Chez Panisse Restaurant

User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Delicious dining experience: I came here as most others do: to experience the birthplace of "California Cuisine" - and I wasn't disappointed. We dined in the upstairs cafe, which pleasantly surprised me with reasonable prices & more variety than I expected. The wine list was extensive, but again, also not as overpriced as a restaurant with such a reputation could have charged. The fruits and vegetables couldn't have been more fresh or perfect - it reminded me of being able to pick my dinner out of the garden for immediate consumption. My only complaint is that the food had a little more oil on it than I prefer, but it was still excellent.

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User Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

A pricey disappointment: While there exists a price point where I would have been totally satisfied with my Chez Panisse (downstairs) experience, that point is well below $120 per person.

The foods were simple though obviously prepared with great care and a great attention to flavors, but few of the dishes seem to aspire to be terrific. Maybe I came in with the wrong expectations, but I thought with its reputation (and price) that it would be a truly outstanding culinary experience and I would be wowed (or at least feel like the restaurant wanted to wow me). The service was fine, but not memorable. And the fixed menu was definitely a drawback since I'm sure I could have a much better experience if I were to put from the different courses served throughout the week. If you are looking to splurge on a tremendous experience, look elsewhere. But if you casually dine at restaurants in this range, then you'll probably be happy enough with Chez Panisse.

The specifics of my experience are below:
The starting apertif was ok, though nothing I wouldn't expect at any bar and for some reason its is served with an unappetizing cheese puff that doesn't combine well with the apertif at all. The first course was better, though mostly in its subtlety and light simplicity. It was a small diced egglplant side, prosciutto, and a small salad. The eggplant side was great, the prosciutto was just prosciutto, and the salad was good. The biggest disappointment was the second course, which consisted of eight very small ravioli without much flavor or interest. They were in a tasty garlic broth, though again, nothing special and watery. The squab main course was much better, consisting of a very succulent squab, terrific mushrooms, and a very enjoyable squab liver on toast pate. The supplementary cheese plate had some terrific cheeses and the house recommended glass of Zinfandel was really great (though also one of their priciest). I already had expected the ice cream bombe to be an underwhelming dessert for such a restaurant, and it was. It was really great ice cream with a nice blackberry sauce, but definitely not close to being a favorite dessert.

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User Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

others have said it already...: the food is good, but some dishes are better than others for me, meaning I could feel that I have paid too much for certain dishes. Their pastas have consistently been a miss for me

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