Quince

Wow wow wow. I wrote awhile ago when I visited Quince for my birthday about how they had forgotten that we were celebrating an occasion. Matt, the GM there, reached out and invited us back for a celebratory champagne and dessert, and the SO and I were happy to go.
Our experience far surpassed any expectations we had for the evening. Matt, Greg, and the rest of the team took amazing care of us throughout the night, and we were consistently blown away by how professional and how outstanding the quality of service was. The SO and I have been to a number of fine dining restaurants in the city; for most of this city, fine dining service is usually acceptable, sometimes awkward. I can say without a doubt though, that Quince’s service is the best I’ve ever had — the attention to detail throughout the entire meal, the efforts and lengths they went to to make up for a very minor mishap during our first meal, really exemplify what it means to have truly spectacular service and what it’s like to make your patrons feel really special throughout their meal. Everyone was easy to talk to and fun to interact with. This entire experience might have been the peak of what I’ll ever experience in service in fine dining.
We were treated to an abridged version of their menu and given an absolutely gorgeous cake as well as some other goodies. This whole make up experience truly exceeded anything I could have expected, and I’m excited to come back and try out future dishes.
Quince is truly a special, spectacular space. The food is of an extremely high caliber, and the service is the most exceptional I’ve had even relative to some of the triple stars in the city. To Tusk, Matt, Greg, and the rest of your team, bravo. Quince, and particularly the people, are truly special in this city.

We went to Quince last night and had SUCH a phenomenal experience!!! Jennifer seemed to be our lead waiter and she was amazing– her knowledge of every wine option, every course, every detail was superb. She definitely made our experience that much better! From the crispy croquette to the buttery caviar toast– everything was made to perfection! Cannot wait to go back!

Basis for my starred ratings (which skews heavily to the food or drink):
1 star: Never again.
2 stars: Poor food, poor experience, extraordinary measures in order for me to come back.
3 stars: Average, nothing really special, nothing particularly bad.
4 stars: Very good, would definitely return.
5 stars: A favorite, one of the best.
From food to service to beverage pairing — this meal was nearly flawless. One of the best meals my wife and I ever had, ranking right up there with 3-​star Michelin restaurants. Despite the swanky interior, the service was extremely personable and far from cold and overly-​professional. Their beverage pairing, though a glass or shorter than other restaurants, was a very welcome addition. At no point did the booze start to overtake the meal, and with less pours, they do more by bringing out rarer vintages, older vintages, and surprising pairings. I think this is the best beverage pairing I’ve ever experienced.
Our dinner consisted of:
Fanny Bay oyster
Caviar course
Asparagus — first of the season and delicious
Steelhead trout
Farm egg — perfectly soft cooked
Casoncelli
Brodo — excellent dish
Abalone
Tagliatelle — one of the best pasta dishes I’e ever had in my life
Venison
Blood orange
Meringata — one of the best desserts I’ve ever had in my life
Mignardises
I wasn’t disappointed in any particular dish. Naturally, some dishes were better than others, but everything tasted good to excellent, which i can’t say for every Michelin-​starred restaurant I’ve been to. Everything came together superbly this dinner and it would be hard to pass up another experience again here in the future.

An empirical study was once done of the Beatles and found that while their library was largely melodic, many songs had an atypical dissonant chord and this was unique amongst musical groups. In my view, Michael Tusk is the Beatles of cooking — classic, beautiful dishes with a tweak of genius. He’s not gonna put seafoam on african ants on nordic moss. But nothing he makes is mundane either — its all good while also being pleasantly surprising.
If price is no object, Quince is without a doubt the best restaurant in SF.
I’ve been to FL, Coi, Benu, Meadowood, Lazy Bear, Saison, etc and nobody comes close to Quince. I think Quince ranks up there with any 3-​star restaurant I have been to in the world.
The restaurant itself is attractive and understated.
The service is flawless.
The dessert and cheese carts are a fun, nice touch.
The caviar and wine lists are amazing.
If I were on death row, this place would serve my last meal.

I’ve had the opportunity to dine here for work but on this occasion we were celebrating hubby’s birthday and chose the Spring menu with wine pairing. We were seated at the table when we arrived 15 minutes prior to our reservation and the service began promptly. There is an air of sophistication at this restaurant that is quintessential Quince from the décor, to the service, to the people patronizing this establishment. Our 3 hour dinner was artistic, filled with globally inspired flavors, and delightfully paired wines. We weren’t crazy about dessert but the hot chocolate upon exiting made up for it! What is in that hot chocolate? And where can I get it???

