Coi
Category: American (New) [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Financial District, North Beach/Telegraph Hill373 Broadway
(between Bartol St & Osgood Pl)
San Francisco, CA 94133 (415) 393-9000
- Hours:
Tue-Sat 6:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street, Valet
- Attire: Dressy
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
468 reviews
Neighborhood: Mission
"Two dinners and one brunch later, I have a five-star feeling about Maverick. Nothing screams five stars, but you know how the…" read more »
130 Reviews for Coi
11 course tasting meal, great service, the first taste from the kitchen was a milk and honey bubble which wasn't really my thing, but all in all, this meal was fantastic. Everything was presented beautifully - fresh flowers, fresh ingredients. I love places who use local produce to cook.
Highlights:
~ home-made whole wheat honey rolls served with sea salt and home-made butter
~ GREAT dessert: chocolate ganache *just a tiny spoonful* with fresh icy vanilla sorbet-like ice cream, with cocoa nibs
~ fresh melon soda with a bit of foam on top served after a course of soft cheese with a vegetable rind served with fresh baby arugula and baby romaine-like veggies
Gastronomy is an art form and Coi perfects the new skill quite well. Important thing to mention is that, each dish is served in bit size so flavor is not continuous and bold, as if you were having a full entree.
11 course dinner in appx. 3 hours isn't impossible. If you been to the east coast then you can enjoy nearly 30 courses in 7 hours. Priced at $110+ (excl. drinks), it's an experience for visual presentation and gastronomy appreciation than anything else.
Chef uses seasonal and local ingredients so the menu is constantly changing. Some dishes also incorporate oil scent and flowers to amplify your senses before tasting,i.e, lavender oil on the back of palm.
My visit included some Asian ingredients as well as techniques, which others would've appreciated more. Desserts were fantastic and I wish they were bit sizes. The vanilla bean ice cream tasted unique and delicious but not quirky nor heavy.
I can't say my meal at Coi was bad. Some dishes were great, but some dishes fell completely flat. It would have been forgiveable, since anything this experimental is bound to have some mis-steps, but three of my courses were soups. I'm really sorry, but I don't think in an 11 course tasting menu should have 3 soup courses. It was weird. One was a dessert soup, but still. Enough with the soup already!
For this amount of money, I would have preferred one of a handful of any other restaurants in San Francisco. To be fair, I went to the restaurant a couple of months ago, but Michael Bauer's new rating that came out today really inspired me to add my two cents. I appreciate the attention-to-detail and artistry that went into these dishes, but I really don't feel like this restaurant was in the same league as the other four star Chronicle restaurants. I've been to all but one of the other ones, so I do have a fair frame of reference.
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What you're paying for with Coi is not the food per se, but the entire dining experience. It's food for the mind, meant to challenge your understanding of what food is and what role it plays in our lives. I, like other yelpers, am not much of a foam and jellie kind of foodie, but I took my boy here for his birthday, and despite the misses, had a fabulous time. But, I realize that's because I managed my expectations such that I was open to anything.
We had the 11 courses in mid-summer (read: tomatoes and light greens run rampant), plus an amuse bouche and rolls, and the wine pairing to boot, which included mostly whites and one yummy Japanese beer.
The modified food, most of which is locally and organically sourced, abounded with "essenses" of things - mostly herbs and olive oils - and one curry-inspired dish was served with a perfume to enhance the warm flavors. Some items like my locally farmed egg and the bf's pork belly were cooked for literally days before arriving on our plates, and yes, it made a difference. I've never had anything like particular egg before. Salt in dessert, check - but where have you been? That's nothing new.
The staff was attentive and fun, the somelier a little over the top, and the dining room is tiny, which, combined with the Lamborghini that was out front, made the whole night feel quite exclusive.
The short of it: go to Coi for a swanky "mental" dining experience unique unto itself, knowing you're bucking the current (laudable) trend for honest-Alice-Waters-simple food, and leave your Danko-expectations out of it.
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As far as fancy prix fix menus, Coi's is not only affordable ($120) compared to a French Laundry, Michael Minna, or Gary Danko, but they strive to serve an eclectic menu of dishes designed to enthrall all of your senses.
Several of their dishes are accompanied by infused oils that are meant to compliment the dish as you eat. Just rub a little oil on the hand that you eat with and as you lift your food to your mouth, utensil optional, you can whiff the oil as you taste your food which in my case was a weird, but awesome experience.
The wine paring is also a bit spendy ($95), but shit, you're already committing 120 for dinner, why not get drunk while you're at it?
This place was pretty Damn good. We started with the fava bean salad and one other starter.
We got the mushroom stew which was more like a loose mushroom ravioli. It was good and different, but not stew. it was miss titled and misleading but good none the less.
We got the carrot cake with celery sorbet and one other desert. The sorbet was ingenious and perfect.
