Birthday Dinner: The Series, Part 3 – Gitane

Named after the free wheeling gypsy, Gitane is a modern, funky, artistically bold restaurant that is new to the financial district scene. Tucked away on Claude Lane, the restaurant opened up in late November 2008 and is serving up simple, approachable bistro fare from the Basque region, drawing up inspiration from Spain, France, and Portugal. The interior is modern, yet eclectic with it's red interior, hand printed wallpapers, vintage chandeliers, and specialty fabrics lining the couches. This was a surprise birthday dinner and I was happy to try not only a new place but also one that is new to SF.

For the appetizers, we had the Eggplant Asada, sliced grilled eggplant, chilled, and rolled with herbed
goat cheese, arugula salad with a balsamic reduction ($10). This was better than I expected. Each little bite of eggplant was so flavorful and the balsamic reduction was really nice with the salad and goat cheese. My favorite of the night was the Chipirones, grilled monterey calamari stuffed with portabello mushrooms, garlic, onions, shallot confit vinaigrette and lentil salad ($12). Each calamari was perfect for two bites plus they each had their tenatacle. The mushroom stuffing was amazing and the lentil salad added a nice heartiness to the dish. There was also a taboule ($11), gazpacho ($7), and the bacon bonbons ($9) definitely peeked our interest. The bacon bonbons were sauteed prunes stuffed with goat cheese, wrapped in smoked bacon and in a port demi-glace. I'll sign up for anything wrapped in bacon!

For our main courses, we wanted to get one of the pizzas and chose their signature Gitane pizza. It was wood-fired with pamplona chorizo, piquillo peppers, mushrooms, marinara, mozzarella and an egg sunny side up ($16). The pizza was really good and more than enough for the two of us. Next we shared the Filet Mignon with grilled creekstone black angus, sweet shallots & tempranillo compote with fried potato galette ($29). The steak was perfectly prepared to medium rare. I loved the intense sweetness of the shallot and wine compote. It added another level of depth and flavor to the beef. And c'mon, you can't have steak without potatoes. The potato galette was cripsy on the oustide, tender on the inside with a nice herb seasoning.  Other entrees included a tajine of pan seared chicken with spiced broth, prunes, carrots, turnips, zucchini and couscous ($19), baby back ribs with a honey-soy glaze, brussels sprouts, parsnip puree and crispy serrano ham ($23), and the Cataplana, a Portuguese fish stew with monkfish, manilla clams, mild chorizo, fingerling potatoes, in a white wine and lobster bisque ($24).

They also offered several sides including a pisto manchego with eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onion ($6), espinica, sauteed spinach with pine nuts and golden raisins ($5), and baked polenta with diced sun dried tomatoes ($6).

I loved Gitane! I thought the food was excellent, the menu was intriguing and different than anything I've had before, and loved the space. We got the best table in the house upstairs overlooking the bar. It was cozy and romantic. It was the perfect place to be surprised for my birthday!

(415) 788-6686