minutes of fame on national TV.

Nonetheless, there are still chefs who are aware that the perfection of careful balance and judicious restraint is much more difficult to achieve, as opposed to piling multiple ingredients onto a plate simply because it's the fashionable thing to do. Those former are the chefs we like to follow, but even in the food-mad SF Bay Area, that's not always easy.

We ate at Girl & the Fig in Sonoma Square in 2010 and liked it. In 2012, we ate a restaurant called Brix in Napa, and enjoyed it even more. We discovered the chef, Chris Jones, had moved from G&F to Brix. A second visit in 2013 proved even better. Brix went on our list as a destination restaurant, the one we wanted to always make sure to reserve on every Napa visit.

But less than two months after our 2013 visit, Chris Jones parted ways with Brix. Brix, like certain restaurants such as the old Silks in the Mandarin Hotel/SF, has been a revolving door for chefs. They arrive with fanfare, stay a couple of years, but then leave, almost to the day. 

We made a third visit to Brix post-Jones in February 2014 but were disappointed. The food was executed well, but with the lack of an executive chef (Robert Hohmann has been hired for the position effective May 2014) there was no inspiration or creativity going on in Brix's kitchen. It was a clear example of the difference a great chef can make, even though the well-trained staff did the best they could. It was a good lunch, but ordinary. Great ingredients, great service, good execution…but no feeling of passion or creativity any longer. 

No one seemed to know where Jones went. But one day I found his name listed in the SF Chronicle as the chef for the upcoming Gaspar Brasserie in downtown SF. We eventually confirmed it was the same chef whose food we had enjoyed so much at Brix, and eagerly awaited its opening.

Gaspar Brasserie is the brainchild of owner Franck LeClerc (SF's Gitane, Café Claude and Claudine). It's in the space formerly housing Hecho, a tequila/sushi concept we thankfully avoided. Consisting of two floors linked by a full flight of stairs, there are bars on both levels. The upstairs dining room is reasonably sized, perhaps a little on the small side. It's all dark wood, dark colors; the ceiling looks like lincrusta or anaglypta wallpaper (e.g., embossed), also painted a satin finish dark brown. 

Only the second story windows overlooking Sutter Street relieve the gloom. The windows aren't operable and the lights are bright little spotlights, so the room was uncomfortably warm. Carlos took off his sportscoat immediately after we were seated. 

It's also on the noisy side, which one might expect. It isn't thunderous – yet, anyway; the dining room was only about 1/2 full although the bar downstairs was doing a good business. It should be noted this restaurant is definitely not handicapped accessible; the restrooms are one-offs, accessed by yet another flight of stairs.

The menu isn't large, and so we asked the cheerful young waitress (counting staff and customers, we were probably amongst the six oldest people on both floors total) if the portion sizes would allow us to have a couple of starters with our entrées. She confirmed the entrées were not super-large, so we put in our order. Fresh sweet French baguettes and butter come gratis, and busboys diligently refill water glasses. There is no leaving a water bottle on the table, to pour it yourself.

Ris d'Agneau: Lamb sweetbreads, English pea blini, trumpet royale mushrooms, hazelnut butter. Carlos ordered this for his starter. He liked it; I loved it. We have never had lamb sweetbreads before. The flavor of the lamb sweetbreads is fairly strong and gamey, which I liked more than he did. He did like the blini very much, but didn't care for the trumpet royale mushroom, and was indifferent to the chopped roasted hazelnuts. I love any kind of mushroom, and almost any kind of nut, so this dish was much more up my alley than his. 

Confit de Canard: Duck confit, slow-roasted pork belly, Puy lentil vinaigrette. The duck confit was shredded off the bone and pressed into a timbale. Lightly browned to give it a bit of crustiness without drying the meat out, it was everything duck confit should be but so seldom is, tender and savory. The pork belly was a single modest slice, with almost all the fat rendered off. It was fork-tender and yummy. The lentil vinaigrette was okay; yet another al dente bean dish but the lentils weren't too hard, just a bit firm. The vinaigrette was nicely balanced, slightly sharp but not overly so. There were a few micro-greens scattered over the lentils, more for appearance than anything else. A lovely restrained dish, and both of us liked it very much.

