Mission #1: 2223 Market

Liz and I met, Mark and Brittanie for the first dinner of newly formed Fantasy Supper Club. The idea was born from the creative brainstorming between Brittanie and Liz, who thought it would be fun for the four of us, plus a rotating couple of choice, to grab dinner once a month in a neighborhood and at a restaurant of our choosing. The plan, one couple chooses the neighborhood, the other the restaurant and the new couple to invite. The mission, to choose a new restaurant that none of us has ever been to. This isn't the easiest challenge since most of us have spent nearly a decade in the Bay area and we all like to dine finely. Anyhow, our first stab was 2223 Market St, selected by Mark & Brittanie.

My first impression when we arrived was that the place had a homey low-key atmosphere. There are two rooms of tables, some booths along the walls and some art showcasing local nature scenes. The walls were earth tones so everything felt pretty natural. The four of us thought the place was new, but our waiter soon informed us that it had been there for 16 years...wow! That's a long time by SF restaurant standards. We expected a good meal.

We started off with the tomato tower, fried calamari and the crispy thai rolls. Portions were large and I think we over ordered this course. The tomato tower was the most impressive one I've seen. Slices from the tomatoes revealed that these tomatoes must've been on steroids (think softball sized). Fortunately, these tasted amazing and were well structured, but fresh and delicious. The calamari was lightly fried, but slightly chewy so we wouldn't recommend it and the crispy thai rolls were very tasty. The sprouts on top made for a nice organic twist, which I personally liked.

The rolls also were lightly covered with a thai spice, but not too saucy. While I love just about every sauce on the planet, I really hate when food is layered in it. You mask too much taste when there is too much sauce.

As the Pinot flowed, so did the conversation. We identified a few core categories for our Supper Club and they include: cost, ambiance/decor, taste, originality, and service. Each category has a possible score of 6 points. We thought each of us could create our own scoring and then we could assess the total score as a function of the overall quality of the restaurant. Fun, right? In our club we are all restaurant reviewers.

I ordered the steak for dinner. It was server with some beans, a corn flour tortilla thingy and some corn. I thought the dish was creative and tasty, but to be honest the meat wasn't that special. Everything on the plate, but the steak, was delicious. I love my steak so I can tell the difference between good, great and amazing. This steak was just good. There was a slight jalapeno taste on the tail which was good, but it didn't carry the dish.

For dessert we all shared the cherry bread pudding. The pudding wasn't too heavy and the cherry not too overwhelming. I thought the dessert (which I normally don't order), was the second best part of the meal. First was the tomato tower which won points for both taste, texture and plating.

All in all, 2223 Market St, was a great meal. I'm looking forward to our next stop, which will be somewhere in the Portrero. Stay tuned for Mission #2.

My score: 21

• Cost: 4
• Ambience: 3.5
• Taste: 4.5
• Originality: 4
• Service: 5