catch and don't release: fish & farm measures up!

tonight, we went to fish & farm for dinner. i had read about this restaurant on daily candy when it first opened, and have been meaning to try it out for months. now that i've been making all this effort to "eat more responsibly," i was very much looking forward to dinner here because the restaurant says all of its "meats and seafood are sustainable farmed or harvested. [they] serve naturally fed, anti-biotic, hormone, and steroid free meats only....all produce is organic and from within 100 miles of this restaurant. all meats and fish are as local as we can get and still put food on your plates!"

i asked our waiter where the restaurant sources its meats, and he told me golden gate meat company. well, i really, really hope if the restaurant uses them, it make sure the meats come from ggmc's local suppliers. i was looking on the website, and *maybe* only 20% of its suppliers are actually "local" and/or even sustainable farms. but who knows, maybe i'm just being overly suspicious. (this is where kevin nods emphatically and rolls his eyes at me.)

aside from all that, dinner was really good. definitely between a 3-4 out of 5. for a starting cocktail, i had their "fish & farm julep," which was EXCELLENT (made with Buffalo Trace bourbon. i *love* bourbon, as you either already know all too well from our holiday party 2 years ago or will come to realize as you get to know me.). kevin enjoyed a glass of their riesling. as an aside, all their wines are from winemakers who practice sustainable, organic, and/or bio-dynamic methods. fish & farm will also let you have a glass from any of its bottles, as long as you're willing to pay for 1/3 of the bottle. i don't know about you, but i think that's pretty cool.

for our first course, i ordered the farm-fresh poached egg with asparagus tips and a brown-butter bearnaise sauce while kevin had the special, which was "purple asparagus 3 ways." asparagus is in season right now and amazingly sweet, so we knew we couldn't go wrong. i loved mine: the bearnaise tasted brightly lemon-y, the egg was perfectly poached, and the baguette toasts were thin and nicely crisp. kevin enjoyed the purple asparagus, which he'd never had before - i had a taste: yum!

for my entree, i had the fish and chips (although it would have made more sense to call it chips and fish - there was a GIANT MOUNTAIN of french fries, and 3 smallish pieces of fish). it came with house-made tartar sauce and locally produced sherry malt vinegar. it was pretty excellent; the beer batter is made with trumer pils and was fried to crispy perfection, as were the fries. imo, the dish could have used at least one more piece of fish, as they were pretty small, and a lot fewer fries, but that's really my only, er, beef with it. i would definitely order it again.

for kevin's main course, he ordered the house-made gnocchi. unfortunately, he can't remember what it came with except that it had "some green things" in it (i remember it was topped with meyer lemon zest), so i can't tell you much beyond this other than he really liked it and ate it all. (this is why i also can't tell you much about his asparagus appetizer, either. he can't remember what the "3 ways" were, and i can only remember 2: asparagus and potato salad and asparagus spears.... meanwhile, ask him to give you the play by play of his round of golf the same day and he'll easily oblige you and remember EVERY SINGLE shot he made. ;) i snuck a taste of the gnocchi; it was pretty good.

as for dessert, we shared a chocolate pot de creme (topped with caramel and homemade marshmallow) and a glass of milk, engler style. it was pretty good as pot de cremes go, although not the best i've had (unfortunately, the restaurant that made it is no longer around. *sniffles*). i left stuffed to the gills (get it, GILLS? you know...because i had the FISH and chips? get it? hahaha. never mind.). when we got home, i changed into my pyjamas and lay like a beached whale in bed on top of the covers until i felt a little less full. high praise, indeed!

so, in summary, i would definitely go back. the prices were reasonable ($110 for two, including drinks and tip), the food was fresh and delicious, and the service was totally fine. the restaurant's space and the decor were a little off - overly dim, narrow room - but not really deal breakers; i'm not super picky about decor unless the joint is charging an arm and a leg.

btw, the one thing i would note is i thought i overheard one of the restaurant's owners telling the people at the table next to us that the chefs are leaving the restaurant in a couple months (but are training the staff before they go). if this is in fact true, i'll be curious to see what happens to the food once this happens, given that this place is about local food and the menu will have to constantly change to reflect what's in season. we'll see. but try this place out before this happens, so you can at least experience the food the way it's supposed to be (and hopefully stays).