Jardiniere

03/11/2008 Posted by jamesbeswick

Where to start... The valet guys are rude. The servers are overworked and even the good ones can't turn around food because the kitchen isn't ready. The cheese board is the most expensive on Planet Earth. The place is LOUD, and I mean totally, unacceptably loud for a restaurant. And the whole experience is way to expensive for what it is. Having said that, the food's pretty good - when it eventually arrives and it's quite a cool spot. But the negatives really need to be fixed to justify a $100 a head with little alcohol.

Pros: Pretty good food

Cons: Expensive, slow, VERY LOUD

07/26/2007 Posted by scooterboy17

The reviews sounded great, nice jazz paired with great food in a whimsical atmosphere. I thought what a great place to a good friend for her birthday. WRONG!!! It was like dining at Nordstrom's during their semi-annual sale. Too crowded with too many tables crammed together for comfortable dining and LOUD. I remember distinctly hearing a lot of thumping feet, with a din of piano music in the background. The jazz? The "jazz" was more elevator muzak. Too bad since the pianist was actually good. I lost count how many times our table was bumped by both diners and way too many staff members, considering it was hard to remember who our server was. Maybe, the wait staff should spend less time complaining about management issues instead of looking angry and busy. Yes, nothing worse than service by a bitchy, loud wait staff. Our busboy was GREAT though, and more attentive than everyone combined (we tipped him privately as he deserved it). Food wise, we ordered the six course tasting menu with the wine pairing. The food arrived lukewarm to cold, therefore, nothing was memorable. The foie gras was good. The fish was fishy and the meat course - definitely cold and congealed. What was memorable was the portion sizes; they were tiny!! This is a example of presentation taking precedence over the actual food. Needless to say, we actually ate several dinner rolls as we were hungry. The price of this culinary fiasco, well over $300; the time wasted - close to three hours. Would I recommend this place?? HELL no! For this kind of experience, take a tuna sandwich to Nordstrom's, eat it next to the piano player, and give the rest of your money to the homeless people at the Powell St. turnaround. Now that would be more satisfying!

Pros: The busboy was nice. The foie gras tasted good.

Cons: Everything else.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

05/17/2007 Posted by claremunn

Traci Des Jardins and her wonderful team could create a 7 star meal in a shack, however, this restaurant is romantic and gorgeous. I like the fact more jeans are seen sitting at the bar -- rather like another Zuni on early week day evenings. Eugenio understands wine so well, you can always count on him for fair guidance. And Thad will make you a non-headache yet fabulous cocktail. Management crew are always more than helpful, even on the oft crazy busy days. If you haven't been, try it.

Pros: Food. Valet, plus parking lot around the corner. Service. Ambience. Crew.

03/02/2007 Posted by mcrich

We went Weds night (2/28) for my birthday. The best experience from the second we walked in the door to the moment the valet dropped off our car. The food was updated french with an incredible wine list. Loved the six course tasting menu and the wine pairings were perfect. The room is elegant without being stuffy, and the staff's infectious enthusiasm to be serving you made us thrilled to be there. We weren't the only ones having a great time. The tables around us were filled with lively and contented diners, young and old.

02/07/2007 Posted by purplpetalz

I enjoyed the food and the service. I had the grapefruit salad with crab and aioli, which was tasty and blended an interesting flavor of citrus. The croutons were soggy; that could have been eliminated from the dish. The sole was saltier than my tastebuds were used to, but the fish was cooked perfectly. The evening was enjoyable for most parts, and the service was genuine...UNTIL I went to get my car from valet. I had waited quite awhile for my car to come..being the 1st to ask for my car, and waiting for 5 cars to come and go before mine came--that was odd to begin with. Then, when I had finally got my car, I noticed some black "leaves" stuck on the outside of my car, but decided to ignore it. When I got home, I noticed that my passenger side seat was wet, and looked down on the floor mat to find wet footprints along with sunflower seeds littered on the floor mat. I looked behind, and noticed the same! The "leaves" on the outside of the car were eaten sunflower seeds! I trusted them with my car, and to have it come back in such a poor condition--can you understand my anger!?! For a pleasant dinner, it ended in bad memories of the restaurant even though their valet service was really an outsourced service. It's just a shame that it tainted the whole evening! It's also a shame that it's difficult to find parking in that area!

