San Francisco Treats

San Francisco has had a banner year for new restaurants, with so many opening that it’s hard to keep up. But here are two new ones and one updated classic to try the next time you head north.

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DINE

Everything I’d heard about Dine led me to picture a demure, romantic spot along the lines of Fringale and Bizou, two restaurants that helped pioneer the area South of Market, ground zero for the dot.com explosion. SOMA is much quieter now, with high-tech businesses failing left and right. Yet aside from rolling blackouts, the restaurants still seem to be thriving.

Dine is set in a stark, exposed-brick warehouse space softened by giant, oddly appealing canvases. A billboard-sized still life of pomegranates decorates one wall. Other huge canvases depict the mysteriously awkward antics of larger-than-life artists’ manikins. The long communal table is filled, and the place vibrates with energy.

Chef Julia McClasky, who last cooked at San Francisco’s Universal Cafe, specializes in earthy American cooking that doesn’t stint on flavor. I wanted to order everything on the menu, and practically did. Here, no one offers virtuous soups of the “no cream, no butter” variety. Short ribs, if you can believe it, are a first course. McClasky loves braised meats, and these ribs are falling-off-the-bone tender, suffused with the smoky heat of a chipotle chile glaze, wonderful against the cool bite of a lime cabbage slaw. There’s a terrific beef tongue salad with fingerling potatoes splashed with a tarragon vinaigrette. She also does a salad of perfectly cooked chicken livers, rosy and juicy at the center, enveloped in the smoky taste of applewood bacon.

McClasky is known for her all-American pot roast, and I can see why. It’s as good a version as I’ve ever had in a restaurant, the beef grainy and flavorful (there’s that braising again). The roast is dished out with mashed potatoes, a splash of the rich broth, and carrots and turnips. That night, a tasty grilled hanger steak came with a pile of shaggy crisp onion rings, French beans and little creamers, all with a piquant salsa verde. Delicious grilled Gulf prawns were paired with an artichoke stuffed with onion, rosemary and Tuscan bread salad.

For dessert, we shared an affogato (espresso poured over ice cream) and profiteroles stuffed with coffee ice cream.

As much as I liked the food, though, I wish the noise level had been less intense. It was hard to have much of a conversation over the din.

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MASA’S

Masa’s, long one of San Francisco’s top restaurants, is back from a brief redecorating closure with a new chef. Named for original chef Masataka Kobayashi, whose 1984 murder remains unsolved, the restaurant lost its edge after longtime chef Julian Serano departed three years ago for Picasso restaurant in Las Vegas’ Bellagio hotel.

The new Masa’s couldn’t be more different from the old. A light and airy decor has replaced the dour red velvet bordello look. An enormous red lacquer Chinese armoire stands sentry at the entrance, and sheer white curtains a la Philippe Starck divide the bar from the dining room. Boxy red lanterns cast a soft light. In the middle of the room is a Giacometti-esque bronze cluster of elongated figures leaning outward. And on each table is a bowl packed with fragrant roses in every shade of pink.

Two of my dining companions feel compelled to tell me the menu doesn’t look that interesting. That may be true, but it only goes to show how susceptible we’ve all become to overblown prose on menus. What matters is not how a dish reads, but how it tastes. Chef Ron Siegel, brought over from Charles Nob Hill, comes through with flying colors. We have a beautifully paced, beautifully cooked meal. Siegel has a subtle hand, and that takes confidence.

Remembering Masa’s to be very expensive, I was startled by the price of the basic menu--three courses, with half a dozen choices for each, plus coffee and a couple of amuse-bouches, for $60 a person. Quite a bargain.

Siegel sends out a single Gulf shrimp as an amuse. Barely warmed through, and set on a puree of sweet peas, it’s a taste of spring.

