I really should start this with a bit of a disclaimer.  I am in no way anything near an impartial reviewer for the new restaurant Baker & Banker.  Far from it – I’ve become friends with the chef/owners behind it, and have helped pick out the beer list (it’s looking gooooood) as well as am doing some picture taking here and there. So, if you want an impartial review, I’d hold out for Bauer to stop by.  I was invited to visit Jeff & Lori’s new baby on a preview night, where the kitchen runs on full steam for the first time, and works out the kinks before letting the outside world in.

With all of that disclosure out of the way, I can enthusiastically say: I’m very excited about the place.  The old Quince space is barely recognizable.  Gone are the white table clothes and slightly stuffy atmosphere – replaced with black leather banquettes, chalkboards, flowers, natural wood and  great lighting.

And the food is pretty great too.  Just reading the menu, it pushed all of my buttons – house smoked, bone marrow, livers, chorizo – they aim to serve neighborhood, slightly upscale comfort food – and succeed.

Our favorite dish of the night was the house smoked trout, celery root latke, horseradish crème fraîche, pickled beets, shaved fennel, served on top of a celery root pancake.  The Latke was perfectly crisp on the outside, creamy in the middle.  The fish was smoked but tender.  Finally the veggies on top provided a great bit of balance.

Also good was the Squab and liver crostini, arugula, apples, and  Villa Manadori balsamic.  I’m such a sucker for chicken livers.   Nice touch with the salad as well.

Not pictured is the warm bread the was served before dinner.  Warm Pumpkin Rosemary rolls? Awesome.

Our mains: Seared Liberty duck breast, duck and sweet potato hash, star anise- port sauce:

and Dayboat scallops, sun choke puree, Brussels sprouts, Asian pear and hazelnut salad:

I also love Jeff’s sense of balance in constructing these dishes – bitter greens make many appearances, but with a delicate touch.

And them came dessert.  As the restaurant name implies, the sweet and savory items get equal billing here.  Plus, Lori’s baked creations sneak into many of the savory courses – the toast in the squab dish, the warm bread before.

White chocolate-cranberry pecan pie, cranberry swirl ice cream

And now, a few more pictures, mostly featuring dishes I (sadly) didn’t get to taste.

Dungeness crab salad, Satsuma mandarins, watermelon radish, homemade black sesame cracker

Striped bass bouillabaisse, Spanish chorizo, cockles, Meyer lemon aioli

Hanger steak, bone marrow- red wine butter, cast iron potato gratin, wilted spinach

Back in the kitchen, the team looks to be quickly coming together, with Jeff taking the lead in making sure every dish that comes out deserves to have his name on it.  It takes time for a team to gel and find their rhythm – but they seem to be setting right in.

It seems that these days a restaurant has yelpers and critics at the gates, ready to form opinions from day one.  (Kettle, black.  I know)  But if this is their starting point, I’m very excited to see what Baker and Banker looks like after a bit of time to grow.

Update: I’m happy to be able to release their opening beer menu.  This was put together in consultation with the chefs, as well as Colin, the GM and sommelier. I’m pretty excited about this menu, and think it’s a nice spread of brews for a decided non-beer centric place.

Hitachino Belgian White
Fantome Saison
Fullers London Pride
Shipyard Fuggles IPA
Buffalo Belgian Stout
Duchess de Bourgogne

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 2:15 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.