B is for: Baker & Banker {Restaurant Review}

Baker & Banker sounds more like a law firm than a restaurant, but make no mistake, this establishment can lay down the law when it comes to good food. (Get it?? You see what I did there?)

It’s named after Lori Baker (who actually IS a baker….she’s the pastry chef), and her husband Jeff Banker. It’s located in an old apothecary space in Pacific Heights. This place is constantly coming up on my Yelp searches, and it’s also listed on the SF Eater 38, so it’s been on my list for awhile. They also have a bakery on site, that’s open from 9-5. Apparently they have an amazing brown butter chocolate chip cookie, so I will have to go back during bakery hours.

As for dinner, I went there with my mom during her most recent visit to San Francisco, and we had a fabulous meal.

Aside from the can’t-pass-up bread basket, we started with one of their signature dishes for an appetizer, the house smoked trout (pictured on the left). It’s served atop a potato latke with pickled beets, shaved fennel and a horseradish cream. It was as tasty as it was beautiful. The trout was very flavorful, and I loved the crispy textures that the fried potato and fennel added. The horseradish cream was a perfect touch; I would definitely get this dish again. My mom ordered the pan seared flounder for her entree (pictured on the right). It’s served with Sardinian cous cous and clams. It was good, but not our favorite of the night.

I went with the mirin and soy braised black cod. Wow. Usually fish dishes are on the lighter side, but this one fell more into the “rich” category. It was so awesome. It’s served with a foie-gras sticky rice and charred bok choy. I love charred greens and vegetables, and this was a perfect compliment to the bold Asian flavors and the rich foie gras in the rice. If it had been socially acceptable to lick my plate clean, I would have.

For dessert, we got two things. I chose the cheese plate and my mom picked the Coconut Cream “Pie.” As you know, usually nothing can outshine a good cheese plate for me, but somehow the dessert my mom chose did exactly that. It’s sort of a deconstructed pie in that it’s served in this adorable little glass jar. The crust is layered in the jar with coconut macaroons and almond cream. It’s served with a side of coconut brittle on the side. In other words…YUMMMMM.