The Whet Palette Gourmand Getaway: Atelier Crenn 2019

2019

Three Michelin Stars

#35 The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list

#53 Opinionated About Dining

My reservation to dine at San Francisco’s Atelier Crenn this past February coincided with chef Dominique Crenn’s newly awarded (and long-awaited) third Michelin star. It’s a reservation I tried to make on several occasions, and somehow it never worked out…until then. It was worth the wait.

Driven by childhood memories, chef Crenn created an elegant dining experience for the guest, inspired by the past and presented ahead of its time. The care, thought, and detail behind every unbelievable bite shows why she continues to soar.

The restaurant, intimate with only eight tables but still spacious enough for the staff to float around, shows off some Crenn’s personal collections including childhood art and a prominently placed poem she once wrote to her father. Straw nest details strategically placed on menus, walls, and lighting signal the constant change and rebirth, sort of speak. Each table is isolated within the space with its own area rug placed underneath.

Service throughout the almost three-hour dinner was expertly orchestrated and included multiple tableside presentations per course: some more complex than others.

Dinner opened with a beautiful rustic floral vessel holding the menu. Not just any menu, but an ode to it. Every line poetically described each course and allowed for the element of surprise within every dish and bite. My favorite: “A wild dance together, to the memories of a devotion unspoken.” Sensual. Mysterious. Alluring. Fire. Crenn. A menu with the actual main ingredients was gifted at the end of the night.

Crenn excels, not only with her combination of flavor profiles but by also successfully layering texture after texture and awaking curiosity in the diner. Every course seamlessly flowed into the next. I sat feeling honored to experience it, and secretly not wanting the night to end.

“A most adored gift from Neptune, this aureate bloom” GEODUCK, SEAR URCHIN, CITRUS

Opening bite “Winter has come with its cool breeze” COCOA BUTTER SPHERE + APPLE CIDER white chocolate

“Warriors ashore bathe in a glow as luminous as its gilded crown” DUNGENESS CRAB, seaweed, whey.

“To bury in fallen leaves my treasures of the earth and sea” SEEDS & GRAINS

“A wild dance together, to the memories of a devotion unspoken” LEEK & FERMENTED ALLIUM, PERIGORD TRUFFLE

“By the shimmer of black pearls, tumbling in the ashen cloud” GOLDEN OSETRA, potato and onion, reserve WHITE STURGEON and koji

Yes, please.

BRIOCHE and housemate butter

“An armored gent listens, beneath the bluff” ABALONE, cabbage, smoked crème

“As the Blue Beauty sings with ebullience the season’s euphony” STRIPED BASS & FARM OFFERINGS

“Watching as revelers emerge underfoot, dreaming of days ahead” (EUCALYPTUS POPS)

“For the verdant beauty of the gatherer’s harvest in caring hands” OMA & FUYU PERSIMMON cheese course

“Sweetness, bounty, thanks”

“Winter has come and is full of sweet surprises” TRUFFLES chocolate, caramel, biscuit

From the 15+- courses, my clear favorites were the Dungeness Crab (and its elixir accompanying broth), the Caviar service (including the supplement), the Kir Breton Sphere, and the Striped Bass.

Given the seasonal menu, I hope to return and give the other stages a try as well. For now, I remain forever in awe. #inCRENNible!

Congratulations on also topping the 2019 World’s 50 Best Restaurants List at No.35.