Exceptional.
It was an amazing experience we haven’t expected. The reality of the dinner exceeded our anticipation and hopes greatly. If you want to splurge and create a memorable dining experience, Quince is a place to be. First of all, a tremendous thank you to Chef Tusk and his incredible team for the unforgettable evening they designed and implemented without a single glitch.
There’s always much buzz about new and established best restaurants in the SF Bay Area and the city itself, and I’ve learned from experience that hyped places don’t always deliver. More often than not, their level of sophistication fails expectations. Those with long waiting lists that open up once in a blue moon (and require enormous determination to sign up) often tend to disappoint in the end.
At Quince, your experience is building up on itself as the evening progresses. Hands down, the best place I’ve ever eaten at (and drank). It just tops them all IMHO. It currently holds 2 Michelin Stars. They undoubtedly upped their game to the point of 3-​Star distinction already on the horizon.
Aside from the absolutely incredible tasting menu developed by Chef Michael Tusk, where each and every dish shines, the service is very much personable and beyond outstanding. The ambience is elegant and quant.
The timing is everything, both behind the scenes in the kitchen (of which we were given a tour, as well as an introduction to maestro Tusk), and in the dining room. Everyone is as attentive as can be, without showing their presence, mindful of your conversations… Absolutely no hovering while your every need is anticipated.
It is incredibly difficult to maintain the soft and attentive service over the course of several hours, and these guys stepped up to the plate figuratively and literally speaking. It’s an art. We were truly impressed.
Now to the food. Or can you even use the word as ordinary to describe the deliciousness that you put into your mouth? Slangy mouthgasm pales in comparison to your actual taste buds sensations!
For instance, a spring lamb canapé, from the Watson farm in the Napa valley, comprised of several pieces of different variety, and artfully presented… the middle bite of soufflé mousse lamb — is there such a thing? — melted in my mouth as if it was a dessert… Indescribable!
Another memorable canapé of Black Cod — wild ramp, Manila clam, fennel — never ever have I tasted a black cod this delicious and tender, just the right degree of preparedness to avoid over and/​or undercooking, heavenly done!
Tsar Nicoulai reserve caviar — avocado, radish, fromage blanc — there was a portion that came in avocado fraiche and another one on a croissant brioche, complementing one another wonderfully. They pour out the creamy avocado sauce onto your crème fraîche out of individual avocado shaped containers!
Fanny Bay oyster — samphire, green strawberry, lemon verbena — served in the oyster shaped dish, it was our first bite and it dissolved in our mouths like the food of gods.
Quince features California contemporary cuisine at its finest that celebrates the seasonal bounty of NorCal. They have a roof top garden where fresh herbs and veggies are picked up just prior to creating your next bite!
It’s expensive. Factor in a bottle (or two) of their fine wines or champagnes (very extensive selection to satisfy a fine wine connoisseur), and any variations off the prix fixe menu, and the listed pricing grows exponentially. It is, however, well worth the enjoyment of the evening, if you can afford it.
There are treats and favors along the way, too. Your name printed on the menu as a keepsake; an unexpected trip to the kitchen and the Chef’s treat to enjoy there; a cup of hot chocolate they send you off with to keep you company in a chilly SF night…
The respect and the warmth you get here are truly incredible. We left at midnight (and felt no slight inclination of gently seeing us out)! It felt as if we could have stayed throughout entire night if we wanted to!
Seamless night with top notch execution on Quince part — I can’t wait to return!

Highly recommend!!! Fantastic service quality, awesome food experience, really have a honor to visit kitchen and build the knowledge of how the kitchen works everyday, can’t imaging that chief will be there at 6am every morning! so please enjoy and appreciate food. Even this is 2 star Michelin restaurant, but feels like they will get the third star soon

An amazing experience, the food and service are i think the best in SF.
The service is very professional but still warm.
The food Woww, well done

Make sure you have a reservation and prepare to be spoiled. We had the chefs tasting menu along with the suggested wine pairings. Absolutely insane night of flavors and treats.
It is expensive. About $ 400/​head for both meal and wine before tip. But for sure next time I’m in San Fran I will return.
The service is top notch. Extremely knowledgeable staff.
The bar in front of the restaurant is something too that you don’t want to leave quickly. Very comfortable and great atmosphere.

My husband took me here after he proposed to me, and Quince made sure they made our special night extra special –starting with a customized menu with our names on it.
We had a ten course meal with wine pairing. The food was impeccable! Well proportioned and tastes sophisticated, not overwhelming. The only thing missing is that they don’t have cheese plates, but who needs cheese plates when everything else is perfecto.
It’s one of the best dining experience I have had (if not the best), but we are probably not gonna come back anytime soon as although the $$$$ was worth it, it’s not worth coming back considering the significant amount of excellent restaurants available in SF.

