Flour + Water
Walking into Flour + Water I immediately felt at home. The smell of bread baking welcomed me at the door and tucked me into a bed of pillowy comfort. We put our name in and enjoyed the 45 minute wait while perusing the menu.
The restaurant is dark and mysterious, with dark wood tables and candles sending a small burst of light here and there. Diners can enjoy their meals at community tables, in the dining room, or at the bar, and on this Sunday night all three were packed.
We were seated at the bar and our journey began. Our amazing bartender, Eric, knew the ins and outs of every item on the menu, and he encouraged us to ask a lot of questions. His descriptions made my mouth water, and we had a tough time narrowing our selection to 3 dishes.
We started with the beets with roasted young carrots, ricotta salata, mustard, wild arugula and whole wheat cracker. My husband told Eric how I loved how fresh the dish tasted, and Eric casually mentioned that our beets were still in the ground in Marin only 60 hours ago. The daily menu changes about 25% every evening according to what the local farms have to offer.
The braised squid with fennel, clams, young fennel, artichokes, cerignola olives and tarragon aioli that we ordered for our second course was intense. I wasn’t confident that the flavors would work well together, but each bite of squid with fennel and artichoke was better than the last. It was reminiscent of a dish my mom used to make when I was a kid, and I was so happy for that food memory.
For our final course we had the funghi pizza. I was feeling adventurous, and this pizza fit that feeling. The toppings could have been so simple and mundane, but instead the mushrooms with rapini leaves and taleggio cheese was complex and rich. We, both hearty eaters, couldn’t finish the pizza. Sad to leave two pieces to waste, we brought them back to our hotel room for a late night snack.
The wine we had was an incredibly smooth Brunello di Montalcino on special. I don’t know much about wines, but I do know I’d like to buy a bottle of this wine.
Flour + water is exactly what I want in a restaurant. The produce is sourced locally. The dishes are interesting and up to date. The menu is Italian, making me feel at home. The service is exquisite. The prices are reasonable and the décor is warm and inviting.
I now understand why Jessi & Jesse suggested it to us.
It was my favorite dining experience of the last few months.
I only wish we got to try the pumpkin cake. And the margherita pizza. And the autumn pumpkin tortelli. And and and…..
Just go there. You’ll understand.
Flour + Water
3401 Harrison St.
San Francisco, CA
415.826.7000
Sounds like you’ll have to take a second trip back so you can try all the other fun dishes! I always wish restaurants like that were better lit so you could see all the goodness in the pictures.
Very interesting dishes. I want to try the squid!
wow.. sounds and looks amazing 🙂 … isn’t it such a great thing when there are too many things on the menu that you REALLY want to try!!??? (good and bad thing.. haha) guess that means you’ll definitely have to try that place out again and again… or make trips to cali more often 🙂
Oooh, I haven’t heard of this place. Looks delicious! I’ll have to take my cousin there when he’s up for Thanksgiving and we do our shopping trip to the city.
That pizza sounds delish!
Love it. We also opted for the mushroom pizza (clearly) and also found it to be two sizes too big for a single sitting. It was the perfect snack a few hours down the line:) That autumn tortellini would have been right up my alley…
I’ve heard of Flour & Water, but totally forgot about it when I was in San Fran! I wish I had gone!
It was so wonderful to meet you and your cute husband! You seriously light up a room, both with your beauty and friendly personality!
Looks like you need to go back to San Fran STAT.
Also, I LOVED your enthusiasm in your last post. It really made me feel like blogging more too!
This place is literally blocks from where I live and have wanted to go since it opened, but there always seems to be a huge line. Your review has convinced me that it’s time to go and brave the wait.