Smooth Service at Velvet Room

By Emma Krasov, photography by Yuri Krasov
Call me old-fashioned, but I’d rather dine at a place called Velvet Room than some super-modern Grmg, Spork, or Zot (all made-up names, however, purely coincidental resemblances might occur). Recently opened Velvet Room, in the historic Clift Hotel building that dates back to 1914, is a special-occasion restaurant whose “noblesse oblige” comes through elegantly-dark décor, the adjacent Redwood Room bar, created in the 1930s out of a single redwood tree, and exquisite cuisine. Executive Chef Ewart Wardhaugh, born and raised in Scotland, and with a career path that spanned the globe from London to Singapore, to Las Vegas, to Barbados, is now implementing a Farm to Table concept in his strictly seasonal, local (100 mi radius) and all-organic menus. While adhering to the standards of sustainability and artisan bread- and cheese-making is no news to San Francisco restaurant business, at the end of the day, it’s the chef’s creativity that counts, and makes grateful patrons anticipate every change of the season bringing along new imaginative dishes. On the night we dined, our knowledgeable server Tashi recommended a couple of great cocktails – Acai Collins and Foggy Manhattan, followed by charcuterie du jour, which consisted of the house-cured lamb bacon, hard-boiled pheasant egg, grilled peach and apple mustard.
Chicken liver parfait in a glass jar was so light and airy; it seemed there couldn’t be any cholesterol in it whatsoever. It was garnished with a Bing cherry confit, truly a lucky find! A clear heirloom tomato gazpacho with peppercress was another creative discovery of Chef Ewart, but the most succulent dish on the menu was an entrée of grilled King Trumpet Mushrooms with assorted vegetables, goat cheese, fried squash blossom, and truffle sauce. Stinging nettles gnocchi with Point Reyes baby clams and green snap peas would make any carnivore stop feeling sorry for vegetarians. A medium-rare loin of California lamb in a smoky sauce, dressed with parsnip puree and fava leaves, came with a cute chunk of corn on the cob. For dessert, chocolate and pistachio ice-cream came in semifreddo with cherry compote; and peach-and-berries gratin was sprinkled with red velvet croutons and moscato d’Asti sabayon. It would be easy to come up with various reasons to visit the Velvet Room, from Monday Jazz nights, to special Farmers’ Dinners. However, just coming here time and again for Chef Ewart’s seasonal delights would be reason enough for this reporter. Velvet Room is open for breakfast and dinner seven days a week at 495 Geary St., San Francisco. Call for reservations: 415-929-2300, or visit www.clifthotel.com