All in all, everything was amazing, but really, just TOO small. It was a good taste but not enough to get into it. It was unpleasantly small. It was annoyingly and ridiculously small dishes. And in saying that I guess I would go as far to say that it was overpriced, given the food per dollar ratio. Loved the flavors but a little pretentious.
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Yelp introduced me to Coi. I never heard of it before I read about it from one of my friends on Yelp.
Coi (pronounced ... kwa) is a wonderful and intimate place to dine. It is one of those very special places where you are having a dining event rather than just a meal.
We went this weekend for our Friday night date night and we splurged on the tasting menu with wine pairings.
Chef Daniel Patterson and his very experienced staff presented us with course after course of delightful delicacies. Adding aromas and essential oils took our dining experience to a new level. We really liked the creativity and tastes of each dish presented.
Each of the 11 courses was paired beautifully with wine. The 2001 Reuscher-Haart Riesling with the chilled English pea soup and the 2002 Barberani Orvieto Classico paired with the farro-chard agnolotti were delicious. Some of the wines they chose I would not normally order so it was a nice education as well.
Keith was our server and he was fantastic. 5 stars for Keith! He was on top of every dining detail and his timing and expertise are greatly appreciated. He understood the ingredients in each of the dishes and he shared additional knowledge with us when requested.
Thank you Yelp for this fine introduction. It was a pleasurable evening filled with great aromas and flavors and we look forward to coming back to try some more.
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Best meals I've ever eaten in my whole life. I think that says it all.
I've wanted to go to Coi for quite sometimes, finally I got to take my parents to Coi (meaning "tranquil" pronounced "Kwa" how would I know this, if I didn't ask?), a Chef Daniel Patterson's new endeavor. Follow his food steps from Elisabeth Daniels, then Frisson, then now his own Coi.
With only 20-seat lounge decked with walnut tables, oversize Flokati pillows, and fuzzy drink coasters. A small, modified menu features soul-soothing dishes & delicate choices between vegetable & fish/meat menu. In the tiny, cove-like dining room, grass-cloth walls, a , rice-paper-draped ceiling, and and high banquettes lining two walls of the narrow room with miniature X-rays of fruits and vegetables make a meditative space for enjoying the more elaborate 10-and-4-course tasting menus. The modest wine list has medium-bodied bottles that won't overwhelm the food -- or your wallet. Coi, the wine list is practically as compact as the menu, and is filled with fairly esoteric wines, mostly European. And in an utterly selfless gesture, both still and sparkling water are on the house.
Every meal at Coi begins with a complimentary starter served on a large silver spoon & we got the Amuse Bouche. Chef Patterson is famous for incorporate more of the lesser-known ingredients. & we got to try these dishes like Asparagus Panna Cotta, Filet Monk Fish, Lamb Turnip, Sashimi, Rib Eye, & more all exquisitely delivered. The chef also loves salt. He used almost too liberally.
Coi automatically adds 18% in as a tip for table of 3. I wonder whether they don't trust us as diners or whether they don't trust their service level? They were nice to bring my mom a little cake with a candle to celebrate the occasion, but then we noticed another $4 on the bill for the gesture. I guess at 30 seats you have to extract every last dollar. They offer 10 course for $115 (plus 3 unrequested additions) - all the major courses are a choice between a vegetarian and meat/fish. Everything was presented beautifully in an elegant & modern yet comfortable setting. The staff was friendly & attentive, but genuine.
My parents enjoyed themselves immensely, even though it was just a bit salty on some of the courses for me. My verdict? Next time you want more classic and elevated restaurants with more exhaustive wine list, go to Aqua, Gary Danko or Michael Mina. This is a trendy food, in a trendy venue, unpretentious & if you're expecting explanations of the dishes, you won't find them here.
Note: I got to come back to try our the menu at the lounge, seem interesting & more fun there!
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Dining at Coi (kwa) is a fantastically delicious event! The decor is sleek and chic and the food is phenomenal. The service is unsurpassed.
Eleven courses sounds intimidating, but I promise, you will be completely satisfied. My boyfriend and I left astounded at this amazing meal by an ultra-talented chef. The flavors are layered perfectly and almost explode in your mouth...curiously, none seems to overwhelm the other flavors. We have eaten at many degustation style restaurants headed by celeb chefs (we live in Chicago) and I would put Coi up against any of them. Sure, there is always going to be that one dish that you scrunch your nose on and wonder, "what the hell?" But, that is part of the experience...it's fun and when the food is as good as it is at Coi, it just adds to the excitement. So, foodies, come one, come all...you can't miss this place! Thank you Daniel Patterson...you are a genius.
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In Chicago we are spoiled. We have Alinea. We have Moto. We have Schwa. We have other pretenders to the crown weighing in with their own gastronomic inventions. Young chefs playing with science and cuisine for full effect. Sometimes it is a small miracle, sometimes it is a disappointment.
In San Francisco there's nothing quite like the rich experimental fields of Chicago, perhaps because the produce, meat, fish, and dairy are so much better for so many more months during the year, and little is needed to make them shine.