Pros: Service, Bar, Ambience

Cons: Parking, Valet Service

12/24/2006 Posted by andream4u

We looked for a VERY nice restaurant to take my (once upon a time a chef) Mother out to dinner. She can be a little particualr when it comes to food, let's just leave it at that. I have a pretty solid restaurant background myself, so together, we can be a little critical. We had some oysters, they were wonderful, the service was pretty on---the kitchen, however, needs some help. I was bored by the salads, we had the warm bread salad (nothing on it was warm, the bread was not warm and ithe bread was soggy wtih olive oil)-not a winner, the "poached pear salad" did not have a poached pear anywhere in sight, it was like someone changed the salad but failed to change it on the menu for that night. It had very little to offer in terms of flavor, which was what I found to be the case throughout the entire evening. I had the seabass for dinner, one of my companions had the risotto. The risotto was the only thing that had any interesting flavor profiles AT ALL. At that, it was very one-sided and overkill on cheese, that was all you could taste was the cheese. We had eaten at Absinthe 3 days before and it BLEW THE DOORS off everything we had here, and it was about $30 less per person! We spent about $300 on dinner for 3 people. We had fun, because we always do, but our night out was supposed to be about the food. We decided to continue on and have dessert, we ordered the cookie plate, ti was nice, but kind of boring too, the best thing on it was a dark chocolate caramel filled truffle--that was the best thing about our entire dinner! The Chef needs to use a little more reckless abandon, stop showing so much restraint when it comes to flavor profiles and make sure that the menu reflects what is being served in the dining room. Oh, and make sure when something is served warm, that the timing is right so the item arrives warm at the table.

Pros: Easy to ge tto the theatre, nice bar and great cocktails, good service

Cons: Location is congested, food is not great

11/01/2006 Posted by hope444

I love this restaurant. The service is excellent, the atmosphere is romantic (yet inviting for groups or just dining with friends), and the entrees are delicately prepared (with such care and sensitivity to flavor). The only drawback is the dessert and coffee (truly blah ... and no chocolate!). Still, I recommend it highly.

Pros: atmosphere, entrees, location

Cons: blah dessert and coffee

09/05/2006 Posted by joylagos

this place has it all, from excellent service and delicious food, too a romantic ambience. it is definatly perfect for a special occasion.

Pros: great food, great service

Cons: expencive

08/09/2006 Posted by chxit34

This is w/o a doubt one of the most memorable dining experieces I've had in SF. I've been in SF for 9 years now, and have dined at many of the cities fine establishments such as La Folie, Gary Danko, Boulevard, Slanted Door, etc but this tops them all. The food is magnificent-we had the short ribs and duck, the decor is stunningly beautiful with a nice bar, spiral stair case, great music, and the serivce your receive from the time you walk in to the time you leave has no equal. Their attention to every detail is incredible. In my opinion now, there is only one place to go for a special night, or date, and that is Jardiniere. My night couldn't have gone any better. Thanks!

06/19/2006 Posted by sfnativegal

Our group of eight had late reservations, but we decided to have a drink at the bar first. They gladly held our table until we were ready, no pressure at all. By the time we ordered and ate it was well after 11pm but we never felt rushed nor neglected. The service was outstanding, attentive without being intrusive, professional without being stuffy. The staff was thoughtful as well: Beer was poured in a glass then the bottle kept in a freestanding ice bucket (great touch!), and when our entrees were served one of our party was in the ladies room, so they took the dish back and kept it warm until she returned. Being such a large group we were seated downstairs but we happily enjoyed the music and atmosphere. This is definately a "tiny food/big plate" kind of place, but the quality and flavor of every dish was outstanding. Highly recommended.

Pros: Service, Decor, Food

Cons: Pricey