San Francisco Bay Area: 50th Birthday Restaurant Recommendation ....Help Needed

The Short:

I need a restaurant recommendation for my 50th Birthday. For about 10-12 people.

The Long:

I live in Tokyo and will fly into the San Francisco Bay Area (where I grew up, but left 30 years ago) for a few days of revelry to include at least one dinner with 10-12 friends flying in from around the country.

I have been buying and cellaring bottles for this event and would like to pour my own wines only so corkage will be involved (unless it isn’t :slight_smile: ).

The food should be somewhere between awesome and amazing, although I could settle for simply delicious if the corkage issue was easy.

I can go on a weekday that is less busy for the restaurant, etc. In other words, pretty flexible.

Ideally a function room or private dining room will be available rather than a large table on the main dining room.

I am hoping you guys and gals can point me in the direction of s place somewhere in the greater Bay Area or as far north as Napa that may fit the bill. Very keen to hear any ideas you have.

Budget: pretty flexible :slight_smile:

Thank you,

Mike

Bolding mine. Janice and I would have preferred to fly to Tokyo. [highfive.gif]

zazie is $10, free Tuesday and would likely up their bistro game if you called.
perbacco is $20
Orson $15

also flour + water $15

Paul, rockstar! Thank you.

Looking at them, I like the look of Flour + Water very much.

Zazie looks nice but closes pretty early. I usually do not start dinner until 8uish anyeway and they close at 9:30-10:00. Could be a spot for a hangover brunch though :slight_smile:

Perbacco looks good too, probably my second choice overall. I like the classiness and the polish.

Orson appears to have closed :frowning:

Flour + Water gets talked up well on Chowhound and their private dining looks like it may be a perfect fit.

Any other suggestions, anybody? This is really a fantastic help.

the problem is that all the fancy places have $35+ corkage. Fleur de Lys, Ame, Danko, Crenn, la Folie, Acquerello, etc.

Many places now limit one to two bottles BYO. The list of these in SF that do that is now long, at least among the high end places (e.g., Quince).

Flour and Water is great, but their space is limited and you might have trouble getting 12 in there. They do have one long table that usually is reserved for walk-ins–this would work, but I am not sure they would free it up.

Also, I seem to recall last time I was there that they were discussing a separate room with more capacity (for special dinners)? Or am I dreaming…

Flour + Water is sounding more and more like the real deal. How far out is booing reasonable?

Call these guys: http://www.lazybearsf.com/blog/privatedining.php

Flour and Water is terrific

Just had a great dinner at Kokkari. Mediterranean food.

If you enjoy a good steak Bobo’s has private dining and would likely work with you on corkage, especially mid-week. Wine service is quite good too, bone-in filet superb.

When I had the bone-in filet the one time I went to Bobo’s it was easily the best steak I had ever had. Maybe still is.

I was going to mention them. Had a lovely dinner there about 7-8? years ago and I remember them as being corkage friendly and having a big table.

I’ve done dinners in the private dining rooms at Gary Danko, Farallon and 1300 on Fillmore. All three were terrific, and we managed to work out corkage details ahead of time at each place. I’ve attended a couple of WB offlines at Foreign Cinema, and although there’s no separate private dining room, there’s plenty of space, and easy to work out a good corkage arrangement. I also was involved with a great dinner at Heirloom Cafe where we brought all the wines that night, and there were many bottles.

As much as I enjoyed the food at Flour & Water my one time there, it seems like you need something a little more special for your 50th. Also, I have an idea the wines you’ll be bringing are going to be spectacular +. I’d say if you want Italian, check out Quince or Acquerello.

Zuni Cafe could be another possibility with enough advanced notice.

I didn’t realize Bobo’s had a private room. The steaks there are very good. Other than roast chicken, there’s probably no easier food to match with older reds than a good steak. Speaking of steak, private dining rooms and low to no corkage, check out Stark’s Steak House in Santa Rosa. Their food is wonderful, they have a private room downstairs, and their corkage policy is about as good as it gets. It’s walking distance from a Hyatt and a Marriott that both have good rates most of the time.

Update:

The wine list was superb, the food not nearly as memorable, but I picked for proxiity to people and not food alas. The people though, the best of it all. Absolutely tops!

I ended up doing three parties in 5 days, one in Tokyo, one in DC, and one in the Bay Area.

One heck of a great way to slither into the next 50 and bid fond farewell to the last 50.

Standout wines with 12-15 served in each city were:
2002 Alain Hudelot-Noellat Richebourg (Tokyo)
Too many bubbles to count w/ lots of caviar to boot (DC)
2007 Silex and also Pur Sang (Bay Area)


Thank you everybody :slight_smile:

Congrats! Mind telling us where you ended up dining?