Coi is one of the rare - perhaps becoming less so now that the gadgets and starches are easily available - San Francisco joints that openly experiments with thought, science, and food. It is the intellectual gastronomy that can both delight and dismay the diner.
I suppose I'm lucky in that I was exposed to the magic of El Bulli in the mid 90s, when an enthusiastic chef forced us all to understand and appreciate what was going on outside of Barcelona. When Grant Achatz took over Trio, I was living across the street, and had the chance to sample his fits and starts as he taught himself the basics without the kitchen staff that a truly overwrought dish needs to reach its full flower. When he opened Alinea, I was there, fork in hand, ready to dig into whatever he threw at me. And I went back again and again, curious to see what he would dream up next.
So that's my history. You can't shake off your past. Experience is something we reference as we live in the moment...at least I do, as I eat.
As I sat down to eat at Coi, I was immediately comforted by the warmth of the dining area. The color palette is soft and earthy, the lights are just right, the service is friendly. There's something much more casual about Coi than its Midwestern cousins. Casual and laid back.
I'm a fan of experiential dining. I like action verbs. I like sniffing and smelling and rubbing and experiencing with all of my senses. I find that a meal that engages multiple senses is relaxing and a vacation from the everyday. I suppose that isn't typical, and I know some who find that sort of complexity an appetite suppressant.
Coi puts a lot of thought into the mechanics of eating there. Use what? Smell this. Eat this like this. I've been through it before, many times, and I enjoyed it. But the preparations weren't revelatory. I wasn't moved in the way that a meal at Alinea can move me. It was certainly less intellectual than other meals I've had but had more soul and heart than those same meals. But the execution wasn't polished. There was an olive oil puff with savory ice cream. It was playful but incomplete. And each course that followed felt the same to me...playful but missing something.
I'll go back. Restaurants evolve and I'm sure this one will as well.
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Of course, you really have to go for the full 11-course menu. It's quite an affair - a bit intimidating at first. Especially when they threw in an extra course in there-- how could we ever eat 12 courses? It's definitely quite an experience.
I loved the setting- the decor, the size of the place. You really felt you were in for something special. The food was crazy- not all the courses were home runs, but overall was a very satisfying meal. I'll never forget the perfume-matched 1st course or the cheddar ice cream dessert.
15 course dinner. wow.
Ok it was only supposed to be 13 but our CEO that I was with is a tiny little thing and had one bite of each course so the staff was super paranoid that she didn't like anything so they started adding courses.
We played a fun little game called rate each course on a scale of 1 to 5. I don't remember what I rated everything but things ranged from 2 to 7... the 7 being the two final desserts (yes there were 4 desserts). The only dish I didn't really love was the pork belly.
The experience here is completely different than a place like Gary Danko, which is both good and bad. I thought the presentation and variety of what ended up being three times as many courses (but much smaller) as GD made it quite unique. If I'm going to continue comparing it to Gary I would point out that the service wasn't quite as stand out and endearing. GD's service, in my opinion, is the best in the business.
Anyway... Coi is a culinary experience like no other and I recommend it if you have the chance.
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Not bad for SF. Why I say that but give 5 stars:
We've spent (wasted) a lot of money dining @ hyped and/or expensive restaurants in SF. Food's been mediocre to "ummm.....yeah, that was good" - very disappointing given the city's rep for some of the best dining in the country.
Coi so far has finally given us the return for the $$.
*Cozy: approx. 1/4 the size of places like Michael M (but better everything...quality over quantity)
*Quiet & Intimate: hardly noticed staff; I don't recall diners chatting near us
*Creative: you have no other choice but the tasting menu, and it changes daily. Chef is innovative, he has a few surprises up his sleeve (ie, you take that bite...you pause...your eyes get wide...and you think, this is not what I expected)
*Great Service: Staff gets thumbs up. Also, after we finished dinner & paid the bill, we walked out the door & our car was waiting for us.
I'm not usually the guy up for the "Chef as mad scientist" type of restaurants. I'm more the Chez Panisse / Delfina type, but Coi impressed me beyond my wildest expectations. You might pass by the unassuming storefront on the east end of Broadway without even noticing it. But, once inside, the odyssey begins. The understated decor with elements of wood and natural paper and fabric banquettes in a muted tone combine to create a quiet, serene environment (punctuated with an oddly incongruous techno soundtrack.)
The service, with the exception of the sommelier, is mostly silent and invisible, leaving you to explore the seemingly limitless details of the intricate food. Our menu consisted of fifteen or sixteen plates, each with about three bites of perfect food. Each dish was unique with inspiration drawn from the four corners of the earth. Yes, I bagged on Pres a Vi for its "world cuisine" (actually, I bagged on Pres a Vi for more or less everything,)but it works at Coi. Daniel draws inspiration from many different cultures, but, in the end, he makes them his own. The ingredients were pristine and allowed to speak for themselves.
