Three Bay Area Restaurants: Forty Years Later (Two Still Around)

I've been going through old papers, coming up with fascinating vintage artifacts. Yesterday I happened upon these three old menus from my days as restaurant critic at New West Magazine.

Apologies for cutting off the bottom. The Saturday dessert at Chez Panisse was crepes with fresh fig ice cream.

This menu, from Bay Wolf in Oakland,  is from 1980; sadly the restaurant closed last year. And from the beautiful St. Orr's Inn in Gualala, up the coast,

  All three restaurants are still going strong.  Just for comparison's sake, here are current menus:

This is Chez Panisse for this week, March 14-March 19, 2016

Monday, March, 14 $75 Grilled shrimp with sauce mousseline; asparagus, endive, and chervil salad Boeuf carbonnade à la flamande: Stemple Creek Ranch beef short ribs braised with onions and beer with carrots, turnips, and herbed noodles Hazelnut, tangerine, and chocolate sherbets with citrus tuile

Tuesday, March 15 $100 Pennyroyal Farm goat cheese soufflé with pickled beets, asparagus, and herb salad Pan-roasted black cod with carrot purée and picholine olive, preserved lemon, and coriander salsa Grilled rack, loin, and leg of Full Belly Farm lamb with crispy new potatoes, cardoon and chard gratin, and harissa Orange-cardamom ice cream with Lindsey’s almond cake and Page mandarins

Wednesday, March 16 $100 Cannard Farm asparagus and leeks with mustard vinaigrette and rocket blossom fritters Seared sea scallops with nettle risotto and crispy pancetta Grilled breast and braised leg of Sonoma County duck with roasted artichokes, new potatoes, sautéed spinach, and escarole Blood orange and grapefruit sorbetti with tangerine granita

Thursday, March 17 $100 Smoked black cod and asparagus salad with anise hyssop and red and golden beet relish Sheep’s-milk ricotta gnocchi with sweet peas, Pecorino, and sage Wolfe Ranch quail grilled with myrtle; with artichoke gratin, Bob’s watercress, and Marsala wine sauce Toasted almond parfait and mandarin sorbetto meringata

Friday, March 18 $125 Local halibut and yellowtail jack tartare with ginger, silver lime, and red celery salad Sweet pea and sorrel agnolotti in wild mushroom brodo Llano Seco Ranch pork loin grilled with sage; with parsnip puree, purple peacock kale, and mustard seed sauce Citrus millefoglie

Saturday, March 19 $125 Cape Cod sea scallop and fennel salad with Valencia oranges, cilantro flowers, and garden cress Asparagus and celery root soups with wild mushroom croûton Grilled Watson Ranch lamb rack, loin, and leg with Béarnaise sauce, sautéed new potatoes, and snap peas Bittersweet chocolate fondant with walnut ice cream and nocino caramel

The final menu on the Bay Wolf website is from August. It must have been the last supper.

DOUBLE DUCK DINNER

Celebrating Forty Years

August 25 - 30, 2015

.....

Duck & rosemary focaccia

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Double duck foot soup • savory duck meatballs

Scallops • black-eyed peas, pancetta

Gizzards & grapes • duck liver flan

BayWolf Caesar salad • quackers

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Local king salmon • chile-corn cakes

Seared duck breast • red wine-shallot flan

Moroccan-style duck tagine • spiced couscous, preserved lemon

Grilled tournedos Rossini • glazed carrots, pain de mie (with or without foie gras)

.....

Chocolate soufflé cake • candied almonds

Summer berry pudding

Seasonal fruit sorbets • coconut macaroon

.....

....seventy-five dollars....

St. Orr's current prices are $45 to $50 for a three-course dinner.