11-18 Pres a Vi

My husband and I had a fun dinner at Pres a Vi on Friday night. The name Pres a Vi loosely translates to "Captivated by Wine" in Catalan. We were captivated by both the wine and the atmosphere.

The restaurant is located in the Presidio and was a little difficult to find. However, I did got to their website today and they have great instructions on finding it there. They also have underground parking ($5 after 6pm), which is pretty unheard of in our 7X7 mile city.

It was a foggy and wet night in San Francisco, but the dining room was warm and inviting, with muted gold lighting, red toned upholstery and cherry wood tables and chairs. The dining room is quite large, but is nicely segmented to give a feeling somewhere between romantic and lively. Its perfect for a date night, or a small group of friends.

We started things off with a glass of the sparkling wine, the Ferrari Brut "Perle" NV (the NV means non-vintage, which means the wine came from multiple years of harvesting grapes instead of just one). The bubbles were small and crisp and the nose was lightly toasty, like fresh made bread. That describes pretty much all of my favorite sparkling wines (which I'm careful not to call champagne here, because it is from Italy and not from Champagne). This wine also had tart apple flavors, which is also pretty typical of sparkling wines. I'm hoping, in my tasting notes, to give you some basic wine characteristics without overwhelming you with wine speak. One thing I always tell people about wine descriptions is to try to imagine describing the flavor of anything, say a glass of apple juice, without using apple, and you will reach for similarly strange adjectives as wine that smells like bread and tastes like apples.

The chef describes the menu as "global fusion", and the dishes have influences of mostly Asian and European cuisines. This seems to result in a light, but satisfying and flavorful culinary experience. We started with a salad of watercress, frisee and yellow endive topped with Cabrales (a blue cheese), roasted marcona almonds (oily and salted delicacies from spain) and gala apples (which of course went nicely with my appley bubbles). We also had the sashimi grade tuna marinated in soy, lemon oil and a japanese citrus fruit called yuzu. Both were delicious. The bitter endive was perfectly balanced by the sweet apples and the salty almonds. I always believe in balancing out my menu selections so the crisp salad and the rich, flavorful tuna were a great combo.

We both ordered seafood entrees. My husband had the Tai Snapper, which came whole and was deboned at the table. There were a few too many remaining bones after the waiter had done his handywork, so I painfully watched my husband chew his food gingerly and every once in a while remove a small bone from between his lips, but he still seemed to enjoy the flavor. I enjoyed the bites I had as well (no bones for me). I ordered the Alaskan Black Bass, which came in a dashi (the base of miso soup) broth with edamame and seaweed salad floating around it. I love black bass; it has a texture kind of like lobster, but still looks like a regular filet of white fish. The chef did a great job preserving the succulent texture of the flesh and giving a nice crisp broil to the skin on top.

Halfway through dinner I ordered a glass of Gruner Vetliner (the 2006 Franz Leth "Steinagrund"). It came out as a half glass, which they offer at half the price of a full glass. This was fine with me, as my husband was still working his way through his sparkling wine and I didn't want to out-drink him by too much. If you don't know this wine, you've got a lot of company, but you should definitely get to know it. Its quite possibly my favorite white wine (right now) and is regarded as one of the most food friendly whites. The majority of it is produced in Austria, as a light, refreshing wine that still captivates all of your taste buds (the wine word for this is "good mouth feel"). It should be drunk young, which means within a year or so after it is released. The 2006 would be the most current vintage (year). The flavors are usually citrus and stone fruits (wine speak for peaches and other fruits with a pit). I've never had one that wasn't delicious.

We'd finished both our entrees (I'd at least come very close to finishing), but had no room for dessert. Neither one of us has a nagging sweet tooth, but if my husband is up for it, I can usually have one bite (or three if its really good). This time both of us were completely satisfied.

I definitely recommend giving Pres a Vi a try, but make reservations and don't forget to look at their on-line directions. The wine list is very unique, so don't be afraid to order something you've never heard of. Try a Gruner (also called Gruve, pronounced Gru-vee); I'm sure you will love it.