Midinettes of San Francisco, Unite at midi

Lunchtime in Paris comes at midi – noon, and a French brasserie-style “midi” – a new restaurant in the Galleria Park Hotel on Kearny and Sutter is busy at noon, filled with midinettes – lunching office girls, or in the case of SF Financial District with suits, too. Chef Michelle Mah, who reins supreme in the kitchen, creates equally enticing savory and sweet dishes and puts together wonderful lunches for any taste and appetite. The most recent addition to the menu – her signature lunch quartet – a cup of soup, a taste of salad, a sandwich, and a mini dessert. All are served at once on their individual small square plates, positioned upon a large one. It’s not fast food; it’s some great flavorful food one can eat fast if need be. On the day we lunched, the crowd was buzzing, the wait staff was flying, and the lunch quartet consisted of corona bean soup with crème fraiche and bacon; pencil asparagus salad; grilled truffled brie sandwich stuffed with mushrooms, and a tiny apple tart on puff pastry. Not that regular size dishes were any less enticing: my lunch companion shared with me a very seasonal burrata sandwich (Italian cheese made with fresh mozzarella and cream); a warm frisee salad with shreds of chicken meat and a split deep fried duck egg. A side of fragrant garlicky ron de nice squash came to the table in a tiny roasting pan. A fuzzy bunny kept us company, and it’s a sparkling peachy soft drink with lemon and orange wedges arranged as bunny ears in a tall glass. Before we left, our server told us about a great summer deal for locals only: on Saturday nights, if you present your photo ID with a Bay Area address, a bottle of wine at midi will cost you only a half of its usual price. Sweet summer deals don’t end here: midi is a Joie de Vivre restaurant, and its parent company which holds California’s largest boutique
hotel collection this Memorial Day will be giving away 25 Explore California Passports each valued at more than $17,000. Every passport features a two-night stay at Joie de Vivre’s 35 hotels with two-year validity, transferability to friends and family, and no blackout dates. To register, U.S. residents can sign up by May 20, 2009 on www.summercalifornia.com. Everyone who visits the website will receive a free tip sheet featuring 100 affordable things to do in California and a $25 per night credit when he or she books a hotel on this website. The 25 sweepstakes winners will be announced in a video posted to the website on Monday, May 25. For more information, visit midisanfrancisco.com, jdvhotels.com. Photography by Emma Krasov.