Service: amazing. Milton was great! So attentive and sweet
Food: they only have a tasting menu and it was delicious. Highlights were the caviar dish, trout, and lasagnetta. Dessert wasn’t the best — way too sweet. Other than that, it was a great meal.
Although great experience and food, I probably wouldn’t come back a second time for that amount of money.
Drinks: we had the wine pairing which was great. We also ordered one of their cocktails that had gold leaf in it and it was a very entertaining drink!

This place blew me away and is definitely underrated in Unilocal and in the Michelin guide. It feels more like a 3 Michelin star restaurant in both food and service. It was leaps and bounds better than Manresa (which got recently upgraded to 3 Michelin stars) in both taste and service. Service was warm, friendly, attentive, and rivaled that of 3 star Michelin restaurants in Paris. The attention to detail was similar to French Laundry but less stuffy and more open. Both did have exceptional service. In terms of the food, it was the perfect blend of rustic and modern. Everything was beautifully presented, and had a good blend of textures, flavors, hot vs. cold, molecular gastronomie and was very creative. At the same time, it did not lose what food is all about: amazing flavors and taste. It was a memorable experience and is now probably my favorite restaurant in the Bay Area.
We ordered the tasting menu below, but added a cheese course supplement, and the black truffle risotto supplement ($ 80 dollars but worth it).
CANAPE — they had 5 different bite sized canapés, all interesting favors and textures. It was a melody in my mouth.
FANNY BAY OYSTER
pink peppercorn, tarragon, horseradish
EMPIRE CLAM
borage, fennel, meyer lemon
TSAR NICOULAI RESERVE CAVIAR —
champagne, leek, chive — served two different ways
STEELHEAD TROUT
watermelon radish, dill, buckwheat
FARM EGG
carrot, perigord truffle, four story hill farm sweetbread — best farm egg I’ve tried out of all the restaurants I’ve been to. One of the many highlights of the meal.
TORTELLI
red kuri, lapsang souchong, colatura di alici
BRODO
onion, black garlic, rocket
MONTEREY BAY ABALONE
cauliflower, nasturtium, lardo
LASAGNETTA — also one of the many highlights of the meal. Amazing, rustic, executed perfectly.
guinea hen, swiss chard, wild mushroom
BLACK TRUFFLE RISSOTO — best risotto I’ve tried ever. This was worth the $ 80 dollar supplement
BLACK TRUFFLE TORTELLINI — we got this free course as the chef was amused at how much we loved the Rissoto. Also mind-​blowing. They did not skimp on the truffle in both of these courses.
MILLBROOK FARM VENISON
salsify, celery root, prune
–perfectly cooked and seasoned, also contrasting flavors and textures with the sides.
SUPPLEMENTAL CHEESE COURSE– they had 12 offerings and they let us try as many as we wanted. That is amazing, and also came with warm home made breads, macarona almonds, apricot preserve and honey
BLOOD ORANGE
marshall’s farm honey, ginger, kataifi
MERINGATA
candy cap, salted caramel
Wow. The meringue texture with ice cream inside had a very good contrast. Caramel sauce was perfectly balanced.
MIGNARDISES
chocolates, confections
They served as a few of each kind and gave us a Togo box filled with goodies, along with hot chocolate to go.
This is a place I would go to each year, despite my desire to explore other places.

It was a spectacular dining experience at Quince!!! The service was beyond my expectation. This restaurant should be a 3 Michelin instead of 2!
I’ll definitely come back here and try other menu.

Food is too expensive for the quality. Two star is over rated. I been to Commis with one Michelin star and it taste just a good and for better price. Also the low rating is the service. Really random people waiting. You would think you get consistency. And for booking the lady on the phone wa so rude. She sounded like she can care less to take your reservation. I was confirming our reservation and she was like whatever. Did you see the OpenTable confirmation email? I was like yes. The she was like then you set. Almost like why you call for. I called because they have closing hours different from the time I made the reservation so I want to confirm. Why the big attitude? Geez.

Não dá para ir !
Mto ruim, o chef brinca de cozinhar e seus clientes tem que comer o menu travado
Preço ridículo de caro, uma vergonha !

