Wine geek foodie nirvana in SF?

originally posted by guilhaume:

la ciccia, a sardegnan restaurant on 30th and church (noe valley) is the finest italian (ok, sardegnan) food in the city, with a wine list of over 200 wines, all very well selected...
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What Guilhaume said. Massimiliano is the man.

Had some sticker shock the last time I went to A16. Granted we did bring two bottles and paid full corkage but honestly we didn't eat that much. Not to mention that some of the dishes were off.

RN74 can be done on the cheap, if you stick to the bar menu (which is more fun anyway) and drink current releases. Okay so what's the point, but $36 for 2007 Lapierre isn't bad.
 
originally posted by guilhaume:
originally posted by Jim Hanlon:
originally posted by Brad Widelock:
A16 is a fabulous place for a meal. The list has all kinds of gems. Check out the wines under $40.00.
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I agree and might even say that A16 has the most interesting list in San Francisco. The focus is on southern Italy, and there are many obscure, cool wines to try.
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i strongly disagree with you jim
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Okay, sabres at dawn. But seriously, I don't know the restaurant, Guilhaume, but you know I respect your opinion. Hell, you talk me out of buying almost as many wines as you talk me into buying. If their list is more interesting than A16's, then I really need to check them out.
 
Some others I believe not mentioned above:

Perbacco (if you're staying downtown, this is a good location; also excellent wine list, and low markups; oh, and food is excellent, too, and not $$$)

Oliveto (in Oakland - easy to get to because it is right by the Rockridge BART station; food is outstanding, many good wines, but not cheap)

Sociale (very good wine list, has normally been very good food, but last time I was there was a bit disappointing; lots of very interesting Italian wines on the list)

Piperade

Csar (up the street from Chez Panisse) -- Tapas joint, no problem finding good wines.

Too much time to go through the reccos above and give you my feelings about which I agree with and which not. (But I will give a special nod to La Ciccia.)

Keep in mind that the great majority of restos in the area will allow BYOB, usually at $20-25/btl, but sometimes higher. Premier Cru and K&L are good sources for older wines.
 
I don't know that it's "Nirvana", but I did have a great meal at Boulevard in San Francisco last week, and I noticed many gems on the wine list at decent prices.
 
Hell, I wouldn't go to Spruce anyway. The wine director for the group that runs Spruce and Village Pub, Andrew Green, is a complete prick. I had to deal with him when I was ITB in 2000-1. There are others, also ITB and who shall remain nameless, who feel the same about him.
 
Not always, Steve. I wouldn't call Warren Buffet or Steve Jobs stupid, but they certainly are rich (but maybe they're not in). But the ones at Spruce are the third, fourth, and fifth generation rich, and by the time you get that far down the line, you get a fair number of bumblers, alcoholics, etc. (I'm sure there must be some golddiggers at Spruce, too.)
 
originally posted by mlawton:
Spruce? Has anyone dined here?
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The bar at Spruce, if you can a spot is decent and Sociale, which was mentioned above is right across the street.
 
all right, here's a few more for you guys:

da flora, in north beach, great little italian place with a hungarian twist to the food (very traditional, high quality for the food, decent wines)

Oyaji on clement street @ 32nd ave in the richmond. Tokyo bar food, fantastic fish, japanese crowd (and chef) and not nearly as expensive as sebo (not as american, know it all, either..)

Farina on 18th at guerrero. Classic, traditional italian in a very flamboyant(italian?) decor. Food's fantastic, wine list's shit. bring your own wine.

Bar jules on hayes @ laguna, great brunch/lunch, small but good wine list, a little loud at night

boulette's larder in the ferry building, open for lunch only, during the week.
no wine there, bring your own ($4 a stem...not bad!) just make sure you don't only rely on the ferry building wine merchant for wine...

Coi is good (very good), pricey, and the food is so complicated that it's not that "wine friendly" i think.
 
I have to agree with Claude's suggestions - had an excellent meal with him at Perbacco (we carried in, however, so I didn't see the list - but outstanding wine service was provided); had an excellent meal the next night with friends at Oliveto (again, we carried in), and Cesar I heartily recommend - they used to have the wine list on the website - not sure now - here's what I found but it's only a tiny sample http://www.barcesar.com/shattuck/wine.html

Dennis Lapuyade, a co-owner and the wine buyer, is a pal of mine from law school - turned me onto 1971 Ridge Eisele once. If you go, say hi from me.
 
The Cesar wine and spirits list is not online, but it's a book, and a good one too. There's almost always something interesting to drink by the glass as well.
 
originally posted by maureen:
I have to agree with Claude's suggestions - had an excellent meal with him at Perbacco (we carried in, however, so I didn't see the list - but outstanding wine service was provided)
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Perbacco's wine list is on the web: http://www.perbaccosf.com/menus/store/wine.pdf . It is kept up to date. Many of the other restaurants above have their lists on the web, too. Some keep them precisely up to date (Acquerello, Sociale), others, it's "representative" (Chez Panisse, Oliveto).
 
originally posted by Arjun Mendiratta:
The Cesar wine and spirits list is not online, but it's a book, and a good one too. There's almost always something interesting to drink by the glass as well.
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Yes, the last few times there the BTG offerings were pretty good, and the list has some good wines (and good deals) on it.

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by guilhaume:

boulette's larder in the ferry building, open for lunch only, during the week.
no wine there, bring your own ($4 a stem...not bad!) just make sure you don't only rely on the ferry building wine merchant for wine...
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I must not be ordering right since everyone tells me it's good and I have mediocre experiences. What should I order when I'm back there in December?
 
I admit I had a ho-hum experience with them as well, so I'm also interested.

Guilhaume, thanks for all the other recs. As if I really needed a longer list of places to visit in SF...
 
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