It was Andrea’s birthday so I booked dinner at her favorite restaurant Californios. This is our 5th timing dining here and it 4th time since 2022 (first time we ate at their previous location when they were still in the Mission).
We last ate here in November, before it trip to Mexico City and Oaxaca, and then again in December after that trip. But we both agreed that the food was the most interesting this time. The format was generally the same, but the dishes were a more Mexican and a little less classical French.
There was a leit motif of masa going throughout the meal from the first dishes through dessert (e.g. sweet tamales). The Carmelites sweet potato with two moles, blanco and negro, was an interesting and delicious dish in what tonality would have been another meat course.
The only two dishes that were the same from the previous time we dined here were the caviar in potato soup (a very unique caviar presentation and very delicious dish) and the squab taco with grilled pineapple.
For drinks, Andrea had the beverage pairing and I went with a cocktail, their interesting version of a martini and then later a mezcal flight.
Restaurant was quite full, esp. for a Thursday and they only do one seating. Service was generally good, but definitely seemed to slow down towards the end and all in all we were there for 4 hours. We did have a chance to visit with chef Val in the kitchen and to also visit the very impressive wine cellar.
All in all, we had a great time and we’ll be back again!
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