My husband and I came to Quince as a gift for our wedding. This place was absolutely incredible. From the moment we walked in and were greeted, to the hot chocolate to go, we felt like Quince really turned on the charm.
Nearly everything we ate — from the white truffle trajine supplement to the incredible dessert cart — was incredible. I am personally really into breads and desserts. If you’re like me, you will be in heave with their stuff. Four different breads, two full desserts and then a dessert cart with over 12 items on it. I ate one of each!
Quince is an absolute splurge, but if you are looking for a place for that, I can’t recommend them enough!

I’ll definitely come back here. This 2 Michelin star restaurant comes with the 5 Unilocal stars because they truly deserves it!!! The customer satisfaction and services they give here is beyond professional. The waiters are very tentative and professional, making sure everything was okay and checked in with us every now and down. Excellent! The menu I had was very special for me because it was for my special day — Birthday ^_​_​_​^ the chef and Quince team did a great job on putting together the menu for me because it was everything that I love! I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to dine here tonight.
Every course was very delicious and well proportioned. The lighting and ambience in there was very classy and calm. Food was impeccable. There was not one dish that I did not enjoy. This place should be crowded in the later evening (around 8 PM) that’s when the restaurant start to fill up and noise levels gets higher. If you want to dine in peace, try to aim for a reservation at 6ish.
Price is $$$$ but it is definitely worth it. If you’re a true foodie and like fine dinning. Try out Quince!!! :)

They are at 2 Michelin stars and I think the 3^rd is coming soon.
AMAZING service. They make you feel welcome, pampered, like you are a VIP in an elegant restaurant.
The food was delicious, impressive. When a chef gets me to try new foods and I like it — that is impressive. We were lucky enough to get a tour of the kitchen. WOW is there a LOT of work going on there. and soo clean, so meticulous. Very impressive.
This is THE top restaurant in SF that I have been at though I love Benu and Atelier Crenn. I think this place beats the other 2 b/​c of the MIGNARDISE (tray of little desserts e.g. macarons, nougats, etc) and the cheese options too. and the sides that come with the cheese! But that is b/​c I LOVE dessert!
and the superior non-​alcoholic drinks — a verbena splash and something else that was red and fruity. wow. yum!
PS they send you home with a hot cup of hot chocolate! (at that point I was stuffed, but LOVED the warmth of the chocolate and the caffeine helped for the drive home back to suburbia)

I like to try out different cuisines. an interesting experience at quince.
My partner and I chose this place and decided to give a try lol as so many friends of mine have spoken highly of this place.
The service is 5 starts plus. Very attentive. If you like the attention, definitely try out this place. The servers would make you feel very special lol (in a good way).
Anyhow, the dinner course is set (2 options), about8 courses. The food is good but not spectacular (probably I am spoiled lol). Come here enjoy the atmosphere and the services. If you want the quality of food with reasonable price, the cognate (the next door restaurant, owned by the same chef) might be a better choice.
Oh yah, forget to mention the cocktail is phenomenal. Tip the bartender, he does a good job!

DRIP, DRIP, DROP… There goes a mouthgasm.
As a woman you’re practically built to have multiple O’s during one session. Here at Quince, they make them completely attainable with their intricate dishes, which will have you yearning for more! Really though, you’ll kinda want some more because the elegant portions are petite. Be sure to appreciate that each bite, holds multidimensional flavor. This is not the type of dinner you rush through. Keyword= Savor.
An exceptional experience overall: timed service, complex flavors, magnetic ambiance. My husband and I wanted to experience different prix fixe 10-​course menus, so he ordered the Garden Menu, while I ordered the Quince Menu. The Garden Menu was actually better! No worries, Garden Menu doesn’t only have veggies. My favorite dishes were the Black Cod and Phil Paine’s Squab. Order both menus.
+ Reservation cancellations must be made at least 48 hrs in advance to avoid a $ 220/​person cancellation fee
+ Personalized menus to take home for special occasions

I have been lucky to have had a few nice dinners in my life but never a meal quite so delicious and memorable. Every detail of our dinner was perfect, from the exquisitely plated and prepared food to the beautiful non-​noisy dining room and knowledgable, friendly Captain Giacomo L. and friends. It was uncanny how every single person we met at the restaurant seemed like a lifelong professional at what s/​he was doing. If only I could one day move and speak so tactfully and efficiently :) Maybe that’s why even at the peak of Friday service, the kitchen was spotless (how? how?) and the entire space still felt pretty peaceful.
I’m in the habit of writing positive comments when possible, but my effusiveness about this restaurant has nothing to do with that. It’s just that I can die happy now, if I happen to have to die. At least, that’s the thought that came to mind as I just finished the slowly reheated hot chocolate to go that I’d hoarded from last night’s dinner.

