Angler

Cold and windy San Francisco evenings call for warm and exciting meals. One night out on the Embarcadero, I checked out Joshua Skene’s Angler, a vibrant restaurant that focuses on open fire cooking. It’s the sibling restaurant of Michelin-starred Saison, and while it carries the same spirit, it has a more relaxed environment. 

Stepping into Angler, your eyes are drawn to the kitchen – a 32-foot long hearth where food is cooked over open fires. Throughout your meal, you will see chefs constantly fanning the flames and tending to their fires with diligence and care. The menu showcases the bounty of the region and is seafood focused. Near the kitchen, there’s a wall with live tanks filled with eels and other sea creatures that are delivered daily by fishermen.

My boyfriend, Matthew and I started out our evening with cocktails in the Nordic hunting lodge inspired back room with an impressive collection of taxidermy animals. We had the following unique cocktails: Pear Drop cocktail with Lemorton Pommeau de Normandie, Pear, Lemon and Amaro Montenegro; as well as a Komorebi with Suntory ‘Toki’ Japanese Whisky, coconut and pineapple. Angler also has an expansive cellar with an extensive selection of both young and mature wines from around the globe.

The evening of our dinner at Angler it happened to be Matthew and my four year anniversary and at our table we found a card signed by all members of the Angler Team – a sweet start to our meal! Throughout the evening, Matthew and I shared a variety of plates and the freshness and excitement that came with each dish was unmatched. It was an eye-opening experience for us as we tried seafood that we had never had before and they were paired with exotic flavors. 

Throughout our meal, Chef Jesse Kwolek and team stopped by our table and walked us through each dish. It was nice to get to know the Angler Team – they exude passion and pay the utmost attention to detail. 

Our incredible dinner consisted of:

Ice-Cold Bivalves with a beautiful texture and were accompanied by a house made cocktail sauce, seaweed-infused vinegar, and fresh lemon.

Amberjack, Passionfruit & Kohlrabi. The passionfruit and kohlrabi flavors complimented the fish’s rich and buttery flavor nicely.

Radicchio with Radicchio X.O. is a signature dish and features a whole head of radicchio dressed with an intense red XO sauce. The dish is quite messy so it comes with a bib and a Rambo hunting knife to cut with – adding a unique and exciting touch to the experience!

Parker House Rolls with Seaweed Butter – this item is not to be missed! The rolls are rich, buttery, and presented beautifully in a cast iron skillet. The rich seaweed butter melts onto the rolls instantaneously.

Coastal Sea Snails – They have an exotic pink and white shell and inside are meaty and tender sails. They are topped with a divine sauce that’s rich and slightly herbaceous.

Hot Fried Collar features rich meat and a crispy and spicy shell. This dish is indulgent and keeps your taste buds on their toes!

Whole BBQ Eel is fatty, moist, and has a crispy skin. It was paired with a variety of leaves, fresh lime, and sauces so one could make their own lettuce wrap with eel.

Trout was cooked to perfection and a saffron cream sauce was poured next to the filet table side.

Tomahawk Skate Wing with a beautiful golden crust and meaty texture. It paired nicely with the following sides: sunchoke with truffles, a beautiful hen of the woods mushroom, and last but not least the unique Angler potato. It’s rich, creamy, crispy, and has just the right amount of salt. Very thin slices of potato are layered and then reconstructed, steamed, deep fried, and then glazed before setting near the fire. It’s served over a rich sauce made with Sonoma cheeses.

Even though the protein-rich dishes are very filling, I would highly suggest saving room for dessert. The luscious and creamy soft-serve sundae topped with warm salted caramel and cool cocoa nibs is impossible to say no to! The caramel sauce is cooked over the embers and is simply delightful! I managed to squeeze in a bite of the Chocolate Bar and Coconut Sorbet too – they are both beautifully presented and indulgent!

Overall, it was a soul-warming and delicious meal. Matthew and I continued talking about it for weeks afterwards and we look forward to visiting their San Francisco location again, as well as visiting their LA location next time we’re in Southern California.