The Zuni Cafe
The Zuni Cafe is one of those places we go when we want to feel good about life and don't want to get dressed up to celebrate it. When the day is unusually sunny and bright and we're thinking of a crisp sauvignon blanc to go with a plate of shellfish briny with the taste of the sea, the Zuni is the place we'll go.
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| Hang out on Market Street with some shellfish watching people. It doesn't get much better than this. |
The interior of the Zuni is all odd angles and surprising vistas open to the sun that pours into its large, south-facing windows, a cross between the clean lines of a Mediterranean beach resort and a rustic southwestern US grill. And that's how the food feels, too. Open, accessible, homey, and above all fresh and freshly prepared.
But what we like best is to spend the afternoon outside with oysters and wine, watching people meet and greet on the wide, herringbone-bricked Market Street sidewalk in front of the wedge-shaped Zuni.
You'll notice some of the reviews of the Zuni indicate the service can be pretentious or standoffish. We've never found it so. In fact, this is the one place I go where you can just tell the waiter exactly the type of wine you'd enjoy at that moment and they've always come up with something to fit that mood. If that's pretentious I want more of it.
The Zuni's menu is rather ecclectic, internationally inspired but rooted in the foods of the Mediterranean. The menu changes daily, but long-standing favorites include the roast chicken and Tuscan bread salad and the Caesar salad. The chicken never fails to get good reviews--the Caesar is less admired. Be aware that the chicken is roasted to order, and takes at least 45 minutes.
They even offer a burger that has polarized reviewers. Some say the foccaccia it's served on shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of a hamburger and others say it's the best in town. You decide, because I'm having the roast chicken or a pizza from the oven that sits right smack in the center of the dining room or a plate of pasta. After I have my oysers that is.
The wine list has quite a few half-bottles, great for those lunches of shellfish and just a glass or so of wine per person. And after the meal, there are always several interesting cheese plates if you don't want something sweet.
The Zuni has been around for a couple decades. That's like a zillion years in San Francisco restaurant time. And it looks like they're in for a few more.
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