Lazy Bear — reviewed
TL;DR - Daring and innovative dishes, exquisite but not intimidating service, and a dinner party-in-the-woods atmosphere. 5 Yelp stars isn't enough and 1 Michelin Star isn't enough. Book your reservation now!
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Perhaps the hottest gastronomic ticket in town, Lazy Bear generally sells out a full month of meals in about an hour. In fact, you actually have to pre-purchase a ticket to dine here. Being Valentines weekend, the cost of admission came out to nearly $300 per person, and that's without the over the top beverage pairings! While some may find it frou frou, it's actually a very clever way to allow diners to focus on each bite of their tasty (and very pricy) adventure, all while maximizing revenue by pre-selling out the evening and minimizing spoilage. Mmm...Uber-y.
When my girlfriend and I arrived, we were given a lay of the land before being escorted upstairs to the mezzanine for cocktails and snacks. The decor makes the space feel like the most incredible log cabin in the woods and is perfectly sized to feel intimate but not cramped when full of dinner guests. The amazing view over the dining room is a tease, contributing to the build-up of anticipating that I've been feeling for weeks.
I'm not sure what is normally served, but we started off with a nice dry champagne and special spiked punch blend (which was incredibly complex and refreshing). To accompany the beverages, Lazy Bear likes to get things started with some amazing appetizers (or snacks as they call them). Ours mezzanine snacks included:
1) Whipped scrambled eggs — Breakfast in a shot, consisting of a whipped egg foam with bacon fat and an amazing hot sauce that I wish they would bottle.
2) Shigoku oyster - Fresh oyster shooter served with an oyster broth and frozen kiwi sauce. It had incredibly clean flavors, though the kiwi seeds could be a little overpowering to the delicate flavor of the sweet oyster.
3) Beef tartare - Served on a brown rice cracker with shaved foie gras - incredibly delicate flavors and textures that melt in your mouth.
4) Tête de moine - Celery root mousse with Swiss raw cow's milk cheese, compressed dehydrated Asian pear, and pine tips. Amazing texture and flavor from the perfect little bite.
I ordered the "exquisite" Ruhstaller to cleanse the palette before we were led down to the dining room and our assigned seats. Waiting for us was a Lazy Bear field guide (a menu booklet for note-taking) and our final snack:
5) Caviar - An homage to San Francisco featuring a sourdough cracker, caviar, and a purée. Again, amazing sourdough flavors and textures.
Chef David Barzelay opened dinner with the protocol for the evening and told the story of their absolutely incredible, mouth-watering spelt & rye dinner roll served with their signature cultured butter.
6) Going on 3 years old, their butter culture produces a product that reminded me of a strong cheese. The combination was like nothing I've ever had, and I yearned (and continue to yearn) for more.
If you've never had the privilege of dining at Lazy Bear before, each dish is served with a description from the chef who concocted its creation. Between dishes, guests are encouraged to meet their neighbors, roam throughout the dining room, visit the bar, or even stop by the kitchen to watch (or in my case to photograph) as the chefs meticulously placed each component of the dishes during plating. As expected, each dish was incredible thoughtful, and told a story.
7) Bay scallop with geoduck, dill, buttermilk, and bergamot. The seafood was incredible fresh and tender, with a slight sourness, and I love the bite of the geoduck. The chef himself foraged the spinach used in the dish.
8) Steelhead trout with a fried stinging nettle, hedgehog mushroom, butterball potatoes, and an amazing smoked salmon roe. The fish was served with a butterball potato, green garlic, and stinging nettle mash that inherited a nice green color and had just a hint of the subtle garlic flavors.
9) Poussin with lettuce and spring onion. It's a 21-day old chicken breast that is sous vide to maintain it's incredibly tender texture with subtle, clean flavors. The chicken was raised on a diet of lacto-fermented grains which was apparent in the meat.
10) Poussin Bouillon - The egg yolk fudge is served with fermented grains and spring onion, and includes a stock made from the chicken itself as a table-side pour over. This was one of my favorite dishes of the evening because of its richness and the level of technique involved. It also felt familiar, like a dish I grew up with... Wonderful.
11) Lamb loin with salsify, apple, and cress - The lamb was wood-fired with California live oak, poached in lamb fat and butter, and served with a salsify puree, picked mustard seeds, and an apple and lamb jus. The lamb itself was cooked to perfection and was incredible moist and tender, and I actually asked for seconds.
12) Carrot ham - Normally the final savory dish of a tasting menu is a heavy meat course, but Lazy Bear opted to experiment with carrots and honor the vegetable in the most amazing ways possible. Prepared 3 ways, my personal favorite was their candied carrot (resembling and tasting like millionaires bacon) which was soaked in calcium hydroxide which binds the cellulose and keeps the vegetable firm when cooking. The chicory "dirt" and fried bone marrow was fabulous. Just...wow.
13) Coconut - A coconut semifreddo with glutenous cake and a sauce of citrus and bay. The cake itself was made with a glutinous rice flour, which produced a wonderful chewy texture. The citrus sauce was outstanding with the subtle coconut and chewiness of the cake. Amazing textures throughout, though I think the semifreddo was just a tad too freddo.
14) Chocolate - A layered chocolate cake made with various varieties of bitter dark chocolate. Not too sweet, the subtle hints of lapsang souchang tea and Armagnac brandy in the chocolate sauce and dollop of crème fraîche was extremely well balanced. I thought a sprinkle of course sea salt could have taken this dessert to the next level, but it was delicious nonetheless.
15) Treats - Our selection of petits fours included a candy cap mushroom with persimmon and brown butter, the religieuse with peanut butter and jelly, and honey meringue of bee pollen with a honey core. The candy cap was interesting and subtle while I lost a bit of the jelly in the overpowering peanut butter flavor of the religieuse. However, the meringue was absolutely outstanding and even looked like a beehive. Bite into it and discover the sweet, sweet honey core and it was the perfect end to a life-altering meal.
I ordered the roasted barley tea, which of course was made in-house. The aroma was outstanding and fresh, and the perfect palette cleanser.
16) Take-home gift - Just when you thought it was all finished, the Lazy Bear team surprised us with a gift of berry truffles and an entire loaf of their dinner rolls! Best of all was the jar of cultured butter which made the next morning's breakfast a treat. Totally thoughtful and I know was something that every person in the room wanted seconds of.
The Lazy Bear dining experience is unique in its format and is truly a journey of the senses and palette. I HIGHLY recommend that you bump up the experience on your bucket list and rush to get your reservation in. It was simply sensational on all levels and I'll remember the meal for years to come. A ticket to Lazy Bear may force you to break the bank, but this is one life experience you should not miss. I promise that it'll be the best dinner party you've ever attended. Their Michelin Star is well deserved.
Food: 10/10
Service: 10/10
Price: $$$$
Atmosphere: 10/10