Had one of my most memorable dining experiences at Quince.
We were here end of Nov, during their annual Truffle dinner week. The entire meal was unforgettable, from the delicious dishes, delicate plating, to the attentive service and an intimate meet-​and-​greet with the kitchen crew.
Looking forward to coming back.

Dined here for the first time and had their Christmas Eve menu… Easily one of my top fave Michelin starred places!
Food was perfect… service was above and beyond.
Everything on the menu was spectacular, including the amuse-​bouche with the beef tartare. they seriously need to have a dish just for that tartare!
The Cote de Boeuf with the foie gras on top… LOOOVEEE, and portion was just right.
Caviar was amazing. I took a bite with one of every different piece in the dish, and it was so unique and delicious that my mouth didn’t even know what to make of it, besides that I wanted more!
Black truffle Tortelli … just keep the truffle shaving comingggg! each little tortelli was splendid.
The only dish that did not meet expectation was the alaskan crab. the meat itself was a tad bland, as if they only boiled the meat with no flavor. Everything else on the plate had a more ‘earthy’ taste, so earthy + bland crab wasn’t too good of a combo. I think they could’ve done better with the crab
Dessert. too many to describe, but allllll delightful!
Service though. WOW! I cant even.
1. We were placed at a table near the restroom and sort of next to a busier walkway, so we requested a table where we can sit next to each other for a more intimate experience. Unfortunately there were no tables, but he did move us to a more intimate space/​room immediately.
2. We were very interested in seeing the kitchen, so we were thinking of asking whether we could get a quick tour of it… to our surprise, our waiter asked us first! I don’t know if he was eavesdropping. since he was def not in the room when we said it, or whether he was psychic, but we got to meet some of the chefs and got to see how some of the dishes from our dinner were being prepared. Our waiter even offered to take a picture for us in the kitchen.
We also noticed that no other table in the same room were asked? (maybe we didnt notice?) but nobody else left the table during dinner so we felt a little special ha!
3. *after dinner* My boyfriend tells me a super cute story. So he originally made a reservation making a note saying that it was our anniversary, but changed it last minute to have our menu say «Merry Christmas» instead (online). Apparently, our waiter waited for me to leave the table for the restroom in the beginning of dinner to approach my boyfriend to say that he noticed our reservation was originally an anniversary and would like to know if he wanted them to bring out a special anniversary dessert still. Of course the boy says yes, and it was amazing!!! more dessert ontop of the dessert cart ftw! But this gesture blew my mind!
Looking forward to dining here again for a taste of their regular menu.

Celebrated our 10yr anniversary dinner here and it was a meal to remember! Service, food and ambience were impeccable.
So glad we had an early reservation because our 10-​course meal was 3 hrs.
The royal caviar was perfection. We had a quick tour of the kitchen. The icing on the cake was the waiter waiting for us with 2 hot chocolates and mini chocolates to-​go as we walked out the door :)

For us, Quince was a once-​in-​blue-​moon treat. To keep within a budget, we decided to dine in the salon a-​la-​carte. The service was impeccable. We really appreciated that despite our budget, we were treated to first class service. It really made our night.
Never have I had so much truffle on any and everything. To die for! We were brought a small plate of appetizers that were amazing. We split the fondue and chicken, which were rich and delicious.
We each had a dessert, a meringue filled with truffle ice cream. So unique and tasty. We also had a 1999 dessert wine from Madeira. We were the treated to our pick of over a dozen mini desserts. We were just going to pick a few when our server started loading up a plate for us. Yum! I would definitely go back for another once-​in-​a-​blue-​moon dinner.

