SOMA San Francisco: Marlowe’s 5th and Brannon.
SOMA (South of Market Street) is a neighborhood of deep contrasts – still dominated by old warehouses, rundown buildings that slip between them and littered with the homeless. The current state is one on converted warehouses for companies like Zappos and Lyft, condos for millionaires, and many, many restaurants.
Coming back from Sonoma, we met my uncle at Marlowe’s near his apartment. He wanted to have dinner at IHOP (He once took me to Hooter’s on Fisherman’s Wharf for oysters, go figure!). Once we put that idea 6-feet under, we met at Marlowe’s and had a fantastic dinner. The restaurant definitely carved out a focus – when you see bone marrow as an appetizer, what’s the clue? Maybe that the bathroom wall paper was made of drawings of a cow, each section numbered for the butcher. Classic, old-fashioned butcher paper. So, while meat dominates the bathroom and menu, they also have incredibly fresh vegetables and salads.
Some things to try? The flash fried brussels sprouts starter; really, I have never seen anything like it and as someone who is ambivalent of this vegetable (though relieved it seems to be replacing kale for share-of-voice) this was crisp, light, amazing. Almost like potato chips made of sprout leaves.
The pumpkin soup was thick and savory. A little wentalong way, but only because the flavor was so…dense. Perhaps the best appetizer was the beet and smoked salmon salad. The chef stacked three little towers of red beet, tomato, gold beet, smoked salmon folded on top.
As for entrees, we all ordered hamburgers – though looking around among the somewhat tight tables and the white tiled room – every dish looked great proven by the smiles of those eating. The staff moved fluidly and with a positive vibe which given the crowded room, was graceful and made you feel good about the place, beyond just the food.
Outspoken Traveler 