The Village Pub @ San Francisco

Located just south of San Francisco, in the idyllic town of Woodside, The Village Pub opened its doors in 2001 and quickly secured its reputation as one of the top restaurants in the Bay Area.

I don’t know how this fine dining restaurant got the name “The Village Pub,” but the only connection I can make that it’s in a small village called Woodside in northern California, and it’s definitely not a pub.

The Village Pub’s cuisine of contemporary Californian cuisine is rooted in the culinary traditions of France and the Mediterranean. Each dish is conceived with a reverence for every component, emphasizing the flavors of only the finest, hand-selected, seasonal ingredients available.

2015 Scacciadiavoli Montefalco Sagrantino

Sagrantino is a “beast” of a wine but it has a long and storied history in Umbria, Central Italy. Known for its incredible tannins, this wine is bold, full-bodied, and satisfying. If you love big wines, you’ll love this rare gem. Decanted off virtually no sediment. Gave this a few round trips through an aerating decanter. Dense nose unlike other varietals I’ve experienced. Palate before food dominated by drying tannins, flavours start to emerge on finish. In my opinion the wine is its ideal drinking window.

Canapés

They work with SMIP Ranch, a seventeen-acre organic farm located a few miles west of Woodside in the Santa Cruz Mountains to create a menu that reflects the essence of each season. At the farm, produce is cultivated from select heirloom seeds and harvested exclusively for use at the restaurant.

The canapés course consists of three small bites that contained seasonal ingredient. We kicked off with a butternut squash tartlet that was savoury and sweet at the same time. And then a sweet beetroot tartare on Yukon potato crisp and finished with fig jam sour cream goat cheese on a potato puff.

Warm Parker House Rolls

Cultured Butter From Vermont

This unsalted Vermont butter is made with cream from the St. Albans Cooperative, a group of 500 family farms in Northeast Vermont. The cream is pasteurised, then cultured overnight, developing flavours of buttermilk and hazelnuts. The cream is then churned into the distinctive butter. If you like your butter salted, there’s fleur de sel provided on the side.

Parker House Rolls are deliciously soft, buttery dinner buns that were made famous by a hotel. The reason that these rolls are so beloved is that they are buns made by folding the dough over itself, and within that fold you have brushed melted, salty butter. You can see how they will pull apart perfectly.

Fennel And Coriander Tuna

Pickled Early Fall Vegetables | Pommes Soufflé | Tonnato Sauce

I picked the tuna tataki as my appetiser. It is a sashimi-grade ahi tuna that’s lightly seared, drizzled with olive oil, pickled carrots, radishes and shallots. and served rare with a blob of tonnato sauce. Tonnato is a rich Italian sauce made with anchovies, tuna, and capers. To finish the plating, randomly placed pommes soufflé (potato puffs) as decoration and texture.

The tuna was crusted with mustard and peppercorns, and seared perfectly. Everything worked together in harmony for a really enjoyable appetiser.

Seared Hokkaido Scallops

Maitake Mushrooms | Baby Carrots | Parsnip Purée | Kaluga Caviar

2020 Chateau Kirwan Schröder and Schÿler Margaux

Given the clientele, the wine list is designed to court deep pockets with an outstanding selection of French vintages, particularly Bordeaux. Château Kirwan 2020 is a medium-bodied, deep purple wine from Margaux, Bordeaux, France. A bouquet of jammy berries and oak, with hints of lavender, black tea, dried Provence herbs hits your nose as you lift the glass. A good core of black fruits, with a grainy texture and plenty of freshness, finishing with a minerally lift as you drink it

Dry-Aged 38 North Duck Breast

Savory Pain Perdu | Honey-Poached Quince | Sicilian Pistachios

The next course, pistachio crusted dry aged 38 North duck breast perfectly cooked with a dry, crispy skin and moist, tender meat. Just 38 miles North of the Golden Gate Bridge is the city of Petaluma and Bassian Farms where this branded duck comes from.  The dry-aging process tenderises the meat while also firming up the flesh and skin as the bird loses moisture. Came with Pain Perdu or “lost bread”, the original French Toast from France, and topped with honey-poached quince that had a hint of lemon and vanilla to take away the heaviness of the duck.

Almond Wood-Grilled Westholme Wagyu Rib-Eye

Potato Rösti | King Trumpet Mushrooms | Bordelaise Sauce

This filet of ribeye is fully trimmed to exclude external fat and really shows the sweet and succulent flavour profile that has made Westholme Wagyu famous. The beef traces back to the mighty Westholme herd that was founded on champion Wagyu bulls and cows. Unlike in Japan, these “wagyu” are not as marbled but more beefy. I loved the texture of the trumpet mushrooms, almost like abalone and excellent with the tasty bordelaise sauce made with dry red wine, bone marrow, butter, shallots and sauce demi-glace.

Farmstead Cheeses

Brunet | Tomme De Savoie | Shakerag

Darling ordered some cheese while I picked the tarte tatin for dessert. This is the sequence they recommended us to taste the cheese. Came with candied almonds (delicious, can I buy it at the gift shop?), dried fruits and local honeycomb.

• Shakerag cheese takes its name from Shakerag Hollow, a place known for moonshining mischief and a bonanza of spring wildflowers. This robust blue from Tennessee is at once bright and salty, sweet and fruity, with a pleasant hint of funk and a mouth-puckering bite at the finish.
• I always wonder if the rind of the cheese is to be eaten, but the rind of this Tomme De Savoie cheese should be avoided. Although it has a delicious earthy smell and a nice rustic appearance, the rind is actually thick and bitter. Inside, you’ll find a soft, lush cheese with a mild, nutty and oh-so slightly earthy flavour.
• Named after the local breed of goat from which it’s made, Brunet is aged for only 2 weeks. This fresh, young cheese has an edible rind with a wrinkled appearance. Aged for 2 weeks in the hills of Piedmont, it has an ivory paste whose goat flavour has hints of mushroom and cream.

The cheese course is usually served with water table crackers, which are bland as water and flour, the two ingredients used to make these crackers. These days, the fancier restaurants would provide their own spiced crackers, like these house made crackers with a slight peppery taste. Not sure which is better, but I do appreciate something that would not interfere with the taste of the cheese.

Apple Tarte Tatin

Feuilletine | Toasted Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Named after the woman who invented it, the Tarte Tatin (tart tah-TAN) is a famous French “upside-down” caramelised apple tart or Tarte aux pommes (caramélisé). Basically, the apples are underneath the dough, which in this case was almost non-existent. Not tart (puns intended) like other apple pies I had before, the cinnamon wasn’t too overwhelming as well, which I appreciate a lot.

Mignardises

And as the bill was prepared, we were served our mignardises – lemon pistachio nougat (in its wrapper), pear ginger gelée, and mango lime mousse. None of them as too sweet that we need to have a tea or espresso.

Despite the sophisticated setting, the cuisine here is surprisingly approachable. The waiter was proud about the quality of the products on offer, and the sommelier was spot on with his recommendations for the evening. The Village Pub is rich with a sense of heritage and authenticity. The warm and elegant ambiance is the perfect backdrop for Chef Mark Sullivan’s Contemporary American cuisine with Classic French roots.

The Village Pub
2967 Woodside Road, Woodside, CA 94062
Tel : +1 (650) 851 9888 (Reservations)

Visited Dec 2024

Michelin California Guide 1 Star 2013-24