Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2007 > October > 07 > Entry
Boulevard life
Every visit to the Bay Area, we plan one knock-it-out-of-the-park meal. Once, it was French Laundry in the Napa Valley, another time Chez Panisse in Berkeley. This time, our foodie friend Paul Talley chose Boulevard, a California French fusion spot on lower Mission. The pre-earthquake Art Nouveau mosaics and flame-drop light fixtures cast a low, glittering glow for the special-event diners. (Our three-topper is in the foreground of the picture.)
I won’t bore you with chef Nancy Oakes’ entire menu, but several discoveries stick in my memory: The pre-dinner cocktail, a Black Briar, blended Woodford Reserve bourbon, blackberries, Pasilla pepper puree and Syrah syrup — a dark coral color that was sour, bitter and sweet, all at the same time, and very grown up. Then there was the abalone discs (rare) and elk medallions (available everywhere in the West), so tender they felt like toasted butter on the tongue, accented by a Seghesio old-vine Zinfandel from (where else?) Sonoma that was fruity but just dry enough to stand upright. Who knew Zins — and not one of the expensive selections — could be so complicated?
Then out into the Indian Summer night for a last drought of bay air.
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Comments
By Brenda Thompson
October 9, 2007 7:32 AM | Link to this
Excellent to hear about your good experience at Boulevard; I am going there in two weeks. We also have a reservation at Bouchon, sister restaurant to French Laundry, in Napa. Where did you stay in SF?
By Elizabeth Mills
October 7, 2007 8:28 PM | Link to this
Happy Birthday, Big Brother!
From your favorite YOUNGEST sister!