Restaurant Review: Quince
Gasps and outrage escorted Michelin's new Bay Area guide onto local shelves, but few took issue with the tire company's decision to bestow a star upon Quince. The small, elegant restaurant sits near the top of many local foodies' must-eat lists.
Add it to mine as well after my friend Sabine organized an outing for six of us. Happy murmurs, louder as wine refilled our glasses, wafted above the table and its load of French-Italian "haute rustic" fare: tender rabbit wrapped in prosciutto, meaty pig's feet croquettes, succulent squab with figs. I don't think any of the dishes fell short of our lofty expectations.
The wine list is large, which usually suggests more money than focus, but I concede that the large inventory allowed them to feature an aromatic 2003 Movia Ribolla that we used as an opening wine. We moved onto a 2004 Selbach-Oster Zeltingen Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett and then a 2003 Merry Edwards Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. (My friends joke that whenever I choose wine for a group, we end up with Riesling and Pinot Noir.) Given the Italian influence on the menu—there's a separate pasta course—I was surprised that the famous peninsula occupied a relatively small piece of the wine list.
Service was gracious, even as we became that table. You know the one. We stood outside for half an hour, out of the swirl of nearby operagoers, waiting for dawdling diners, but the staff apologized with a delicious intermezzo course that featured guinea hen and spinach pasta.
Quince lives up to its hype, delivering noticeably good food without the pretentious air found in many restaurants of its caliber. While it might be a bit leisurely for a pre-symphony meal, it's well worth a trip on another night.
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