Meals to Remember - 500 Places for Food and Wine Lovers - page 136

Vegetarians

150

Millennium
High Minded, High End
San Francisco, California

At first glance it looks like any upscale bis-
tro, with its zinc-topped bar, sponge-
painted yellow walls, leather-upholstered
banquettes, and burnished reddish-brown
wood trim. But look closer and you'll find
that the upholstery is faux leatherette, the
lacy drapes over the ceiling fixtures are
made from paper bags, and sheer curtains
are woven from recycled plastic bags.
(The zinc-topped bar, too, is recycled from
a previous restaurant.) Sustainable design
was a given, for Millennium is all about
sustainable food. Sure, it's got a high-pro-
file location on the outskirts of Union
Square, but that doesn't mean Millennium
is ever going to compromise its values.
Millennium's chef, Eric Tucker, is a man
with a mission. He's determined to prove
that traditional cooking techniques—
including many taken from ethnic cui-
sines—don't have to include dairy
products, eggs, oil, and other high-fat ani-
mal products in order to be delicious. Like
many vegetarian chefs, Tucker makes use
of Southeast Asian tastes in items like the
Balinese-style salt-and-pepper-crusted
oyster mushrooms with blood orange chili
jam, but that's only the beginning. Borrow-
ing from India, he does masala dosa, a
lentil rice crepe with south Indian chickpea
and red chard curry, sweet and spicy
papaya chutney, and mint raita; with a nod
to France, there's a stuffed roulade of
roasted chestnuts and mushrooms and sau-
téed broccoli, cooked in black truffle butter,
under a ragout of French lentils and black
chanterelles. Italy inspires his edamame

gnocchi (served with grilled oyster mush-
rooms, caramelized cippolini onions, and a
coulis of miso and Jerusalem artichokes) and
his carrot lasagnette (carrot pasta sheets
layered with Meyer lemon, spring garlic,
tahini cream, and roasted baby carrots,
topped with pine nut gremolata). Caribbean
influences run through his plantain torte
with tropical fruit salsa and romesco sauce;
Mexico lies behind his black bean torte,
which layers a whole wheat tortilla, caramel-
ized plantains, smoky black bean puree,
pumpkin-habanero salsa verde, cashew sour
cream, and strawberry-jicama salsa. And
fine as the food is, you can still try a five-
course tasting menu with wine pairings for
under $100.
Millennium buys fresh produce every
day, mostly from small farms that practice
sustainable agriculture; if the produce is
organic, even better. But Tucker and his
crew know they're in the heart of a foodie
city; their goal is to make vegetarian dining
fun and exciting. Why should you have to
sacrifice taste in order to feel environmen-
tally conscious?

580 Geary St. ( & 415/345-3900; www.
millenniumrestaurant.com).
( San Francisco International (14 miles/
23km).
L $$$ Hotel Adagio, 550 Geary St.
( & 800/228-8830 or 415/775-5000; www.
thehoteladagion.com). $ Hotel des Arts,
447 Bush St. ( & 800/956-4322 or 415/956-
3232; www.sfhoteldesarts.com).