Well… What can I say… It was the most disappointing dinning experience ever!!!
It was my boyfriend’s birthday and after long search of fine dinning restaurant we decided to try Quince, based on amazing Unilocal reviews.
On the night we dined there, the only options they had was Truffles Tasting Menu, 5 and 9 courses. We decided to stay with 5, which was $ 375 per person. Also, the menu they presented was in Italian (interesting, how many people in America speak Italian? I don’t know anybody). So, you don’t even know what you are going to get. One big surprise!!! But as l learned later, it was very disappointing and expensive surprise!
So, first course was 3 pieces if celery with few tiny pieces of beets, carrots and tasteless dressing. Truffles on the top saved it. But, com on!!! Celery??? I wish chef would come up with something more creative!!! Also, the strong taste of celery completely killed flavor of Truffles…
Second course as I remember (I’m not good at Italian, can’t read the menu) was Cod with crusted potatoes on the top… It was just ok, truffles saved it again.
Third course was ravioli, that was best dish of the night!!! More truffles!!!
4^th and the most disappointing!!! Chicken breast and the worst Foie Gras ever!!! Let’s start with Chicken… it was undercooked, with soft and mushy skin on the top. Next… Foie Gras looked and tasted like Chicken liver cutlet!!! Over cooked and very dry! The liver was grounded, dipped in the bread crumbs and then deep fried!!! Horrible!!! I would rather eat Chicken nuggets from McDonald’s!!! Even truffles couldn’t help this disaster!
Dessert was nice!!! But, I already was so mad that we were wasting our time and money on 3 pieces of celery and the chicken breast!!! I didn’t even care for truffles at this point.
At every high end restaurant chicken is the least expensive dish on the menu and when you go to such an upscale restaurant and pay more then a $ 1000 for party of two, you expect something more then piece of Chicken breast!
Also, after spending more the a $ 1000 for 5 courses for two of us they didn’t even offered us a dessert cart. I guess, maybe you have to spend a $ 1000 per person to be offered that??? Such a rip off!!!
I’m huge foodie and been to many great restaurants with famous and not very famous chefs and Quince was my biggest disappointment!!!
Two days later and I’m still very upset about! Usually, I wouldn’t even write a review on Unilocal,but I really wanted to share my bad experience!!!

Quince is definitely as good as it gets! I recently enjoyed this experience on a business trip. I was thinking this was just another business dinner (albeit a very expensive one). However, as we were getting our pre-​dinner drinks, my manager and VP both surprised me by congratulating me on my promotion. So this turned out to be a promotion dinner.
The experience from beginning to end was phenomenal. The moment the news was broken, it became clearer to me that the entire staff was also in on the surprise. The bartender quickly congratulated me with a special cocktail. They took us to our table where a bottle of champagne was waiting. The host took the bottle and congratulated me by my last name. As each wait staff came to the table the first time, they also greeted me with a congratulations!
The food — in a word — AMAZING. Each of us ordered the Quince menu. As each dish came out, it was better than the previous. Although every dish on the tasting menu was delicious, my favorite was the squab. The first bite was the moment many of us enjoy where it just smacks you in the face with flavor and the only response can be, «oh my god that is good!»
Midway through our meal, we were escorted to the kitchen to meet the kitchen staff. Again, there, the staff greeted me with a «Congratulations, Mr. Nguyen!» The sous chef gave us a quick «walk around» of the small kitchen. I noted to him that it was very quiet in here, not like what I would have expected. His response was that serenity and peace in the kitchen translates into each dish. By every account that is true. The intricacy of each dish is incredible and watching the staff plate the dishes was a very enjoyable experience. In the kitchen, the sous chef had prepared a mid-​dinner palate refresher. It was a «mojito» that was frozen into a small sphere. Shortly after you put in your mouth, it quickly melts releasing the mint flavors. Yeah — aweseome!
We returned to our table to finish out the tasting menu. Then the dessert trays came out… two servings of dessert! There were so many options, so we asked the waiter to pick for us. He gave each of us the samples of samples. Basically a bite of each. Truly overwhelming!
As we finished off the night our hostess greeted us at the door with hot chocolate to go. Undoubtedly the richest, silkiest hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted.
From the moment we stepped foot into the restaurant to the moment we left, we were treated incredibly well. The food was incredible of course — but the entire experience was absolutely fantastic.
Thank you to the Quince staff for making my evening extraordinary!

September 30^th, 2015. This is the day I will remember forever, mostly because it’s in my Google Calendar. But seriously it’s because this was my first Chase Sapphire private dining experience. Literally the best dining experience I’ve ever had to this day.
My boyfriend and I were greeted warmly from the second we stepped out of our Über and walked into the restaurant. Our friend had grabbed our name placards, so we indulged in tray-​passed champagne and hors d’oeuvres as we made our way to the table. There were beautifully designed menus awaiting our arrival, which listed everything that we were going to feast on that evening.
The entire menu blew my taste buds away (all four courses) both the food and the wine pairings for each dish. Most of all, the service was incredible. I have friends who have come here for anniversary or birthday dinners and enjoyed their experience just as much. Everything about Quince is absolutely flawless. You need to experience this!