The wine list, perhaps deliberately, mostly avoid the "big guns" in favor of lesser known but more interesting wines. It also offers some depth with things like the '98 Calera Mills pinot that we enjoyed.
I don't think that I'll eat like this more than once a month, but when I do, Coi will be on my very short list of four-star restaurants, quite deservingly.
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We ate in the lounge, so it's possible the experience would be different in the dining room. The lounge offers the tasting menu and a separate lounge menu. We got the tasting menu. I liked Coi. Very simple preparations of very high-quality ingredients. The flavors were clean and the combinations of flavors on each plate had clearly been given a lot of thought. For some reason, though, I don't really feel the urge to go back soon. I felt like the food was sometimes more interesting in an intellectual than a sensual way.
i was expecting a lot more from coi. everything was in place. great decor, great service and great company. the food while playful and inventive was lacking that umph that would've put it up there w/ the great restaurants of the city.
a word about the dining room. this was probably one of the nicest contemporary dining rooms in SF now. it has no aura of pretentiousness and the staff did a good job of complimenting that vibe. the sommelier was out and about and helping the service staff along very cheerfully giving everyone suggestions. we had a bottle of the 2001 Grans Fassian Spaltese. we also tried some stuff off the cocktail menu and we all enjoyed our drinks.
and now for the course by course breakdown:
amuse bouche:
milk honey "balls" - hard to describe but a molecular gastronomist would certainly geek out. essentially a ball of milk and honey w/ a bit of lavendar that was some how held it's shape until you ate it. at that point it would explode and the intense flavors of the honey and lavendar would be all you are left with. inventive, fun and great!
course 1:
grapefuit sorbet w/ ginger, tarragon, and more grapefruit - a solid starter w/ clean flavors but not overly tart because of the grapefruit.
course 2:
new harvest potatoes, cucumber, sea beans, borage, ice plant flowers. everything other than the new harvest potatoes were colored w/ squid ink which technically may not make this a veggie course. of course one can debate that cow's milk is not veggie either from that standpoint. the dish was ok. the potatoes were nice and cooked well but everything else was kinda there.
course 3:
veggies - goat cheese tart w/ a graham cracker crust w/ beet sauce and dill. the tart by itself was said to be way too tangy but once the the other parts were incorporated then it wasn't that bad.
meaties - foie gras terrine w/ cherries, apricots, wildflower honey, and a bitter almond cookie. i was looking forward to this and it was a bit disappointing. it tasted ok and everything seemed out of place.
course 4:
cauliflower soup w/ smoked romanesco, dandelion greens,
parmesan creme fraiche - this was a highlight for all of us. everything just worked right and the creme fraiche seemed to expand as the soup was added. beautiful presentation as well!
course 5:
a whole lot of squash w/ carolina gold rice, baby fennel - a nicely executed dish that could've fallen flat texture wise but it held up and tasted very nice.
course 6:
veggies - tofu spinach ravioli w/ turnip. not too big of a hit but when i tasted it was not too bad.
meaties - abalone w/ fresh seaweed w/ mushroom noodles, lime zest. this threw me off. it may have been the slightly overcooked abalone or the extremely chewy seaweed but it all fell flat.
course 7:
veggies - local grilled porcini mushroom w/ cocunt milk and tapioca. the girls didn't like this but i thought it was pretty nice but it could've used some more texture cuz it was kinda mushy.
meaties - butter steamed black cod w/ carrots, pea shoots, parsley, leek ash vinaigrette. salt, salt salt. that's what i thought when i ate it. way too salty. the cod though was cooked nicely.
course 8:
veggies - slow cooked farm egg w/ morels, spring onions, english peas puree, chive blossoms. the pea puree was a hit, but not the egg. i tried it out and the egg was nice.
meaties - roasted long and bailey berkshire suckling pig w/ chard, borlotti beans, preserved lemon, yarrow flower infusion. dish of the night for the meaties. me and my wife's cousin really enjoyed this. the pig was cooked perfectly and was juicy and tender.
course 9:
soyoung scalan cheese w/ peppercress, radishes, wild radish flowers -the cheese was like a very tangy goat cheese but tasted excellent when mixed w/ the other components. very well done dish to cleanse the palette.
course 10:
creme fraiche ice cream w/ berries, almond, lemon balm - holy moly. we were all floored by this dessert. if possible, we would eaten this all night! the ice cream was perfect and the berries were spot on. wow!
course 11:
michel cluizel "los ancones" chocolate ganache w/ seascape strawberry sauce, licorice root sauce - i would've swapped this course w/ the ice cream course. this was great but a bit heavy as meal ending course. the ganache was incredible and the accompanying sauces really brought out different characteristics of the ganache.
overall, coi is a nice experience but i was expecting a much more refined experience. i would think by lessening the number of courses would help out. we weren't overwhelmed by the number of courses because everything was well paced and the portion sizes were perfect but w/ less number of courses could really help tighten up the menu and allow for less misses and more hits! i may go back if this happens.
