I blame our groomsman Ben for getting fat. I got to work yesterday and got a message from asking if Sam and I would be interested in joining him and another friend eating at Fringale for Dine About Town. Um… YES!!! So we coordinated Caltraining plans and after work, the three boys and I made our way up to the city. I was bummed since all I had was my point and shoot camera in my purse to document the latest bout of gluttony.
Fringale was a quick walk from the Caltrain station and the decor was minimal and cozy. I was annoyed since I had made reservations on Opentable and the only time they had for a party of 4 was 8PM; I called the restaurant throughout the day only for them to tell me that there was nothing available earlier. We walked in at about 7:35 and yet there were empty tables everywhere… 1/3 of the restaurant was empty and wasn’t filled until after 8!!! We sat down and started noshing on their bread. Service here was apparently done in the French tradition… SLOW…. EXTREMELY SLOW… we ordered off of the Prix Fixe Menu for DAT and the appetizers didn’t show up for at least half an hour.
We pretty much ordered similar dishes:
3 of us had the Dungeness Crab Napolean w/ Avocadoes, Arugula and a Mango Salsa
Paul ordered the Calamari “a la Plancha” with Chorizo, Jalepenos, and Olives
Entree wise, Ben, Paul and I all had the Duck Confit with Lentils, Bacon, in a Red Wine Sauce. The skin of the duck was deliciously crispy. The lentils paired well but needed more bacon. 😉
Sam had the Lamb Shank with Polenta, King Trumpet Mushrooms, and Spinach and Thyme Sauce. I hate the game-ness of lamb but OMG… this was falling off the bone tender. The polenta was perfectly creamy and I was envying his mushrooms.
To round out the meal, we had the Chocolate Gourmand cake (which was fancy shmancy for flourless chocolate molten cake) and the Hazelnut and Almond Mousse Cake. Yum!!
(All pictures taken by Sam since we had to do a longer exposure on the point and shoot and he has nice steady hands!)
We had to rush out to catch the 9:40 Caltrain back down to Millbrae. Running that block was NOT cool after such a huge meal but we ended up on the train happy and satiated. Time to dig around the DAT sight to plan our next gluttony trip… Except we’ll figure out a driving technique so we can end the night at Bi-Rite. 😀