• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Alice Dishes

Adventures and Real Food

  • Design
  • Life
  • Recipes
  • Reviews
  • Travel
borage soup at sons and daughters

April 22, 2016

Dining at Sons and Daughters, San Francisco

There’s no doubt that San Francisco has more than its fair share of good dining, and fine dining is in no short supply either. With folks wanting to invest their hard-earned dollars in ‘experiences‘, and ticketed dining becoming just as much theater as watching a play, it’s no surprise that restaurants like Sons & Daughters do well here. With a set menu of seven courses for $115, this is certainly a place reserved for a special occasion, unless you are one of the many local tech millionaires, in which case you may just drop in when you’re hungry.

Many of the raw ingredients come from the restaurant’s own farm, Dark Hill Farm, which is located in the Santa Cruz mountains and started initially as a kitchen garden until demand outstripped supply. While they don’t raise their own meat, expect to enjoy everything from greens to fruits, eggs to foraged mountain fare, in their dishes. A handy, leather-bound booklet on the table, includes extra detail about the food you’re eating and shows you pictures of it growing on the fan. If you have a Portlandia-style obsession with knowing where your food comes from, you will be happy here.

Our menu for the evening went something like this, with the first item listed being the “hero” and the subsequent ingredients being the “supporting cast” (absolutely vital, but not the star of the show):

Borage  Artichoke and green almond (pictured above)

Trout  Fiddlehead fern and sesame

trout and fiddlehead fern at sons and daughters

Carrot Pistachio and green garlic 

carrot and pistachio at sons and daughters

Amerucana Egg English pea and yellowfoot

ameraucana egg at sons and daughters

Lamb  Asparagus and green peppercorn

lamb asparagus at sons and daughters

Strawberry  Chrysanthemum and lemon verbena

strawberry sorbet at sons and daughters

Chocolate  Hazelnut and Caramel

chocolate hazelnut at sons and daughters

I had alerted the restaurant in advance that I preferred to avoid gluten and dairy, so there were a few modifications to what they served me. (For instance, my companions didn’t get the chocolate at the end of their meal, but a caramely cheesy concoction, which they soon polished off.)

There are three types of bread and butter served throughout. The butter is insanely good, as was the bread (yes, I had to cave in and have a bite, after all how would I get the butter to my mouth otherwise?).

insanely good bread and butter

For the most part, everything was impeccable and there was a twist or delightful surprise in each dish, which is what made the price worth it. For instance, green apricots (unripened) served with the trout, had us all guessing what they were (olives?), reaching for our menus and asking the waitress to enlighten us. Likewise the combination of salty cheese and caramel for dessert, is a genius move. My dad has always sworn by the combination of black pepper with strawberries, and flanking the strawberry sorbet with peppery arugula is along the same lines.

Our one shared complaint was that the veal broth accompanying the egg dish was insanely salty. There’s a reduction, and then there’s reducing a sauce down to bare minerals. The after-burn on our tongues lasted too long and somewhat took away our ability to enjoy the next dish.

Aside from that, this was a highly enjoyable experience in a cool spot. The heavy, dark grey linen table cloth grounds the whole meal and as you’d expect, the people watching is fun. (Lots of older men with younger women, but all of them super hip, naturally.)

The wine pairing, at $79, bumps up the price quite a bit, so consider ordering a bottle, or by the glass.

Michelin mysteriously describes Sons & Daughters as “A very good restaurant of its type” – I  am not quite sure what that type is, but it’s worth checking out should you have something to celebrate.

Sons & Daughters is at 708 Bush St, San Francisco, CA 94108 
Tel: (415) 391-8311

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Dark Hill Farm, restaurant review, san francisco, Sons and Daughters

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

About Alice

A bit about me... I grew up in the UK and moved to Northern California in the late 1990s, drawn here, like so many others, by the lure of ...