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an earthy heaven.
a warm interior welcomes you to a unique dining experience of 11 courses. the amuse bouche that night was a yummy concoction of a glutinous encasement of milk and honey.
i loved the bark inspired interior with subtle touches of copper. the fuzzy pillows were an odd and quirky contrast to a very zen composition.
sure people rag on the price, sure people complain about the 18% service charge. tipping on top of that was unnecessary but i had such a fabulous time that i did. the service was top notch and they do cater to specific dietary needs if you have any.
if you can swing it - start with the signature aperitif and go all out and get the wine pairings. the place is not a full bar but they do have a solid list of wines.
the clientele are older and more conservative but overall, it's definitely a special occasion place.
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Seriously, this is probably the best restaurant I've been to behind French Laundry. And I'm jaded from having been to a ton of great Bay Area restaurants throughout the years (thank God for company functions and expense reports, eh?)
With the exception of a slightly-too-salty fava bean salad, all 11 courses were delicious - complex but well-balanced flavors that capture your attention from first bite, surprising combinations that work, great progression from super light to richer flavors (but never too heavy). Even the decor, furniture, etc. reflect the textural richness that the chef infuses in his food. I went with the all-vegetarian menu - highly recommended. Also highly recommended is picking a white wine with your vegetarian meal - we had a great Austrian white wine (Steininger?) and a Zinfandel just cuz we like Zins, and hands down the white went better with most of the courses.
Another word on the ambience and decor - it isn't often one finds a fancy restaurant with a dining space that isn't too big, too noisy, or too dim. Until COI, I never realized how distracting too-dim lighting can be to the dining experience! And yes it was still "romantic" enough I thought. Paul the sommelier is great fun, striking a good balance between casual humor that isn't patronizing or over familiar. The service staff is super attentive without hovering - they enhance the surprisingly cozy atmosphere. The only thing I noticed was that they rushed around a bit too much, like they were understaffed when they were not (I counted about 6 staff members to 9 tables), or like they were putting out small fires in the kitchen without alarming the diners.
All in all, an A+ experience - can't wait to go back again!
(FAIR WARNING: only in California can you find a restaurant with this style menu - not for people who don't enjoy "California Cuisine" since portions are small (although my stomach was pleading for mercy after 11 courses) and dishes feature liberal sprigs of edible flowers and herbs/grasses.)
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I absolutely LOVE these kind of risk taking restaurants. Amen to Lindley E. for pointing out the amt of restaurants there are in Chicago like this, and the disappointing amount in a foodie town like SF. Innovative menu, very unexpected preparations of common ingredients. I would have liked it more if the service would have been more polished. They brought hot dishes and described the food when my husband was the up from the table. We had the wine pairings, and I wanted to know more about some of the wines and the waitress just read the bottle. The sommelier never came by after introducing himself upon our arrival which was disappointing considering it's a very small restaurant and I noticed only one other table who had gone the distance and gotten the pairings. Other than that, I think this place has the potential to be something really great for this city.
Highlights
-the cute French lady who was our cab driver
-running into friends at another table who I hadn't seen since college
-having dinner with my long lost friend, of course
-asparagus panna cotta
-suckling pig head prepared three ways (the ear was yummy)
-the perfume
-goat cheese tart
-nettle soup
-confit banana
-a leisurely three hours to eat, drink and talk
Lowlights
-salt everywhere except in the butter! well, they had some salt to sprinkle onto your roll after you'd buttered it.
-seriously, one of the desserts had some freeze dried white chocolate (or something like that) and there was huge KICK of salt at the end. i think i actually yelped.
-and there was a biscuit that came with pear dessert that had salt on it and too much in it. dear lord.
It's rather sad that I can only give this place three stars because of the salt. The service was great, of course. Constantly refilling water and wine glasses without our even noticing. That's high praise from an Asian girl...we were born with teapots in our hands.
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This, together with the French Laundry and Alkimia in Barcelona, is one of the meals I've had in my life that really made me think, ok I get it. I get it how cooking can be art. How you can eat something that evokes the beach, or a back yard in san francisco, and transports you, and is delicious, all at once. That makes you think, isn't life wonderful? And how lucky am I to live in the Bay Area and be able to come to a place like Coi and have an out of this world meal like this one? Like that scene in Ratatouille when the icy food critic tastes the ratatouille and gets all weepy. The chef came out to say hello and he was very funny and charming, which is always worth many points for me. The space is small and intimate and very cool. If you love food and want to have an amazing experience, I highly recommend it.
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The Crystal Guide: *
The sleek lines of the restaurants were absolutely stunning. I love the ambience and the modern feel of the entire restuarant. It is unfortunate that I did not like anything on their menu, especially the carrot salad. Every time I go to a new restaurant now and they ask me what I like, I tell them that I don't like tomatoes, venison, lamb, beef, and CARROTS. Their menu changes every week according to what is in season. I am afraid to come back in fear that I would be disappointed again. This is the first Michelin Guide Restaurant that I did not like at all.
