Chez Papa - Potrero Hill

Well I hope Papa got laid big-time last night, 'cuz he deserves some serious action after the dinner we enjoyed!

For some crackhead-crazy reason we'd never ventured up to Potrero Hill to dine at Chez Papa, although we'd heard nuthin' but gooood stuff about it. So finally, after surfing around on Open Table the other day it popped up and I was all "hells yeah, let's go!" And let's invite our rock 'n roll buds Shari & Dave!

First, Potrero Hill rocks. Very cool 'hood. Sure, ya gotta duck the occasional stray bullet but that's life in the fast lane. Second, all you who have never been to France, this is what they mean by a bistro. They do it right. Small just a little cramped, tables outside, lotsa hustle and bustle but still sophisticated. And with a hip 'local' vibe too. Great ambiance and excellent service. Case in point - we spent a bit too long having an drink somewhere else, showed up 20 mins late and they were very cool about it, and sat us right down.

We started by sharing 3 appys, which all hit the spot. Really, I could just come here and gobble down doubles of these for din-din. First the Crispy goat cheese salad, sun dried tomatoes and red wine vinaigrette. Yeah, I know, a basic appy. I can almost hear the moans now: "DUDE, everybody does goat cheese salad, man, get real". Well, this Goat Cheese Salad rocks, mister. It is perfectly cooked and also had this crispy little nest of noodles on top. Yummy. Next was the Ahi tuna tartare with paprika-avocado mousse and soy, very fresh, nice spices, but coulda been accompanied by some little crackers or wonton-ish thingys to put it on. Oh well. Last appy was the Prosciutto-wrapped artichokes stuffed with gorgonzola, arugula salad, and herved vinaigrette. How the hell do ya stuff an Artichoke? So we had to order it to figure it out. Woo Hoo! What a creative dish, kick-ass meld of tastes. This is what you'd whip up if you were stoned, opened the fridge and only saw artichokes, cheese and bacon. Tasty little number!

Next, main courses. I saw something called Tilapia on the menu and since I had zero clue if Tilapia was an animal, vegetable or mineral put the kibosh on it. No time for nonsense. But that rebel Shari went right in, and I'm thrilled she did. It's fish by the way. I am now a big fan of the Tilapia, plus it's fun to say. Tilapia. Tilapia. Tiliapa. Try it! Anyhoo, itsa white fish, firm, moist, and subtle (hint: not 'fishy'). They call it Napoleon for some reason, it's stacked? I was just glad I figured out what Tilapia was. It's served on a bed of caramelized onion, arugula, pine nuts and onion sprouts. I think this was the best entree of them all.

Janine had the Lamb daube w/ rosemary-red wine sauce and seasonal veggies (some carrots and broccoli rabe I think). A little heavy, on the shank, braised. So if you go in expecting a chop, forget it. Janine liked it alright; I liked it more, and the sauce was good for dipping the awesome little matchstick frite.

Last but not least, Dave and I each had the Ahi tuna w/ winter vegetables, white asparagus, orange, fennel and Sichuan peppercorn sauce. I had read this dish is sometimes overdone (we ordered rare) but ours showed up perfectly done. 6-8 nice, thin slices of excellent Ahi, with just the edges seared, and the accompanying ingredients, esp the spiciness of the peppercorn sauce, made it a most excellent dish. I'd have it again tonight.

And it was all washed down with a couple bottles of primo vino - The 2004 Secrets des Pignan Chateauneuf du Pape. I thought our waiter may have been just trying to upsell me from a perfectly fine $45 bottle I had selected, but w-o-w. Awesome bottle matched everyone's food really well and bottom line just tasted great!

9 outta 10 people. That's right. Go To Chez Papa!

Chez Papa
1401 18th Street (@ Pennsylvania)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 824-8210