Epic Roasthouse

Sorry for the long absence, but I'm back! Russian River Valley food photos will be forthcoming. For now, here are some delicious details from Epic Roasthouse. The restaurant is lovely with a view of the bay, if you are lucky enough to get a table in the right hald of the restaurant. The prices are definitely high for what you get, but on the whole the food is delicious. I wouldn't rank it as highly as CUT in Los Angeles or Wolfgang's in Manhattan, but for San Francisco (not really a steak town, IMO) it's pretty tasty.

The bread plate was impressively unboring. I liked both the cornbread madeleine and mini gougere, but wish that everything had been warm.

Appetizers: two plates of bone marrow, escargots (which surprisingly came in a quiche-like custard), and a small charcuterie plate. The charcuterie was disappointing--three tiny pieces of salami and chorizo and a thin disk of foie gras. The last charcuterie we had was at Traverso's, and Italian deli in Novato. Epic couldn't compare, and the portions were tiny. It's hard to enjoy something when you've just had better at a fifth the price.

Ribeye for two--two pairs of us both got this. I couldn't believe this is considered medium rare, but yum. I don't know how they did it, but the fatty portions of this steak tasted remniscent of foie gras. Dry aged beef is such a rare treat, and this certainly was beefy. It also came with a handful if really amazing fingerling potatoes.

The prime rib was unimpressive. I'd rather go to Houston's or House of Prime Rib for this. I might even venture to say that Daily Grill on Union Square does a better job.

I thought the short ribs were incredibly good. It was definitely the most well balanced entree, since it came with peas, carrots, and arugula.

The mushrooms in an incredibly buttery sauce was everyone's favorite side. So decadent, and perfect with steak.

Garlic broccolini was fine.

J heard great things about the almond cake with burlatt cherries, and it was really delicious. The crumb of the cake is moist and loose, with crispy edges and brown butter flavor.

And, of course, we shared an order of beignets. Definitely the closest to Cafe du Monde beignets I've had outside of New Orleans.

With everyone ordering his/her own entree, four appetizers, two sides, two desserts, three cocktails, one and a half glasses of wine, and a soda, our total was just under $90 a person (gratuity included for large parties). It's definitely expensive, and for my $90 I could list at least twenty places in SF I would rather go before returning to Epic. But for a city like SF, being beaten by twenty restaurants is really nothing to cry about. And if someone specifically asked for steak and a view with price being no object, Epic would recommend it without hesitation.