Agneau Grille: Grilled lamb, crepinette sausage, shelling bean ragout, tomato confit, fava pistou. It's interesting that a year ago we were complaining the lamb was so mild it was barely distinguishable from beef. Now it seems the head-to-tail movement has started to swing the other way. This is great for us, maybe not so much for the many people we know who just don't care for gamey, strong-tasting meat. This was Lamb, assuredly capitalized. The grilled boneless loin had a fine flavor; not too gamey, rubbed very lightly with a whiff of cumin and cinnamon. But the sausage – wowie! Lamb lovers-only territory! This crepinette was merguez, one of our favorite sausages. It was gamey and spicy and altogether wonderful. 

The shelling beans were the cannellini, the long oval white beans often used in cassoulet. The fava pistou was in lieu of a sauce, and the tomato confit had Carlos raving about it. This was, essentially, a deconstructed lamb cassoulet, Moroccan style. It was outstanding, a beautifully executed dish for lamb lovers.

For my entrée I chose the Saumon: wild King salmon, pea sprouts, marble potatoes, spring onions, beurre rouge. The salmon was pale and mild, no comparison to the exquisite Columbia River salmon I had at Spoonbar last month. But the excellent accompaniments brought it up a full level. The white and purple potatoes were small, halved, and delicious, reminding us of the excellent variety of potatoes that Andre Lemaire used at Bouchee/Carmel when he was cooking. The onions were caramelized and as sweet as leeks. Combined with a pea sprout purée and the light drizzle of a perfect beurre rouge (red wine butter sauce), Carlos agreed we could have knocked off a double plate of the veggies and sauce without a blink. 

When the waitress stopped by to ask how our entrées were, I asked if Chef Jones was in the kitchen that evening. She said that he was, and I requested she ask him if he had any plans to make those wonderful clam-prosciutto fritters from his tenure at Brix. We had them back in 2012 and have never forgotten how wonderful they were.

In a few minutes Chris Jones came out to introduce himself, saying he was pleased – but surprised! – we remembered his clam fritters. Unfortunately, he admitted they were a lot of trouble to make, so he has no plans to introduce them at Gaspar. We were sorry to hear that, but said the starters and entrées tonight had been wonderful. He said he feels the focus at Gaspar is better suited to how he's cooking these days. We told him we were happy he'd taken the job at Gaspar, shook hands, and wished him every success.

We have heard much about the consulting pastry chef, Chucky Dugo, as well, although we weren't familiar with his offerings. He worked with the Charles Phan restaurants, which includes the famed Slanted Door, since mid-2008 (our last meal at Slanted Door was just before he started working there). Dugo, a native of the Central Valley, is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy in SF. He's now the executive pastry chef at Gaspar. His future role with LeClerc's Bon Repas Restaurants group has yet to be revealed. However, based on what we ate, it would be a great shame if they let him escape!

Carlos chose the Paris Brest, Dugo's signature dessert, despite the description of "rose and mascarpone cream, raspberry coulis, almonds." We're not always fond of rose flavoring; it's very easy to overdo it. We were pleased to receive a classic Paris Brest. Carlos loves the Italian bigne, and this is the French version: a doughnut-shaped paté a choux shell, halved and filled with cream, lightly glazed with sugar or chocolate. 

The berries are fabulous this year, and our two desserts proved no exception. The rose flavoring in the filling was so delicately handled Carlos missed it entirely, although I caught a whiff of it as they put the plate down. The mascarpone was also light in proportion, just enough to add a touch of substance to the heavy whipped cream so it would stand up better to the pastry shell texture. The raspberry coulis was the perfect punctuation, and a few toasted slivered almonds on the sugar glazed pastry top were attractive without interfering with the other flavors. Carlos adored this dessert, and couldn't stop raving about it.