Their version of peanut butter foie gras and jelly was very disappointing compared to Michael Mina's elaborate presentation in San Francisco.
This thick soup tasted like baby food. The texture was off because it was not smooth and too thick.
This vibrant orange salad made of poached carrot was the worst thing that we have ever eaten. I no longer enjoy eating carrots.
They had an awful dish made of Foam which came out without much distinction from the bubbles in my tub. The only dish I enjoyed was there blood orange shot; even the dessert was not good.
Coi writes...
Chef Daniel Patterson and Sommelier Paul Einbund combine their crafts to present beautiful food in an elegant setting. The nine table dining room offers a menu based on eleven courses at $115 per person. The Lounge offers a la carte choices in the $15 range as well as access to the full dining menu. Upscale, elegant and comfortable, Coi seeks to be a destination for a great and memorable dinner experience. "
I was definitely an experience... one which I won't forget. I can't believe that the Michelin Guide gave this a One Star.
Dining Style: Casual Elegant
Cuisine: Contemporary American
Neighborhood: North Beach
Cross Street: Between Sansome and Montgomery
Menu: View menu on restaurant's website
Price: $50 and over
Website: http://www.coirestaura...
Email: info@coirestaurant.com
Phone: (415) 393-9000
Hours of Operation:
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday: 6:00pm - 10:00pm
Payment Options:
AMEX, MasterCard, Visa
Executive Chef: Daniel Patterson
Dress Code: Business Casual
Accepts Walk-Ins: Yes
Offers: Bar Dining, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Counter Seating, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Private Room, Wheelchair Access, Wine
Parking: Valet
Private Party Facilities: Coi has a private room that may be reserved for parties of four to eight guests.
Private Party Contact: Paul Einbund (415) 393-9000
What an amazing dining experience. One of the courses called for the rubbing of scented oil on your hand to smell before eating the dish. It really added a nice twist and made the dish taste better. The food presentation was stellar, and I tried new things like a vanilla milkshake drizzled with olive oil. Some of the dishes were a miss like suckling pig head which is why I am not giving the restaurant 5 stars. Overall though, I suggest coming here at least once.
Coi was an interesting experience. I wouldn't recommend going there if you are hungry as you probably will not find yourself feeling very full afterwards. The tasting menu is 11 courses, but each plate is extremely slight and by slight I mean about half the size of your fist. Small as it was, they were extremely accommodating with my gluten and lactose allergy and made several substitute dishes for me. You should tell them of any food allergies you have ahead of time so they can make sure to plan for your dining experience in advance. I wrote a long blog post about Coi in my blog so I won't go into detail here, but I definitely was expecting a lot more considering the amount of money they charge, although I wasn't horribly let down. I would recommend Coi if you want a romantic night out and you are looking to try new flavor combinations, but I wouldn't plan a whole evening around it.
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I was very hesitant about Coi based on the reviews I read on Yelp. So hesitant that I almost canceled my reservation at the last minute for Michael Mina instead. But Coi had been at the top of my list for awhile, I'd already been to Michael Mina, and really, could Michelin and Zagat both be so wrong?
Coi is the most avant garde restaurant I've been to in SF.
The service is impeccable without being pretentious, from the valet who offered me an umbrella for the 5 steps from the cab to the front door, to the sommelier, to the servers - our wine and water glasses were never empty and our silverware was changed for every course.
The wine selection is excellent and offers choices for every price level.
The food - there are 11 courses, four of which you get to choose between two offerings. We ordered differently so we could try everything:
- the amuse bouche was marinated sunchoke and a chilled sunchoke soup. The marinated sunchoke was quite tart but good; the chilled sunchoke soup was a little funky - haven't made up my mind on whether I liked it or not.
- pink grapefruit pieces covered with grapefruit sorbet and grapefruit foam, served with a dab of their signature perfume which you can dab on your wrist and sniff before you eat the dish. I liked the smell of the perfume -reminds me of a spa. I'd use it as a home fragrance, but not for myself. The sorbet was good but the foam had a slightly weird flavor that I didn't really like.
- roasted and marinated beet (2 tiny slices) was ok. Just tasted like beets with olive oil and a bit of tartness.
- scallop tartare on a wheatgrass creme fraiche topped with sturgeon caviar was excellent
- caramelized endive tart is a rectangular piece of buttery puff pastry topped with a wilted half endive. Very yummy.
- cauliflower almond milk soup was creamy, lemony and very cauliflowery. I did not like this at all, and I usually like cauliflower.
- artichoke and puntarella salad on a bed of farro. YUM!! I wanted to steal my dining companion's, but his plate was scraped clean.
- yuba pappardelle is long paper thin pieces of tofu/soy skin in a perfectly seasoned dashi broth with tiny pieces of brussel sprouts and other vegetables.
