The Other Critics

Kauffman Calls Plate Shop ‘Americana’ With a Side of Thrill; Reidinger Likes Locavore

A mackerel appetizer at Plate Shop.
A mackerel appetizer at Plate Shop. Photo: Mackenzie Brough/Grub Street

Jonathan Kauffman begins his review of Kim Alter’s new Sausalito restaurant Plate Shop by recalling an essay about southern food by Edna Lewis, and says Alter’s flavors are less Alice Waters-inspired Cal-Med and tend more to echo the Americana of Lewis, and James Beard. In other words, dishes with “straightforward appeal… Her flavors are far from brash, in the style of the New American food of the 1980s and ‘90s, but they do come at you head on.” He’s especially a fan of her warm winter salad; her “pig roast” dish featuring “A nubbin of grilled sausage. A tiny, tender chop. A hunk of fatty, crisp-edged braised shoulder. A papery curl of ear”; and the made-to-order monkey bread dessert, which he predicts “may spark a citywide revival.” He’s less a fan of the “whole chicken” dish than we were, wishing there were gravy or something besides the liver mousse to spread on the meat, and less a fan than Bauer is of the smoked risotto. Also he says the service, though pleasant, was a bit “gushy.” [SF Weekly, Earlier Slideshow]

Paul Reidinger compliments both the environment and the food at Locavore, saying of the former, “It’s been some time since I found so much poured concrete so full of charm,” and of the latter, “Chef/owner Jason Moniz’s food is excellent, reasonably priced, and the vegetarian angle seems to have been considered with some imagination.” He loves the yuba soy roll, the halibut, and practically orgasms over the “cloud-like” honey semifreddo. [SFBG]

Kauffman Calls Plate Shop ‘Americana’ With a Side of Thrill;