In the year and a half since I ate at Quince, I’ve recommended the restaurant to over a half dozen friends, urging them to focus on Executive Chef Michael Tusk’s amazing pastas.*
They’ve all reported back aglow about their food and their experience there.
At my dinner there in May of 2009, I was told that the restaurant would be moving from its original location on Octavia Street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco within a month. With the usual delays, the restaurant didn’t open its doors at its current location on Jackson Square until that October.
While I didn’t expect it to be the model of modernity, the interior of the original Quince was surprisingly dated. Homely and dim, it was like a step back into the eighties. Simply outfitted, with a bar at the back and a host stand up front with no waiting area, it looked like the cozy neighborhood restaurant that it was.
The food there, however, was on a much higher level than its trappings might have suggested, as was duly acknowledged by Bibendem, who awarded the restaurant its first Michelin star in the 2010 Michelin Guide Rouge for the San Francisco Bay Area and Wine Country.
To my knowledge, Quince does not allow diners to take photographs of their food. However, our server kindly made an exception for me as long as I promised not to publish them publicly (it’s a shame, since the food was quite beautiful). I keep that promise to this day.
However, for this fifteenth photo of the week, I share with you a picture that I took of the interior of the restaurant in a quiet moment late at night, while my friend stepped away for a break.
*
My review of Quince can be found here: “review: pasta primacy…”
Baker & Banker now resides in that space on Octavia Street. From photos I have seen online, this space looks quite different now.
4 replies on “photo of the week 15: once upon a quince…”
You’re right (both about the pasta and the decor) – it looks vastly different now. Thanks for that rec. it was my favourite meal of that trip. :)
Interesting. The management didn’t have any issues with me taking photos at the old location or at the new one. Did you visit the new Quince during your recent trip? The food is better than ever and the new space boasts far better lighting, so it is much more conducive to unobtrusive flashless foot photography
@yancaneat: I’m surprised. Everyone I’ve spoken with has said that the restaurant does not allow photography. That is also the policy the restaurant stated when I asked. I did not visit the new location on my latest trip to San Francisco.
Maybe the key is not to ask :)