Dinner at Amelie Le Bar a Vin – April 3, 2012 – San Francisco, CA.
Wines bars are sprouting up in all the hippest cities across America. You can get great expensive wines paired with small plates of delicacies. It’s an ever – growing concept that is guaranteed to stick around for a long time. Amelie is in a cool part of San Francisco, on Polk Street. It is very European, and all the staff is from different parts of Europe. My bartender was from France, and then some of the other servers were Italian. The night I went was Tuesday, and it was jam-packed also, the crowd was very elegant and upscale.
This is what I tried:
3 Cheese plate: Cantal, pasteurized cow, France. The smell of earth and pasturelands, and is reminiscent of the rich meadows of Auvergne. Fourme d ambert, pasteurized sheep, France. Blue semi soft, more supple and dense then most blues, The Flavor is savory and nutty. Formaggi zafferano, sheep, Italy. This cheese has a saffron flavor. The presentation was very beautiful, and the cheese was served with apples and pecans, with 3 different dipping sauces.
Crab Meat Salad with avocado and mix green. This salad was very fresh, and the crabmeat was nice and sweet.
Oven Grantinee Escargots. It has a luscious, delicate sauce with a slight bit of unknown liquor.
Quiche with crème fraiche, eggs, ham, comte grutere, mozzarella, leeks, and mix greens. This quiche is stacked high, with lots of melty cheese, truly an outstanding quiche.
Smoked Salmon Tartare with green salad, and toasted baguette. The salmon has capers, onions and is very tasty.
Flatbread with portabella mushroom, watercress, grenadine syrup, caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes and parmesan. This is a wonderful rendition of this popular dish. Especially the grenadine sauce, adds a certain sweetness that bring this whole dish together, a must have.
Oven Duck leg confit served on top of a bed of arugula, cherry tomatoes, baby carrot, and vinaigrette dressing. They score the top of the duck leg that adds to the crispiness that makes this duck so wonderful. It is crackly and crispy on the skin and tender on the inside.
The Wines I Tried:
Beaucanon Estate, Chardonnay ’09, Napa Valley. This went nice with the crab salad, kept the essence of the crab flavor.
Crèche Louis Latour, Chardonnay ’09, France. It is elegant and ambitious yet easy to drink, a great pair with the smoked salmon.
Etude Estate Grown, Chardonnay ’09, California. This wine has notes of caramel and vanilla, and works well with the variety of cheeses.
Marietta Lot 56, Alexander Valley, Zinfandel. This is the perfect wine to go with the flat bread; it picks up the grenadine sweetness.
Ottimino Little, Zinfandel ’06, Russian River. This wine goes perfect with the duck, just the right amount of fruit.
Justin, Cabernet Sauvignon ’09, Paso Robles. A good pair with the cheese, and the escargot.
I really enjoyed this wine bar. It is very lively and has all the perks you would expect from a new hot spot. I really like how they put the wine bottles right behind the tastes, so you can read the bottle while tasting. Make sure you talk to the bartender about what he recommends. The staff there is very knowledgeable. I would come back here once a week, and continue trying all the great wines they have to offer.
Amelie Le Bar a Vin
www.ameliesf.com
1754 Polk Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 292-6916
