Commis

» Wow. A great meal!?text=At first I was a bit miffed that we go what I thought was the worst seat in the house--up front getting the worst blast of cold air from the opening door. But once I had my first sip of the shiso soda palette cleanser, all was forg

At first I was a bit miffed that we go what I thought was the worst seat in the house--up front getting the worst blast of cold air from the opening door. But once I had my first sip of the shiso soda palette cleanser, all was forgiven.

The amuse bouche of poached egg in some sort of onion cream was a revelation. My sweetie and I just looked at each other with amazement that such a simple little...+READ At first I was a bit miffed that we go what I thought was the worst seat in the house--up front getting the worst blast of cold air from the opening door. But once I had my first sip of the shiso soda palette cleanser, all was forgiven.

The amuse bouche of poached egg in some sort of onion cream was a revelation. My sweetie and I just looked at each other with amazement that such a simple little bowl could produce such an amazing taste. It took all of our energy not to lick the little ceramic bowl clean. As we were waiting for our next course, I would watch james Syhabout, the chef use tweezers to place micro greens on plates and quietly prepare his dishes. The place is all about layers of taste and I agree--the celery root soup was a perfect example of it. The pork duo was simply dreamy and nicely paired with sunchokes. it was the first time I enjoyed Jerusalem artichokes--usually I find them a bit slippery on the tongue--but these were beautifully fried and so tasty. I chose the apple tatin for dessert--and it was beautifully, but nothing too terribly special, although the cheddar cheese ice cream added a nice richness to the dish. The whole meal ended with a lovely absinthe gelee which was lovely.

I look forward to going back soon!-COLLAPSE (by MissDottie19, updated November 19, 2009)

» Oakland: Coe-me (Commis) – very deserving of its Michelin star

Great staff. Great atmosphere. Great food.

The staff is warm, the restaurant is convivial and personal, the food is the tops in its category. The majority of people who like California cuisine should like Commis..

I had (with wine pairings)

- Complementary pretty, fizzy pink shiso seltzer
- Amuse: glass of apple cider from Normandy
- Amuse: poached egg with date malt, smoked salt,...+READ Great staff. Great atmosphere. Great food.

The staff is warm, the restaurant is convivial and personal, the food is the tops in its category. The majority of people who like California cuisine should like Commis..

I had (with wine pairings)

- Complementary pretty, fizzy pink shiso seltzer
- Amuse: glass of apple cider from Normandy
- Amuse: poached egg with date malt, smoked salt, chives and granola
- House-baked Parker House rolls and house-made butter
- Seared mussels, apples, turnip and radish with aforado watercress, squid broth
- Guinea fowl with natural renderings,caramelized sunchokes, escarole, tarragon bread crumbs
- Celery root cake, grape jelly, almond crumble, celery sorbet
- Complementary absinthe gelee

There were ingredients in the dishes that were not part of the menu description. There were trumpet mushrooms with the guinea fowl. It really didn’t matter. It was about deliciousness not descriptions.

The poached egg was the first dish that had my eyes rolling back in my head with delight. That contrast of textures and flavors … sweet, sour, salty, unctuous, foamy, and crunchy.

This was interesting to see being put together. The date mixture is spread on the bottom of a small lovely, simple brown bowl and sea salt sprinkled on it. The eggs were poached in-shell … don’t know how that doesn’t make them soft boiled though. Then they were broken into a separate bowl and the chef used a spoon to shake the white off the yolk. That deserved applause in itself. It was delicate, work and out of the 20 I watched being made, not one egg yolk broke. Then egg and white were put in the bowl … the white at first I thought was foam. The chives and granola added on one side.

There were 10 plump shelled Mediterranean mussels. The watercress was braised with slices of the veggies mixed in. There were also tiny mint leaves… or something tasting of mint which was a great combo with the mussels. The squid broth is like a clam broth … excellent and highly recommended dish.

The guinea fowl was interesting and tasty. I also am guessing there were potatoes involved. There was something in there that tasted like sliced baby potatoes with the most wonderful crust and a soft, exquisite interior. Maybe the sunchokes. The beautiful meaty mushrooms were fabulous. There were two rolled coins of the most tender breast. That I kept as my last bite. There was a confit of the leg topped with tarragon crumbs.A rich pool of the rendering juice was on the bottom.

