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Bar Jules: a true jewel
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Every once in a long while, a restaurant is so good that after eating there once, I return the very next day just to make sure my first experience wasn't a fluke. Bar Jules is one such restaurant. (Side note: so was Dynamo Donut.)
Hayes Valley is poised to be the next 18th & Guerrero what with all the good eats popping up around there. Bar Jules feels perfectly suited to the neighborhood and also perfectly suited to my tongue and stomach.
I finally got over there to try the delights whipped up by chef/owner Jessica Bonecutter. (Full disclosure: I have known Jess since her days back at Slanted Door so I have a special place in my heart for her.) Once I ate there, I was ashamed and dismayed that I hadn't been sooner. They've been open for awhile now, but I had a baby in the meantime and staying current on the dining haps slipped for me a bit. So sue me.
Now, the place isn't for everyone. It's got a handwritten menu that changes every day and features five appetizers, three entrees and two desserts for dinner (at lunch, the list is even shorter). There is a list of about 12 wines by the glass and there are no reservations. It is fairly small. It's great for a quick bite or a social meal with (a few) friends. I love it, but if you are someone that requires a plan and requires a lot of options, it might not be your spot.
If it is your kind of spot (and it IS mine), I will not allow you to eat there unless you promise me you will order the soup. Damn, these folks can make soup. My dining companion on my first visit talked of nothing BUT the soup when we were making our menu choices. Once the bowl of Tuscan beans, kale and deliciousness arrived it was clear why she had done so. It was beautifully seasoned and once the last bite was gone, I filled the bowl with my tears. Lucky for me, the following night I got to have the panade, a bread and gruyere soup (is there anything better, really?). This soup made me almost wish that the menu didn't change every night just so I could return again and again for more.
The other appetizers don't suck either. In particular the boccarones placed across a slice of bread spread with the most delicious aioli, and then topped with fennel won over my loverboy, which is no easy feat considering he is painfully loyal to the ones at Delfina. For my part, I swooned for the charcuterie -- herbed ricotta and proscuitto one night, sopprasetta and deviled eggs the next.
I'm the type to make a meal out of appetizers, so only one entree came out of both my visits. This was a skirt steak with salsa verde. I brought this home for the aforementioned loverboy since he was on daddy duty for the night. Despite having cooked himself a steak before I arrived home and despite the fact that the steak was a to-go item AND despite the fact that I had already eaten a full meal, we ate ALL the steak. It was that good. It was good enough that I might have to re-think my grazing ways.
You may notice that the menu doesn't list a vegetarian entree. If you like to forgo the meat, Bar Jules will custom make a vegetarian plate for you. We saw one such plate go out, and for a second we had to look at the menu so we could figure out how to order it. It looked so scrumptious, sitting there showing off it's gorgeous beets, chickpeas and couscous.
A word about dessert. You should order it. I feel like dessert is often the part of a restaurant meal that gets skipped and I am so confused by this. I love baking, but find it infinitely more complex than cooking -- why wouldn't you use your night out to take advantage of someone else doing the work for you? I also think that all dessert menus should be printed on the regular menu at all times (Bar Jules does this). It helps me plan my meal better. But I digress...
Almost always available is the River Cafe chocolate nemesis, which is essentially a flourless chocolate cake. I despise flourless chocolate cakes. I have painful flashbacks to the late 90's when they were ubiquitous. That said, this nemesis is so good that I wanted to rub my face in it. I didn't, but only because I wanted to be allowed to come back. Still, this nemesis ain't got nothing on the yogurt cake I had the following night -- light and fluffy as an angel food cake with a sour crumb, this slice of heaven is in competition with the panade for my undying and unconditional love.
Both nights I sucked down the Txocali, because I heart Txocali and theirs was a fine speciman. My companions favored the Rose, and the Grenache. I have a sneaking suspicion that you can't really go wrong with their wine list. You certainly can't with the food. Go now!
