We’re back to our regularly schedule Friday date night! And what a night it was! I had been wanting to go to Frances forever and finally got my chance. The restaurant is so popular I had to book the reservation a month in advance and even then could only get a 9:30pm table. But it was worth it!
Even though Frances is a one-michelin starred restaurant, the price range is still reasonable and the atmosphere is casual and unpretentious. The restaurant is small and you end up sitting really close to the other customers so this is not the place if you want some privacy. The service however is great. We arrived at the restaurant 20 minutes early and they seated us right away. The host was really friendly and attentive, as was our waiter, who even made a point to tell us not to feel pressured to drink all of the wine. Frances sells their own blend of house red and white wine, which they sell at a $1 an ounce. They bring out a carafe of it and you only pay what you pour. Even without the waiter’s urging though, the hubs and I found ourselves finishing it, $16 for 4 small glasses of wine, not too shabby.
To start, we ordered two bouchees (bites in French), the applewood smoked bacon beignets and the grilled local calamari. The beignets were wonderful. It was savory with a very strong bacon flavor and served with creme fraiche and chives. The calamari dish was a good balance to the beignet. It was grilled perfectly and tasted really fresh. The hubs ordered the five dot ranch bavette steak and I had the caramelized atlantic scallops. The hubs thought the steak was cooked perfectly (medium rare) and extremely tasty. The scallops were also delicious. My only gripe with the dish was that there were only two, albeit very large, scallops. The portions are on the smaller side but you’ll be fine if you also order an appetizer. Or you can request bread, as I did. Frances doesn’t automatically bring bread to the table as most restaurants do, but they do have it available if you ask for it, and you should since it’s Acme bread!
To cap off the evening, we ordered the brown butter ‘friand’ cake with roasted warren pears, huckleberries, and creme fraiche. A friand is similar to a financier, a small french teacake, which actually reminded me of a madeleine. It was delicious! As an example of how good their service is, the table next to hours ordered the friand cake before us but the waiter mistakenly served it to us first (oops) so the restaurant gave them a small plate of chocolates and an extra dessert! Man, I wish they mistakenly give our dessert away!
Frances is a MUST try, but just make sure you make a reservation in advance, it’s popular!
3870 17th Street, between Pond and Noe St.
A Sprinkle of Adventure 