We selected Quince to be the celebratory location for a birthday and anniversary. We were able to secure a reservation for a Tuesday evening the week before. Checking in with the hostess, we were immediately seated in one of their smaller rooms, which had a more intimate setting, albeit the lighting was dim.
You’ll notice the high level of service from the start. Our main server described the menu options, the Quince Menu and the Garden Menu. She also described and pour the wines for the pairing. Our other server ensured that our water glasses were filled, cleared plates, and refilled the bread. She was answered our questions about the history of Quince and about the current location. We had several people that brought our food and poured the wine as well. Some of the servers were more personable than others.
Our Quince menu items:
Welcoming bites /​Amuse-​bouche. Served on skewers in a custom-​made two compartment dish that consisted of salmon, avocado, and king crab.
Black River Russian Caviar — Burrata, celtuce, radish.
Tomato — Monterey sea urchin, shiso, coastal seaweed
Charentais Melon — Wild fennel, prosciutto, almond
Alaskan King Crab — Pumpkin, Asian pear, Masutake
Tagliolini «Carbomare» — Squid, Gaper clam, Agretti
Phil Paine’s Squab — Gooseberry, chestnut, chanterelle
Bershire Pork — Flageolet, eggplant, okra
Palette Cleanser of Blood Orange, Marshall Farm honey, ginger, Kataifi
Concord Grape — Sesame, cocoa nib, Dulcey chocolate
Mignardises — Chocolates, confections. What a spread. Of course, we got one of each.
There were two bread servings, a mini torpedo baguette and a honey roll.
Overall, a delicious artful presentation of food in an intimate setting. Service is top notch with some servers more personable than others. An elegant location worthy for special celebrations.

Quince is a first-​class experience worthy of its two Michelin stars. I visited a while back when the chef, Michael Tusk, offered a special tasting menu in conjunction with visiting chef Valeria Piccini from Ristorante da Caino, itself a two-​starred restaurant in Tuscany.
From start to finish, everything was exquisite, starting with the elegant dining room, which is cozy and intimate enough for either a romantic occasion or a serious business dinner. First came some delicious canapes, and next came a refreshing tuna tart from Valeria that featured tomato sorbet, pappa al pomodoro, nicoise olives, and capers. Even though all the ingredients and flavors going into it looked different on the surface, they all somehow managed to go down in a highly complementary way.
Next came two pasta dishes. First, from Michael, was trofie with Nantucket bay scallop, cauliflower, and golden osetra caviar. Heavenly without being too rich, with the scallop and caviar adding interesting texture and taste to the pasta itself. Then, from Valeria, was the tortelli ripieni di cinta senese with chestnut, hen broth, little vegetables, and aceto balsamico tradizionale. Although the tortelli looked like small little pasta flowers at first glance, it was satisfyingly rich and filling going down, with the delicious hen broth adding to the richness and density of it all.
A meatier entrée followed — Michael’s Paine Farm squab with farro, porcini mushroom, and treviso radicchio, all prepared to highlight the unique flavor of the squab, which wasn’t quite duck and wasn’t quite chicken, but was sure delicious nevertheless.
Then came the first dessert, Valeria’s orange and «Maurizio Menichetti» olive oil emulsion with goat’s milk gelato and pink peppercorn. Once again, you’d think that citrusy orange flavors would clash with goat’s milk gelato and peppercorn, but Valeria somehow managed to find balance and complementarity in the whole equation. This was followed by Quince’s dazzling dessert cart, filled with dozens of little treats to pick from. Yeah, I’ll sure have one of each!
Furthermore, the wine pairing menu was worth every penny, and matched each dish perfectly.
The service here was immaculate, anticipating your every need while not being intrusive in any way. For example, the server offered me the restaurant’s wifi code and a notepad with pen when she noticed that I was taking notes and photos with my phone. Each dish and glass of wine was also timed perfectly. Lastly, Michael and Valeria themselves took the time to walk around the restaurant, greet each patron, and answer questions.
All in all, one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had — one that’s worth marking with my 900^th Unilocal review.

this is a fancy pants place with service and décor to match. but the food, while extremely well crafted, premium and original, just didn’t have the yum factor to justify the price.
I loved the staff here. They were pampering but friendly and unpretentious. I felt like an honored guest but everyone was pretty down to earth. We had a nice chat about the furniture, which is hand selected and carefully curated. The glass that held my martini cost $ 250 according to the waiter. Don’t wanna break that!
Food was really original and looked really expensive. And indeed the taste was really delicate but for me it just didn’t have me wanting more. Made me think of some kind of fine modern art that is outside of my realm of understanding. Perhaps a *real* foodie would appreciate the award winning nature of these dishes, but for me it just wasn’t delicious enough to justify the French Laundry level prices.

