In San Francisco, the microclimate does not make the neighborhood, and one is pressed to find a sense of community in any particular establishment. If they have a few bucks to rub together, they might hit a small, friendly, top-flight neighborhood bistro, where the symbiotic relationship between management and clientele is as apparent as it gets. Though the atmosphere seems a little stuffy at first, what truly exists within Fringale is in fact a light camaraderie centered at the small, curved hearth of the amply-stocked bar, where Chef Hirigoyen sets his perch to orchestrate the workings of the kitchen, bar, and dining room. After a sampling of the full bar, a half-bottle of Dry Creek Fum Blanc is great with the first course.
Most entree prices hover at the fifteen dollar mark.
One of the best of these is the pork tenderloin confit with shredded cabbage, deeply browned apples, and caramelized onions. This dish is the edible version. Charred-rare steak with frites delicieux, french string beans for eating with your tiny french fingers, red wine butter to spread meltingly atop a vast plain of beef. Storybook Zinfandel is a fantastic match for this simple masterpiece. If an after-dinner scotch is your thing, try the frozen coffee sabayon, very bitter, an exact match with a dram of Talisker.