The celery dessert wasn’t as weird as it sounds. The cake was a slice like a buttery financier. The jelly was dabs of grape sauce. Celery makes a refreshing and pretty sorbet. All the flavors harmonized perfectly.

Top notch Parker House rolls were replenished during the meal. The butter had a tang to it almost like yogurt.

The absinthe gelee was a fun idea. Didn’t taste like absinthe but it was pretty.

I’m not good with wine. The only one I remember was the Bugey Cerdson Rosé Patrick Bottex which was an absolutely perfect pairing with the celery sorbet. Kermit Lnych carries it and I’m pretty sure it is always at Berkeley Bowl.
http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1038026#moreinfo

I’m not quite sure if the cider amuse was only served if the wine pairing was ordered.

The bottle and label were displayed with a brief explanation given before being poured . Ditto on a brief explanation of the dishes and they were really good about answering question.

It wasn’t at all what I imagined. It was NOT stark with precious dishes and small portions

The staff was a big surprise. They were the best … friendly without being chummy ... on top of orders without hovering ... very knowledgeable … super professional without being stuffy. They are the best I’ve seen since my beloved Bizou closed.

The whole staff just works together with precision. When a dish was ready and one of the wait staff was unavailable, the chef walked it over to the table. The servers did some final touches on the dishes such as wiping the edges of the plate before bringing it to the table.

Maybe night, with lower lights and glowing candles on the tables, the place seems less sterile. I’d almost call it romantic though it had a festive, convivial feel.

The check came to $96 with tax. I’ve spent more than that elsewhere ordering a la carte. I went in thinking that like downstairs at Chez Panisse it would be a yearly special occasion restaurant for me. However, I liked so much about it I’ll be stopping in more than that.

The name is French so drop the "s" pronouncing it.A 7x7 article says ...
http://www.7x7.com/content/eat-drink/hot-20-2009-james-syhabout-chef-owner-commis

"Syhabout is modest to the point of shy. He got the name Commis (a French term for an apprentice chef) from Marco Pierre White’s book, White Heat. “In the French kitchen, the lowest ranks wear a blue apron and the chef wears a white apron,” explains Syhabout. “White says, ‘We all wear blue aprons; we’re all still learning.’ I took that to heart.”-COLLAPSE / REPLY (17 Replies) (by rworange, updated October 29, 2009)

Well, we went to Commis last night as planned, so I thought I'd give a snapshot review - to give it away, it was a really fine meal, and we enjoyed the whole evening from start to finish!

At arrival, we were shown to our seats right in front of James Syhabout and his small team of chefs. We were able to watch, and talk with everyone during the entire meal. It was a bit nerve-wracking though,...+READ Well, we went to Commis last night as planned, so I thought I'd give a snapshot review - to give it away, it was a really fine meal, and we enjoyed the whole evening from start to finish!

At arrival, we were shown to our seats right in front of James Syhabout and his small team of chefs. We were able to watch, and talk with everyone during the entire meal. It was a bit nerve-wracking though, watching them painstakingly assemble some rather complicated dishes - it was as much a surgical suite as a kitchen in front of us (including tweezers for some of the more delicate operations).

We opted for the 3 course menu ($59 each) since we could share dishes - so we each tried 8 items (including two amuses) and had a chance to see exactly how each was prepared.

First was a small shot glass of pinkish "red shiso soda" - crisp and refreshing, balancing the shiso with a bit of sweetness. I felt like this would be a wonderful summer drink, and my wife is thinking about how to make it now.

Next was one of the more clever items of the night - it was a slow-cooked hens egg yolk sitting in a whitish savory pool of a mushroom-flavored cream sauce- it looked like a fried egg in the bottom of the bowl, complemented with a small dollop of home-made granola, and some herbs. A wry take on a breakfast bowl, and very tasty - especially the perfect consistency of the egg yolk.

This was the first of several dishes where we sopped up the flavors with their house-made "Parker House" rolls- super fresh, with house-churned butter - as others have said, you could just make a meal on these rolls and butter!

Next up were our starters - I had the soft poached farm egg with pork jowl, a delicious, rich and fatty combination that was also evocative of breakfast - great flavors and presentation. There was a "smear" of fermented black garlic on the side of the dish, which was a wonderful tart accompaniment to the flavors of the egg and pork - almost like garlic Marmite! The whole dish was scattered with small flowers - alliums of garlic and onion plants. Beautiful presentation and great combination of tastes.