OH. MY. GOD.
I will have to say, this was my favorite dinner I’ve had in a really long time. I can’t say that my experience will be able to be replicated since I came for a Chase Sapphire Private dinner. There was some passed appetizers (with some champagne) and a 4 course menu with wine pairings rather than the full tasting menu.
Wow, the service and food was impeccable. My dishes were beautifully plated and had so many interesting flavors, textures, and was a party in my mouth. Everything was amazing from the first taste of champagne to the take home hot chocolate. My favorite was the dessert though — Valroha chocolate creamux with some ice cream. Two pieces from 2 different tarts and I loved it.
Anyways, definitely recommend this restaurant — must come back here soon.
Pro tip: just book a reservation and come here!

***Quince’s Garden Menu showcases both exceptional made-​from-​scratch pastas and California’s excellent fruits and vegetables***
Michael Tusk’s Quince offers two menus in their dining room – the Quince Menu and the Garden Menu. Both are tasting menus. The Quince Menu offers a tasting menu reminiscent of excellent fine dining restaurants like The French Laundry where guests are presented a series of amuses and then several courses highlighting both high quality and a variety of proteins, fruits and vegetables with an indulgent mignardises service finale. Quince also offers a Garden Menu, which is not exactly a vegetarian menu but definitely a showcase of the season’s best fruits and vegetables. Given how Quince integrates Italian cuisine in a lot of its presentations, the Garden Menu is also the perfect way to experience delicious made from scratch pastas.
Like the Quince Menu, the Garden Menu starts with a canapes service and it is one of the best in the country. Wonderful flavor combinations and a variety of pleasing textures are presented in small bites like an ode to New York with a crispy thin feuille de brick filled with creamy smoked fish and covered in seeds to produce a flavor like an everything bagel. There was also a great chickpea panisse, black radish filled with crab and a Manresa-​like brown butter and sorrel financier that combined savory with sweet.
The amuse bouche was a great reflection of spring with a nasturtium panna cotta paired with ramps and a sliver of sweet uni. My first course was creamy cauliflower bianco, both raw cauliflower and cauliflower crisps, a sweet note from juicy sultanas, and a salty flavor provided by smooth, thinly shaved and even creamy Pecorino Romano.
The next course was the only miss of the night – a salad of thinly shaved and lightly cooked vegetables like asparagus and zucchini sitting on a base of tonnato with shaved cured egg. While this was a fun presentation, there was too much of the creamy and tangy tonnato. I think it is best to consider the tonnato like butter for bread where you only use as much as you would like.
This was followed by amazing white asparagus with white asparagus purée, spring onion and a sauce of morel vin jaune poured tableside. White asparagus is milder than green asparagus as well as much more rare. It was a great contrast to the slight sharpness provided by the spring onion as well as the savory morel cream sauce, which provided a sherry-​like flavor as well as perfectly cooked, nutty and meaty morels.
A series of pastas followed and they were all excellent. There was rotolo pasta, which featured made from scratch pasta wrapped around an exceptional filling of finely minced and earthy porcini mushrooms. Artichoke was also integrated into this dish, which was very well balanced in combining creamy and light elements with a rich and distinct mushroom flavor.
Next was busiate pasta, which was mixed with a variety of spring ingredients. There was great freshness provided from peas and Bergamot mint, which also introduced a fragrant and a surprising peppery flavor that added distinct natural seasoning to the dish. The best pistachios out there (Sicilian pistachios) were lightly toasted to bring out their sweet and nutty flavor.
The entrée was a robust and meaty salt baked beet, which was served with sweet and crunchy hazelnuts and exceptional swiss chard that was nicely cooked down to deliver an experience like creamed swiss chard without the heaviness. I also added a course of tender abalone with perfectly prepared fiddlehead ferns (charred enough to reduce their strong bitterness), fresh fava beans and exceptional morels.
Dessert started with a palate cleanser of blueberries, blueberry sorbet, crunchy almonds, and buttermilk foam. The main dessert integrated sweet strawberries with a cheesecake like cream of sheep’s milk yogurt and a refreshing and tart but still sweet rhubarb sorbet. The mignardises featured all kinds of great bites like delicious nougat, a sugar dusted pastry filled with coffee cream and a variety of tarts.
Service was very good – polished and professional (courses were also served at an even pace).
Prices are high and since the Quince menu utilizes a lot of premium proteins, it feels like a better value than the Garden menu though you will see integration of expensive truffles in the Garden menu during certain times of the year.
The Garden Menu is an excellent representation of the exceptional cuisine Quince is capable of. I also think their pastas shine more in the Garden Menu than the Quince Menu. For first time guests, the Quince Menu is probably the way to go though you may want to see if the kitchen will swap out a Quince Menu course with one of those tantalizing Garden Menu courses.
Metered street parking is available.