Wednesday, September 11, 2013

West of Pecos in San Francisco's Mission District

Clockwise from top: Queso and Chips, Woodhouse Grilled Artichoke, and Mezcal Mule

Mmm...grilled artichoke! Actually, this wasn't my reason for coming here (550 Valencia Street, 252-7000). I came instead for things like the green chile mac & cheese or the kale tostada salad. But when I saw grilled artichoke on the menu, I couldn't resist, ordering this together with a side of chips and queso while I was at it. And it all got washed down by a play on one of my favorite cocktails, rendered here as the mezcal mule. Nice one.

See, this is a Southwestern place, and frankly if all fusion cuisine were done like this, I'd be much more receptive to it. That artichoke was grilled to a nice degree of smokiness, all topped with some of my other favorites like dungeness crab meat. OK, I was a bit turned off by the pointless cocktail sauce that it came with, and the cheese above it frankly reminded me of Velveeta. But I'll still come back here again...assuming I can resist going to the millions of other places to eat in this neighborhood!

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