I picked the Ile Flottante, Floating Island. This wasn't at all like the classic version from Fifi's/Pacific Grove, but it was very good nonetheless. Formed into a perfect square of poached meringue that was just a smidgen too sweet, the top was only lightly browned. It floated in a pool of very fine crème anglaise, that perfect pouring custard which in our eyes is even better than whipped cream. There were raspberries and olallieberries, both incredibly sweet with no need to macerate in sugar. I think if the berries had been their usual tart-sweet brix levels, I wouldn't have noted any excess sugar in the meringue itself.

We both had coffee; Carlos had regular and I had decaf. The regular is much better than the decaf, as is usually the case. 

When we received the bill, the waitress told us chef Jones had comped us the desserts, as a thank-you for our feedback. Even if he hadn't done it, the bill was extremely reasonable for the quality of food, the excellent concept and execution, the consistently attentive service, and a good-looking dining room in a great location off the Montgomery BART station.

Certainly having two bars must help subsidize the food; the cost for the quantity and quality was moderate. These were not oversized plates, but they were by no means skimpy in portion size. A three-course meal here is more substantial than any served by Artisan Bistro/Lafayette, French Garden/Sebastopol, Chapeau!/San Francisco, or Perbacco/SF. Gaspar is closer to Bouchee/Carmel or One Market/SF in style and portion size.

We sincerely hope Gaspar is a success. Chef Chris Jones deserves to finally receive some notice. He is one of the better young chefs in the Bay Area. Carlos and I differed slightly on ranking Gaspar, as outlined below.

Two people, dinner: two starters, two entrées, two desserts (comped, value $17), two beverages, with tip was $120.

+++++++++++

The line between Cal-French and Cal-Mediterranean/Californian is a thin one. There are several chefs we enjoy with classic training whose cooking we classify as Californian, such as Ted Walter of Passionfish/Pacific Grove, Tony Baker of Montrio/Monterey, and Louis Maldonado of Spoonbar/Healdsburg. If we were to include them, those three chefs would rank roughly equal to, or slightly above, Gaspar. Carlos, btw, is more inclined to comfort food than I am, but conversely is more a "keep it simple" seafood lover than me.

Jean | Carlos

1.	Etoile, Yountville
2.	La Folie, SF
3.	Bouchee, Carmel
4.	Gaspar, SF
5.	Chapeau!, SF
6.	Aubergine, Carmel
7.	French Garden, Sebastopol
8.	Walter Hansel, Sebastopol
9.	Fifi's, Pacific Grove
10.	Bistro 29, SRosa
11.	Le Bistro, Petaluma
12.	Artisan Bistro, Lafayette
13.	Bouchon, Napa
14.	La Sen Bistro, Concord
15.	La Note, Berkeley
16.	La Gare, SRosa
17.	Bistro Liaison, Berkeley
18.	Café Jolie, Alameda
19.	Le St. Tropez, Carmel
20.	La Bicyclette, Carmel
21.	Chevalier, Lafayette*
22.	Nizza La Bella, Albany
23.	Rendez Vous, Albany

1.	La Folie, SF
2.	Bouchee, Carmel
3.	Chapeau!, SF
4.	Etoile, Yountville
5.	Gaspar, SF
6.	Aubergine, Carmel
7.	French Garden, Sebastopol
8.	Walter Hansel, Sebastopol
9.	Fifi's, Pacific Grove
10.	Bistro 29, SRosa
11.	Le Bistro, Petaluma
12.	Artisan Bistro, Lafayette
13.	Bouchon, Napa
14.	La Sen Bistro, Concord
15.	La Gare, SRosa
16.	La Note, Berkeley
17.	Bistro Liaison, Berkeley
18.	Café Jolie, Alameda
19.	Le St. Tropez, Carmel
20.	La Bicyclette, Carmel
21.	Rendez Vous, Albany
22.	Nizza La Bella, Albany
23.	Chevalier, Lafayette