As appetizers, he serves a tall piece of seared foie gras with a sweet-tart sauce of lavender honey with braised quince and apple in a brilliant black pepper jus, everything in perfect balance. He cuts diver scallops into fine slices and fans them out in a pinwheel. Gratineed on top, they sit on a delicious braised celery heart and are garnished with sea urchin roe and micro celery greens. The flavors just sing.

Siegel has a flair for fish. A gorgeous piece of wild striped bass is strewn with a ragout of squid rings and octopus tentacles, and sauced with a silky lobster butter and a Meyer lemon marmalade. Skate wing tops plump ravioli stuffed with luscious short ribs braised in red wine. His rabbit stew is delightful, a medley of sauteed loin and braised leg stuffed with the rabbit’s liver. Baby squash and sauteed crone (a kind of root) in tarragon jus accompany it.

Masa’s has always had a great wine list (Michael Bonaccorsi was the sommelier there before moving to Los Angeles and Spago--first at the original, and then the new Beverly Hills locale). The prices are hotel high, though, which makes it difficult for most of us to enjoy wine on the same level as the food.

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BACAR

The buzz around Bacar has been tremendous. It takes its name from the Latin for goblet, and it’s the wine that drives the restaurant: A dramatic wall of wines runs from the “wine salon” downstairs, through the main level with its open kitchen and up to another dining area on the mezzanine. In the salon, it’s a giant party with decanters and glasses of wine covering coffee tables and the crowd slouched on sofas and chairs.

Wine director and co-owner Debbie Zachareas put together the stupendous list, which includes about 100 wines by the glass or decanter (250 ml, 500 ml or a full bottle). The breadth of the list is impressive, as are the prices. For example, the 1997 Batar from Querciabella, a Chardonnay/Pinot Blanc blend that is one of Italy’s greatest wines, retails for $50; on the list here, it’s $55. Prices are so favorable you can’t help but splurge on wines you wouldn’t be able to afford to drink anywhere else.

This isn’t some scholarly wine bar, though. It’s a handsome, happening place with every table filled and the phones ringing off the hook. Not bad for a 6-month-old place. Zachareas’ partner Arnold Wong has designed a French-Mediterranean bistro menu for Bacar. Strangely, he seemed on firmer ground with the Asian fusion at their first restaurant, Eos, in San Francisco. In fact, one of the best dishes here is his wok-roasted mussels with garlic, chile and white wine served with grilled bread. Thin-crusted pizzas topped with Serrano ham, asparagus and Manchego cheese or with green olive tapenade and fresh chevre are good, but not exceptional. Petit crispy fried fish, sort of a fritto misto, comes with handmade tartar sauce.

I liked the idea of skate with picholine olive rag and verjus (unfermented grape juice) sauce, but it’s not that compelling. That was the case with pretty much everything we tried. Maybe the kitchen was just off that busy night. Not that the food is bad. It just doesn’t have much personality. But then again, the wine is the main attraction here, and the food doesn’t need to outshine it.

As we wait for our car on the darkened block, a dazzling white stretch Hummer pulls up in front. The driver shuffles out and asks, “Is this Bacar?” The thing is ablaze with lights, motor running. Slowly, the party-goers emerge, blinking in the light. The latest hot spot now, Bacar has such a great concept, it should still be around after all the trend-setters have moved on.

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Dine, 662 Mission St.; (415) 538-3463. Appetizers, $7 to $12. Main courses, $17 to $25. Corkage, $15. Dinner Monday through Saturday. Parking on street or in public lot.

Masa’s, Vintage Court Hotel, 648 Bush St.; (415) 989-7154. Three-course menu, $60 per person, including dessert and coffee; six-course tasting or vegetarian menu, $75 per person; chef’s nine-course tasting menu, $105 per person. Corkage, $30; maximum two bottles. Dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Valet parking.

Bacar Restaurant and Wine Salon, 448 Brannan St.; (415) 904-4100. Appetizers, $7 to $15. Main courses, $22 to $38. Corkage, $25. Dinner daily. Lunch weekdays. Valet parking.