- grilled abalone with fennel and radish was excellent - flavorful, smoky, seasoned perfectly.
- wild mushroom raviolo was earthy and delicious
- roasted black cod in oxtail jus is a generous slab of silky cod with a delicious crispy skin
- slow-cooked farm egg with wheatberries and chard - I loved the silkiness of the slow-cooked egg and the chewiness of the wheatberries - a creative and delicious combination
- guinea fowl with a side of spinach and turnips marinated with bacon was delicious. The fowl is moist and buttery, the wilted spinach and bacon is rich, salty and satisfying
- Cantal (herve mons) with wild greens. I love cheese but I was too full to really enjoy this! Excellent cheese and I really liked the salad that came with it
- Comice pear and chestnut mousse with crumbled star anise cookies. YUM YUM YUM. I was SOOOOO full by this point but this was delicious. My dining companion was pleased when I couldn't finish mine so he could scrape my bowl clean.
- Confit banana on a bed of chocolate cookie crumbs and coconut sorbet. TOO FULL to eat this. Can't really remember - when you're that full, all food starts tasting the same.
- petit fours included a curry chocolate truffle, milk jelly dusted with sugar and a fois gras financier. The fois gras financier was buttery and sweet with a hint of the nutty earthiness of fois gras. Yum, they should sell those by the bag.
All in all, I thought it was a unique and enjoyable experience. It's special occasion dining and although I think once was enough for me, I'm glad I finally got to try it and would definitely recommend it as a fine dining option.
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If you are both hungry and horny, Coi might be the perfect place for you. It's situated next to Centerfolds in North Beach. Coi (pronounced "kwa," not "coi") is divided into two spaces: the main dining area with a $120 fixed price menu and a lounge area with an a la carte menu.
Food: 4 stars. Executive chef/owner Daniel Patterson, formerly of Elisabeth Daniel and Frisson, continues to impress with an innovative menu that aims to please all the senses. We ate in the main dining area and had the 11-course prix fixe menu, which included the following: pink grapefruit, asparagus panna cotta or kampachi sashimi, redwood hill dairy fresh goat cheese, nettle soup, warm salad of shaved artichokes or long and bailey suckling pig head, hodo soy yuba "pappardelle," local wild mushroom stew or sauteed madara, slow-cooked farm egg or bellwether farm lamb, acapella, carrot cake, and confit banana. The pink grapefruit started off the meal as an impressive presentation of Daniel Patterson's innovative techniques: he combines aromatherapy and foams to tantalize the senses of smell and sight, while subtly mixing in the tart flavors. The asparagus panna cotta was innovative creamy goodness and outshone the somewhat bland kampachi sashimi. The goat cheese, supplemented with dill, beets, and caramay, was delicious, as was the nettle soup and warm salad of shaved artichokes. I tried pig head for the first time and actually thought it was pretty good. The "pappardelle" ended up being an Asian soup that tasted like any other soup I could find at a Chinese restaurant. The most difficult point in the meal was having to choose between the mushroom stew and the sauteed madara. Both dishes were phenomenal - I was happy that I strategized with my friends on what to eat so I could try everything. The slow cooked farm egg was interesting, but unfortunately the lamb fell short in terms of flavor. The acapella, carrot cake, and confit banana were nice, playful dishes that served as perfect bookends to the meal.
Service: 5 stars. The quality of service at Coi is what you would expect at a high end restaurant. The servers were very professional, accommodating and attentive, but never stuffy. You definitely feel like a VIP at Coi no matter how ghetto you really are.
Atmosphere: 5 stars. It's no surprise that Coi means "tranquil" in French. The modern interior feels almost zen-like, with clean lines and earthy brown tones. The restaurant attracts a good-looking crowd, which is generally in their late 20's to 30's.
Hits: Asparagus panna cotta, local wild mushroom stew, sauteed madara, confit banana.
Misses: Kampachi sashimi, hodo soy yuba "pappardelle", bellwether farm lamb.
If You Like This Place, You'd Probably Like: French Laundry, Ame, Gary Danko, Jardiniere
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Don't be Coi...because it's pronounced 'Qua'
I've just woken up from a good night's rest after working my way through the 11 course (with 4 'OR's) menu at Coi with a friend. Between the two of us we had all of the 'OR' options on the menu and had 2 half bottles (one white and one red) to go with our meal.
The space is great, tucked away on the edge of North Beach, you enter and the first thing you notice is the quiet. It's well designed with blond woods and a simple, clean modern look.
The dining room is on the smaller side which makes for a nice intimate dinner setting and the tables are far enough apart that you're not forced to listen to the conversation of the other diners (unless there happen to be a large table of drug sales reps yammering on about beta blockers).
