Zazie
941 Cole St
(between Carl St & Parnassus Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94117
Neighborhood: Cole Valley
Rated: ♣♣
I really want to give this place 4 clubs, I really do. The food was great, the ambiance of the outdoor seating is beautiful, but Zazie well deserves 2 clubs because of the lack of service and wait for it…. mice. Yes! Mice! I had my back turned against a fence covered in ivy and I heard rustling going on behind me. I dismissed it thinking it was a bird, but after we left the restaurant, K informed me that it was 2 little mice! Gross!
The scene:
In addition to Jack and Gus Gus, service was just plain terrible. I saw every other customer in the restaurant receiving amazing service from the staff, but we were getting no love. First of all, the host completely skipped our name when he was seating guests. The host said it was probably because the parties after us had a different group size, but I pointed out 2 other names on his list with the same party size as me. And then his response was, “Oh, well I guess I did skip your name then.” No apology, no offer for a discount or free item, nothing.
After we were seated, we were in and out of the restaurant in 1/2 hour. No joke. They even gave our check when we were still eating our entrée. Did I mention, this was on my birthday?
The food:
As I mentioned earlier, I really hate that I loved the food at this place. What I liked about Zazie is that you have the option to order small, medium and large portions – each about $1 difference. Since it was my birthday, K and I were doing a food tour around SF and we had to save our appetite for our next venture.
Gingerbread Pancakes – This was probably one of the best pancake dishes I’ve ever had. The pancake was topped with a very ripe bosc pear and a dab of lemon curd. The spiciness of the chewy pancake was balanced by the tartness of the lemon curd and the sweetness of the pear – a great combination indeed.
Forentine Benedict РAtop of an English muffin lies a bed of spinach, saut̩ed portabello mushrooms and a poached egg. Although the egg was a little overcooked, the freshness of the ingredients is what celebrated the dish. No need for fancy seasonings and toppings on this one.
Lemonade – What goes great with brunch on a sunny day? Fresh squeezed lemonade. But, you’ll have to make your own lemonade here. Zazie hands you 2 cups with an ounce of fresh squeezed lemon juice, a container of simple syrup and a jug of water. It’s up to you to make the perfect combination. I would much rather prefer them to make the lemonade since I always overdo the sugar.
I will probably come back to Zazie to give them another shot, but it will take some time for my wounds to heal.
