SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - The hottest block in San Francisco now is anchored at one end by Yoshi’s, a top flight jazz club and restaurant; and on the south end by 1300 on Fillmore, an evocative jazz lounge and high-concept dinner house featuring the polished American soul food of chef David Lawrence. Both new places are packed, but with different crowds.

1300 on Fillmore feels like a tony club — masculine, dark, commodious. Quilted brown leather banquettes run the length of the room. Capacious wooden tables and upholstered round-backed New Orleans’ style chairs fill the center. Shimmery curtains drop from the high ceiling as do oversized lamp-shade spot lights. Carpeting and all the fabrics keep the noise level mellow so the live jazz from the lounge can drift into the dining room.

The sexy lounge is furnished with oversized arm chairs and couches. A wall of backlit photos of the old Fillmore from the 1940s and ’50s when it was full of jazz clubs, magnetically draws people in for a closer look.

Lawrence applies French technique and presentation to a Southern pantry of ingredients — grits, okra, cornmeal, shrimp, rabbit, pork chops and oysters. He also cooks California/French — foie gras, pork belly, lamb chops, black bass, arctic char. Classically trained with a Jamaican/British background and 20 years of high-end cooking in San Francisco, he creates elegant comfort food that doesn’t hold back on flavor or richness.

Irresistible crisp-edged triangles of hot cornbread, one per diner, snugly wrapped in a linen napkin, served with sweet/hot red pepper jelly and whipped honey butter, set the tone for the whole meal.

Lawrence also works his magic on grits, a creamy, polenta-like porridge, which serves as a foil for barbecue shrimp ($14), smothered in a pink smoky sauce rife with butter and spices. Even more sublime, his yellow hominy grits enriched with mascarpone absorb and magnify the elusive flavor of sautéed wild mushrooms ($9). Don’t leave without having this dish.

From his French/California repertory comes a lively poached egg salad ($9), the creamy egg yolk smoothing out warm savoy cabbage and hunks of bacon splashed with vinegar. The balance is perfect.

I have to order fried chicken ($23), especially when it is organic, boned and has a crisp, powerfully spicy crust. Truffled whipped potatoes, herb-flecked biscuits and pan gravy complete the picture. Of equal over-the-top pleasure are Lawrence’s maple syrup slow-braised beef short ribs ($28), also boned, molded into a disk, set atop buttermilk-chive mashed potatoes and crowned with big, spicy, cornmeal-crusted onion rings. Oh dear. How to choose?

You can always make a meal out of fabulous side dishes ($7), like surprisingly light and tasty herbed macaroni and cheese, or roasted Brussels sprouts.

Desserts ($9) are as stylish and vibrant as the savory cooking. The stunning sorbet n’ petits fours plate, with nine little compartments each filled with a different bite-sized treat is pure fun, but who can pass up hot beignets coated with sugar and oozing melted chocolate?

An inspired wine list by former Ritz Carlton sommelier Emannuel Kemiji features sophisticated American wines that enhance the food. Some top notch, African-American owned and operated wineries, such as Brown Estate, are represented.

1300 on Fillmore is a complete package, luxuriously wrapped, with a gift inside that I’ve been waiting for — a new, yet resonant, uniquely San Francisco experience.

Patricia Unterman is the author of “San Francisco Food Lovers’ Pocket Guide” and a newsletter, “Unterman on Food.” Contact her at pattiu@concentric.net.

Comments from Examiner Readers

12:14 PM MST on Thu., May. 15, 2008 re: "A slice of the Middle East"

Examiner Reader said:
layaly have the best middle_eastren food in the bay.there food is delicious and have consistant recepie. what you taste today you'll taste tommorrow. it's a winner. I love the hookah lounge, they sereve very good hookahs & have very unique Tobacco Flavors. the hookah lonuge opens at 8pm -12am & 8pm - 2:00(fri & sat)on the weekends.i recommend this place cause it's a winner

2 agree | 0 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

3:01 PM MST on Thu., May. 8, 2008 re: "Take Mom out to the ballgame at AT&T Park"

Examiner Reader said:
My mother would beat me like a rented mule if I took her to a baseball game for Mother's Day.

1 agree | 1 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

7:50 AM MST on Wed., Apr. 2, 2008 re: "Namu�s intricate flavors entice your palate"

Examiner Reader said:
I visited Namu on a trip to San Fran a year back when the restaurant had just opened. The space is minimal and hip, and the food fantastic - the black cod was superb!

2 agree | 2 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

10:51 PM MST on Tue., Apr. 1, 2008 re: "Namu�s intricate flavors entice your palate"

Francis Kim said:
actually namu never closes early. the restaurant that always closes early was written right next to the namu article. I believe everyone is getting confused. And on thursday, friday, and saturday they stay open till 1am!!!! that is awesome.

3 agree | 2 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

3:58 PM MST on Thu., Mar. 27, 2008 re: "Jazzy soul food in the heart of the Fillmore"

M.S. Jackson said:
Ms. Unterman's laughable dialectic suggests she is feeding on some of the large sausages at the Soul Food joint and getting more than her fill!

2 agree | 3 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

4:55 PM MST on Sun., Mar. 16, 2008 re: "Jazzy soul food in the heart of the Fillmore"

Examiner Reader said:
I suspect they close before the posted closing time to save on staff costs on nights when the amount of business does not cover expenses. I give them another six months.

3 agree | 8 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate

12:28 PM MST on Thu., Feb. 21, 2008 re: "Review: Innovative Japanese dining with a California twist"

Examiner Reader said:
Go early in the evening because they'll close early if the mood stikes them. Even if you have a reservation.

26 agree | 41 disagree
Vote on this comment: I agree or I disagree

Report as inappropriate