Read More

Popular Posts

  • holey_grail_donutsThe Best Places to Eat in Hanalei, Kauai
  • 10 Things to Do in Sea Ranch, CA10 Things to Do in Sea Ranch, CA
  • When All Is Said And Done: 7 Things That Really Matter in LifeWhen All Is Said And Done: 7 Things That Really…
  • Stunning Beet and Cauliflower SoupStunning Beet and Cauliflower Soup

People are Talking About

No People Food

A Lesson in Salt From Samin Nosrat

Madeleines by Monkey

When All Is Said And Done: 7 Things That Really Matter in Life

Alice’s Favorites

101 Cookbooks
Chef on a Mission
Cook, Taste, Eat
Food Politics
Golden
Good Eggs
Healthy Cooking
Jamie Oliver Food Revolution
Mary Vance
Michael Pollan
Nina Planck
Not Without Salt
Nourish Network
Samin Nosrat
The Healthy Home Economist

alicedishes

Lover of life, Labs & horses. Visit AliceDishes.com blog for travel, recipes, design & life. Area VI #morganhorse #blacklab #eventing #interiors

Alice Dishes. Eat, Bark, Ride
Staying alive and getting it done on xc - so much Staying alive and getting it done on xc - so much fun 🤩 #areavi #eventinghorse #morganmare
A little bit of our dressage and SJ action from th A little bit of our dressage and SJ action from the weekend @twinrivershorsepark - Q and I were either great or mediocre during dressage to give us a 36.4 which made it hard to be competitive, but the goal was to finish on our dressage score and feel confident all weekend ✅. We moved up 4 places over the weekend and jumped double clear in both SJ and XC for a top 10 finish. Our rhythm and timing in SJ was probably our best yet. #eventing #areavi #comeback
The sunset was spectacular last night in Paso Robl The sunset was spectacular last night in Paso Robles! #sunset #pasorobles
So fun to watch @tommygreengard on these two speci So fun to watch @tommygreengard on these two special boys: Barry and Josh. 😍
The boy is back in town! Rogee had a blast doing X The boy is back in town! Rogee had a blast doing XC schooling for the first time since February. He was relaxed (shocker!), said yes to everything and although he wanted to shred up the track he listened and was a very good boy 😍😍😍 - so happy with him and I think he had the best day ever 🙌  Looking forward to showing him at @woodsidehorsepark in Oct! #xc #eventing #eventinghorse
My little pocket 🚀 was on 🔥today! I couldn’t have been happier. We jumped all the Training things and tackled some challenging questions. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs since losing some confidence. At one point in June I froze jumping a x-rail 🤷‍♀️. But we have fought our way back, filling in gaps and ultimately our partnership has become even stronger. I’m so proud of her. I have lots of work to do to be fully deserving of this brave girl, but after a day like today it feels like we could conquer anything! (Except dressage 😂 - but we are working on that too!) #eventing #eventinghorse #xc #morganmare #comeback
Fun working on our jumping at home today 1) no st Fun working on our jumping at home today 
1) no stirrups 2) trot verticals 3) adjust canter 4) work a related distance ✅. Felt great. She was keen and took me to the fences 😍 #eventinghorse #morganmare
🎉 New blog post alert! My first story about our 🎉 New blog post alert! My first story about our trip to the Baja peninsula is live - link in bio.  Read all about the fun we had staying and tequila tasting at  @thecapehotel, massages at @cabosurfhotel delicious food at @florafarms and @elhuertof2t  #bajacalifornia #vacationvibes #cabosanlucas #beachday @thecapehotel @florafarms @cabosurfhotel
My handsome boy. The many faces of King Arthur. #b My handsome boy. The many faces of King Arthur. #blacklab #blacklabrador
I would choose them both every time. It’s defin I would choose them both every time.  It’s definitely not easy having two horses and one rider. But I am going to make it work as long as I possibly can because they are part of me. 😍 Can you have two ❤️ horses for different reasons? Because I might have just got that lucky.
It makes me so happy to see Rogee fit, strong and It makes me so happy to see Rogee fit, strong and enjoying his rehabbed body. He’s really learning what he’s can do with himself these days physically and it’s also really rewarding to see his personality shift down a few gears to a generally more relaxed state… #goodboy
I planted these at the end of April - and finally I planted these at the end of April - and finally I get my first harvest!!
Burghley Revisited. What a terrific time we had. # Burghley Revisited. What a terrific time we had. #eventing #5* #burghleyhorsetrials
This 15.1hh stallion stole my heart. Does Q need a This 15.1hh stallion stole my heart. Does Q need a husband? 😍 I mean, that jump. Very much my ride!!!
Scenes of St Paul’s, Trafalgar Square and Fulham Scenes of St Paul’s, Trafalgar Square and Fulham Palace Road at dusk #london
Load More Follow on Instagram

Footer

A bit about me... I grew up in the UK and moved to Northern California in the late 1990s, drawn here, like so many others, by the lure of the dot.com ...

Read More

More to Explore

All Posts Archive

Stay Connected

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Never Miss a Post

Copyright© 2023 · Alice Dishes

website by lobstervine