Each course was amazing. Just a few tastes of each course, enough to make you want more, but still enough to leave just enough room for each of the 11 courses (warning: there might be some stealth courses in there as well). All of the ingredients are SUPER fresh, the herbs, the veggies are crunchier and it's all pulled together to make each dish well rounded and now over powered by any individual flavor.
My favorites from the meal:
- HOKKAIDO SCALLOP TARTARE
- YUBA PAPARDELLE
- SLOW-COOKED SOUL FOOD FARM EGG
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This was the most disappointing meal of my life. So disappointing that I decided to open a Yelp account and vent! Thanks for having me.
Anyway, this place is trying way to hard to make their food special that they lost focus on making things edible. I knew once they asked me to put this perfume on my wrist and use the aromas to enhance the flavors of the dish that it was going to be a long night. We sat down at 6, and left there at 9:30. A long night is not bad if you're enjoying your meal, but after our third bowl of foam I was getting a little annoyed.
Olive foam? It's a salty pudding like textured mush. Perfume? Get away from me. 11 courses of badness. The shrimp sashimi was tasty, the duck was nice, pork bellies were pork bellies, but all other 7 or 8 dishes were trying way too hard. I couldn't eat the deserts, the dried pistachios were dry, salty and added nothing to the ice cream they accompanied. The goat cheese was too funky for all but 1 of our 8 eaters at the table to consume. The last desert was pretty much a milkshake like concoction with olive oil, not awful, but pretty rich.
All in all, for the price I had high expectations and Coi fell WAY short. It's not the money as much as it's the 3.5 hours of my life I want back. There are so many better ways to eat. I'm all for experimenting, and I'll eat pretty much everything, but this was nothing short of bad. Too many concoctions trying way too hard.
MAYBE we caught them on an off night, they do change the menu daily, but I was a huge seller of this cult-like experience. I'm not a believer. Yes, great service.
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Coi certainly deserves more than three stars. If I had eaten the 11 course menu in the main dining room, it most certainly would have ranked four+ stars.
But I ate in the lounge. There's the lounge menu. Then there's the dining room menu, which can be ordered a la carte. I love that they allow that, but unfortunately, it makes the ordering process a bit confusing. In fact, I've never been more confused as to what to order at a restaurant. Thus, only three stars.
I ended up ordering two items from the lounge menu: the toasted gruyere sandwich and the suckling pig. Both were very good. As simple as the toasted cheese is, I enjoyed it immensely. For dessert, I had the cheese course. All three selections were good, although served without any accompaniment. A few berries or sliced pear would have gone a long way to balance the plate.
I'll return again, but I'll be sure to have the full menu in the dining room.
Eating here is an expercience. The food is well presented and innovative. The service is wonderful too.
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Interesting food in an elegant ambiance delivered through great service. Coi is a gem of a restaurant in the edge of North Beach that delivers an entertaining meal in the form of a eleven course tasting menu.
This night saw the kitchen putting out dishes like a "salad" of grapefruit and tarragon with some sort of foam, along with a drop of a grapefruit-tarragon fragance to enjoy with the dish; coconut and kaffir lime panna cotta with shaved asparagus; a goat cheese number in a caraway shell served with beet puree; a delicious poached egg with morel mushrooms; an interesting tofu dish; a cold english pea soup with home made ricotta; and lamb two ways.
The whole meal hung together like a well made pearl necklace. This said, I must admit that I found few individual dishes extraordinary. The exceptions to this were the desserts. I found the celery sorbet that was placed on top of the carrot cake to be fantastic. And both my companion and myself thought the vanilla milkshake with salt and olive oil we had at the end was the best dish of the whole meal. It was an excellent way to end the night.
Service was good. The staff was incredibly accommodating of my companion, who somewhat intolerant of wheat and much sugar. They allowed her to substitute some dishes for dishes that normally you'd have to choose one of two. The staff was also very knowledgeable about the food, wines and the excellent Brazilian coffee we had at the end.
The night was not without a few hiccups. They mixed up one of my orders, delivering a tofu dish rather than the abalone I had ordered. I kept the tofu as it was tasty as well. We also wished the pace between dishes was a little faster and that there were a byte or two more per dish, so as to enjoy it more. In addition, while we found the staff most friendly and enjoyable, it did seem like we had to catch their eye once or twice to get their attention. At this price range, that should not be necessary.
Nonetheless, this was an excellent meal and we look forward visiting again to see what new dishes the kitchen generates.
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Coi is one of the best meals I've ever been served.
All 11 courses.
When my friend Wendy said she wanted to go to Coi, I said "sure" without any idea of what I was getting myself into. Yep. Went in jeans. I'm sure you won't make that mistake. Jeez, get the sport coat out of the closet.
Someone here said the service was unfriendly. No. It was terrific. And the atmosphere is very, very relaxed for a formal place. This ain't no Burma Super Star. They actually have service which might be throwing some folks off. And the food was amazing. Left me speechless and the Sommelier brought us amazing wines.
So save your pennies and make a reservation. Dinner for two with a glass of wine was $350.