We also shared the sunchoke soup with a lobster mushroom custard at the bottom, which also had a "foam" of mushroom around it - super smooth flavors and textures, quite rich and luscious mouthfeel. We both enjoyed the soup, and though it at first seemed like a small portion, was more than ample, especially with the courses to follow.

For our "mains" we shared the poached then seared duck breast with duck confit, chantrelles, and cranberry beans in a mulled broth - with a small dollop of plum sauce sitting in the broth. Wonderful rich autumnal flavors, all perfectly complementing each other. The duck breast was perfectly and consistently pink all the way through, due to the sous vide pre-cooking, and we cleaned the bowl thoroughly of the delicious jus.

The other dish was a filet of cod cooked "ala plancha" on the flat top - perfectly smooth and cooked all the way through, with a crispy, salt-crusted piece of skin attached, it was definitely one of the best pieces of fish in recent memory. The dish appeared with a carefully assembled "scene" of braised lettuce, large clams (out of shell) and some seafood emulsion "foam" in such a way that it looked like a tidepool scene. The flavors all complemented one another and the quality was stellar, with the possible exception of the large clams which seemed a tiny bit tough to me, but tasted fresh as can be.

We were actually pretty full at this point, but continued to dessert. She had the " Black Mission Fig Tart" - their pastry chef is clearly a perfectionist, and watching him was like a combination of surgeon and watchmaker in terms of the precision and detail with which he assembled the three desserts on offer. The tart was beautiful with nice "lavender crusted almonds" as a crunchy counterpoint to the smooth unctuous fig filling. The small tart crust was perfectly composed and crusty, and the entire affair was a great mix of tastes and textures.

I chose the "White Cheddar Cheesecake with pink pearl apples" and this was one of the best desserts in a long time. A small rectangle (1.5 x 2 x 0.5 inches" of tart, cheddary cheesecake sitting on top of a 1/8 in thick layer of rosemary crust, topped with a collection of tiny chopped pink pearl apple bits that had been soaked in simple syrup to turn them pink. Then some small rosemary flowers scattered onto the apples. On top of that were a bundle of 'threads" of crispy fillo dough that had been baked in butter. Slightly larger than a hair in thickness, they looked like "hay" on top of the pearl apples. The dessert was served on a slab of stone tile, and it looked like a piece of modern art, and we (almost) didn't dare touch it.

Once dessert was finished, we declined coffee as we were really full at that point. My overall reaction was that this place is the real deal - great and inventive food, served by people who really care about food and service, in a calm, simple and unpretentious environment. It doesn't have any of the "look at me!" aspects of many of the high-end places in the Bay Area, but for me, it was certainly at that level with food and service. Our servers were the right blend of friendly and professional, and everyone in the small restaurant (my wife counted 21 seats) clearly is trying to make this a destination for serious foodies.

Overall I don't have any complaints - my advice is try it if you are intrigued - I hope they can survive with this mix of food and lack of attitude - I wonder if there are enough people who don't need the fancy presentation that can keep them going. The good news is their overhead must be low given the Piedmont location and size, and the small number of staff. Cost for the meal was $145 with two-three course meals ($59 each) plus three glasses of wine), plus tax and tip. I felt like it was a great value for the quality of food and attention to detail, with the bonus of my culinary student wife being able to see how everything was made.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (17 Replies) (by RichInMV, updated October 15, 2009)

I agree with you re the prix fix v. tasting menu. We had a wonderful meal on a recent Sunday at Commis (with the egg and sunchoke soups being the highlights). I approached it as a shortened Manressa menu and it seemed to comport well with the price. I loved the wine pairings as well (particularly the wine with the melon dessert -- very impressive). I also feel that Bauer would have treated the...+READ I agree with you re the prix fix v. tasting menu. We had a wonderful meal on a recent Sunday at Commis (with the egg and sunchoke soups being the highlights). I approached it as a shortened Manressa menu and it seemed to comport well with the price. I loved the wine pairings as well (particularly the wine with the melon dessert -- very impressive). I also feel that Bauer would have treated the restaurant differently if it was in the City... particularly his criticism about the atmosphere.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (107 Replies) (by The Dive, updated September 30, 2009)