Gary Danko's Restaurants in San Francisco
- Gary Danko's sole San Francisco restaurant is located near Fisherman's Wharf.san francisco image by Nini from Fotolia.com
The San Francisco Bay Area offers a plethora of fine-dining options, ranging from Alice Waters' famous California Cuisine restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley to Hubert Keller's French-inspired Fleur De Lys near San Francisco's Union Square. Gary Danko, who currently owns only one restaurant in San Francisco, has brought his eponymous restaurant to the forefront of this culinary scene. - Gary Danko, which opened in late 1999, is located in the Fisherman's Wharf neighborhood of San Francisco, approximately halfway between Fort Mason and Fisherman's Wharf itself. This formal restaurant is open daily for dinner only. Reservations are suggested and may be made by phone or online at the "Reservations" link on the restaurant's website. Due to the formality of the restaurant, "elegant, dressy attire" is the appropriate choice. The cuisine is fresh and seasonal but classic, with Danko himself stating, "I do not serve guinea pig food. We do not experiment on the guests!"
Gary Danko
800 N. Point St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
415-749-2060
garydanko.com/flash/GaryDanko.html - The menu at Gary Danko changes seasonally to feature the freshest ingredients. For instance, the summer menu for 2010 included appetizers such as soft shell crab with pancetta, grits, tomatoes, corn and basil, and crispy farm egg with white polenta, royal trumpet mushrooms, frisee and pancetta. Entrees tend to be meat- or seafood-based and have included such options as horseradish-crusted salmon medallion with mustard sauce and lemon pepper duck breast with duck hash, carrot-ginger puree and cherries. Desserts range from the common (such as a baked chocolate soufflé) to the creative (such as peach soup with coconut tapioca and champagne elderflower granite). The cost for a dinner as of August 2010 ranged from $68 per person for three courses to $102 per person for five courses. With more than 1,500 wines in the cellar, you will be able to find the perfect pairing for any course you choose to eat.
- Gary Danko, who was raised in upstate New York, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York in 1977. He then moved to San Francisco, where he worked for several years before returning to the East Coast. There he took a class from his idol, Madeleine Kammer, who appointed him to an externship in California's Napa Valley. He moved to San Francisco several years later, and his reputation began to grow rapidly. He worked as an executive chef at several restaurants and launched Viognier in San Mateo, California. Finally, in 1999, he took the plunge and opened his own eponymous restaurant, which quickly earned the praise of critics and diners alike.
