Dinner Party at Coi

One day, CJ and I were talking online about restaurants we wanted to try, and it came out that both of us had been wanting to try Coi, Daniel Patterson's contemporary Californian restaurant in San Francisco. We decided to get the gang - Shweetie, Hammer, Ho, Mousse, Sunshine, Jamu - together to have an unofficial Christmas celebration dinner there. CJ took care of sending out an Evite and securing a table. Because we had a party larger than five people, they reserved their private dining room for us. It was really nice sitting in the private dining room, since we could feel free to relax a little, talk a little more loudly than would probably be acceptable in the main dining room, and the light switch was right by Sunshine, and Shweetie could direct him to change the light setting every time he wanted to take a picture.

We enjoyed the food and gave it a solid score of 8.25. Everything was beautifully presented and most dishes were quite tasty. Also, the food was creative without sacrificing taste. We find that sometimes these restaurants are so extreme in their desire to be creative, they end up serving something that's not quite palatable. Luckily that wasn't true here at Coi. The only thing that kept them from scoring higher was that there were no true hits, no dishes that made us want to stand up and applaud. However, on the flip side, there were no real misses either. Shweetie's only complaint was that the food was lukewarm and not hot enough, though he generally likes his food really hot. I did not share the same complaint, since I always like my food cooler than Shweetie does.

Frozen Mandarin Sour: Angostura Bitters, Kumquat, Satsuma Ice


Oysters Under Glass: Marin Miyagi Oysters, Yuzu, Rau Ram


Pasture: Beets Roasted in Hay, Fresh Cheese, Wild Sprouts and Flowers


Crab Melt, California Style: Steffan's Lardo, Wheatgrass


Farm Egg: Cauliflower, Nettle-Dandelion Salsa Verde


Earth and Sea: Steamed Tofu Mousseline, Mushroom Dashi, Yuba, Fresh Seaweed


Savory Chanterelle Porridge


Prather Ranch Beef: Black Garlic, Carrot, Sudachi, Spinach, Cilantro


Grilled Cheese: Hoch Ybrig, Rye, Onion, Pickled Daikon


Lime Sherbet: Frozen Yogurt, Pomegranate, Fir


Bread & Chocolate: Caramelized Brioche, Brown Butter Ice Cream, Pistachio, Tarragon

The waitstaff must have thought we were really ghetto, since it seemed like every time they came in, we were having in-depth discussions about Little Caesars' Hot-N-Ready pizzas. Seriously, this was the constant topic of the evening, thanks to Sunshine's obsession with it. To their credit, the waitstaff did not openly judge the food choices we make when we are not dining at Coi. And fortunately, the waitstaff was very attentive and warm. We gave them a 9.00 for service.

As for décor, it's a teensy bit hard to say, since all we really saw was the lounge and our private room, but these spaces were contemporary and elegant, while also being warm and inviting. Oh, and their bathroom looked like something that belongs in a spa. We gave it a 9.00.

Overall, we gave Coi an 84.75. Not too shabby! We would eat here again and recommend it, though it is quite expensive.

*For a refresher on our rating system, check out this previous post.*