Octavia, San Francisco, 07/24/2021

Octavia is probably one of our favorite 1 Michelin Star restaurant in San Francisco.  The food is always great and we also like the ambiance and the service.

Octavia is committed to use sustainable, farm to table, and to make the most of the Bay Area's wealth of agricultural resources.

Octavia closed their doors during Covid for over a year and I have been checking their website for months to see when they will open again.

Finally as soon as they are open, I was able to reserve a table for six people (maximum). 

Octavia also built two outdoor dinning area.  This is the one on the side of the restaurant.

This outdoor area is just in front of the restaurant.  They did a good job building it and they also double the occupancy of the restaurant with the 2 addition.

Our waiter told us that it is well covered so it is comfortable and to give try it out one of these days.  They can also accommodate like 8 to 10 people per party.

Open kitchen at the far end of the room.

Tuan., Maily, Phuc, Huyen, Annie, and Hoa.

The restaurant only allows us to bring two bottles so we went with Pahlmeyer and Gosh Block Reserve.

One of the waitress opening a bottle of wine.

SOURDOUGH levain, cultured butter or Sicilian olive oil, made in house.

The bread here is outstanding.

The appetizers coming out: 5 dishes in total.  They gave us 2 of the Miriam Tomatoes.

Let's take a close look at each dish.

Monterey bay CALAMARI, serpent cucumber, Urfa chili oil, basil 

Gorgeous, delicious and fresh like a summer breeze!

Miriam's TOMATOES, Brokaw avocado, jalapeno, green strawberry

This dish was such a surprise hit!  Nothing but vegetables but the tomatoes were so sweet and was paired with a rich and creamy avocado spread.  The light acidity of the green strawberries, and a little spiciness from the thinly sliced jalapenos were such a successful combination.

Zucchini CARPACCIO, Kalamata olive, crescenza, preserved Meyer lemon.

Really interesting flavors and also beautiful presentation.

These 3 dishes are so colorful and so nicely platted.

STEAK TARTARE, brioche toast, cured egg yolk, black garlic.

This is actually very good!  They did not incorporate an egg yolk inside the meat and it was actually better this way.

Two rock MOZZARELLA, jimmy nardello, cipollini onion, pangrattato

Simple ingredients but elevated with the addition of the crunchy pangrattato and the smoky and sweetness of the cipollini onion.

The salad course with two type of salad and more bread.

STONE FRUIT & CRESTA DI GALLO, cherry vinaigrette, spicy almonds

It might look like not much but we were so surprised that the sweet nectarine was the star of the dish.

Tucker Taylor LITTLE GEMS, nori ranch dressing, filet beans, tomatoes.

I think this is one for their signature salad dish as I remember having it all the 3 times I ate here.