Pete "Repete" A.'s Profile

This will be brief.

My first trip to Sumi about six months ago wasn't bad, but it didn't blow me away -- 3 stars, maybe 3-1/2. This time, everything was worse.

- Slow, inattentive service, including a very likely dropped order.
- An entree so salty as to be inedible and another with no flavor whatsoever.
- The greasiest deep-fried spring rolls this side of the Tenderloin.

Yes, the portions are small and the tables are too closely set, but I'd put up with that for something that tasted good. Sumi doesn't come close.

Cote Sud was one of my favorite restaurants in its first two years of operation. Everything about it was perfect. The food was delicious and sophisticated without being frou-frou. The staff -- a small cadre of French waiters -- was precise but never pretentious. And the atmosphere was casual and elegant, as you might expect from a restaurant in the Castro with roots in the South of France.

Then it went through a real rough period, where everything I loved suddenly disappeared. The original staff was replaced by a parade of locals who earlier in the day were finishing their novels, working on their punk-folk operas, or studying for their CMT licenses. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not the same as being waited on by a professional whose primary focus is on his (or her) guests.

And then there was the food. The less said the better. If it weren't for the always-delicious bread and butter, I'd have left hungry.

So I let a few years pass, and tried again. Recently. And the good news is, Cote Sud is starting to resemble its old self.

Outwardly nothing much has changed: there's still the gay yellow walls, the funky French dance/world/lounge music, the spray of flowers as you get to the top of the steps. But then you notice one, and then another, authentically French waiters. And the menu's changed, too. Several of the old standbys are gone, replaced by corn blini with lobster sauce and a grilled skirt steak among others. The wine list is as good as ever, and of course the bread basket had to be refilled several times.

We had all the specials (a soup, the foie gras appetizer, a cassoulet which seems to have ascended to the main menu since our visit, and a fish entree) which were all genuinely -- shockingly -- yummy. There were a few minor missteps here and there, chief among them the molten chocolate cake (I know, I know...who orders molten chocolate cake anymore?) which was more Duncan Hines than Jacques Torres.

No matter. It was the third-best meal I've had in San Francisco in the past six months, and for about $50 per person including wine, I'm not complaining. But I am going back.

My second visit here over the weekend was a bit underwhelming. I was prepared to write an in-depth review but George H. summed it up perfectly below (11/04/2007): There's good food to be had, but at $120pp for the tasting menu (with wine), it has to do better.

Five-star dish: the foie gras. The intense berry reduction that accompanied it was phenomenal -- maybe the best sauce I've ever had, anywhere.

Biggest disappointment: the char. If it hadn't had black truffle slices sprinkled liberally on top, it would have been flavorless.

Why they serve the wine a full 5-10 minutes before each course is beyond me. And could someone please scrape the table-cloth free of crumbs once in a while?

I'll probably be back -- great ambiance and a cool location a stone's throw from Truck -- but only a la carte.