San Francisco's Millennium restaurant - gourmet vegan at it's finest

[Guest guest]

I know what you're thinking: that 'gourmet vegan' is a contradiction of terms,

an oxymoronic phrase that defies proper logic, a notion so incomprehensible that

if a plate of it were placed before you, you'd run screaming to the nearest

Ruth's Chris.

 

Au contraire, my little carnivore. Let me divulge a little-known secret that we

meat eaters may not be privy to: Vegan foodies do exist, and they like to

indulge in an elaborate, gourmet meal, just like the rest of us carnivorous

foodies.

 

My sister and brother in law made the leap to veganism about 10 years ago, going

that extra mile, beyond their vegetarian lifestyle of eating 'nothing with a

face', to eliminating all dairy products from their diet, as well. And no, in

answer to the question that you are about to pose, their diet does not consist

solely of nuts, berries, and tree bark.

 

I'll admit, ten years ago, I approached their dinner table with a modicum of

trepidation. I thought, vegetarian was one thing; after all, I'm still allowed

my heavy cream, my Parmigianno Reggiano, my buttah; vegan might quite well be

another. I mean, it looked good, it smelled good, but would it taste good?

Well, never fear. My sissy has always been an adventurous soul in the kitchen,

and believe me, you'd be hard pressed to miss your animal products in any of the

dishes she prepares. Give her almost any recipe from Bon Appetit magazine, and

she can convert it with delicious results to a vegan friendly repast.

 

But this article is not about my sister's prowess a la cucina.

 

After our fantastic adventure at the Family Winemakers tasting on Sunday, we had

reservations at the elegant Millennium, a vegan restaurant extrordinnaire,

located at 580 Geary Street.

 

As you enter the restaurant, it neither looks nor smells any differently than a

non-vegan establishment. Elegant swaths of fabric, white linen-draped tables,

and flickering candles greeted us as we entered. Our server took our drink

orders, and returned with some fresh bread, and a small crock of lentil spread

to whet our appetites. Yes, lentils, lightly spiced, and yes, delicious.

 

The three of us decided to order a small plate (huckleberry potato fries), one

salad (grilled panzanella) the cornmeal crusted oyster mushrooms, and a special

appetizer of grilled polenta with an heirloom tomato coulis, to split among us.

The server must have thought we were a bit overzealous in our ordering because

she actually talked us out of the fries, thinking we had ordered too much.

 

The polenta was marked lightly by the grill on the outside, but the interior

remained creamy and delicate, the slightly smoky crust offset nicely by the

delicate coulis. The mushrooms were encased in a sturdy batter and quick fried,

the insides remaining juicy and tender; they came with a lovely sweet/spicy

apple pepper jam for dipping, as well as a crisp and tangy shaved onion and

radish salad on the side. The grilled panzanella salad had a nice balance of

sweet (from the tomatoes), salty (capers), bitter from the greens and an earthy

tang from the green olive oil/balsamic vinaigrette. We were off to a great

start.

 

For our entrees, I ordered the Seared Potato Scallion Cake in a yellow

Indonesian curry, with assorted vegetables, crisp tempeh, tart shaved green

papaya, and a toasted peanut-chile sambal. The different textures and flavors

were a gustatory symphony---spicy/sweet/hot/crispy/silken, all in one dish.

Fantastic.

 

Now a funny thing happened here. As I started to tuck into my dinner, the

server returned with a second plate, telling me plate #1 was a different entree;

she moved it to the center of the table for all of us to sample/share, quickly

returned with a plate of petit haricot verts to go with, and assured us there

would be no extra charge for this delightful bonus.

 

Our bonus entree was the Shelling Bean & Exotic Mushroom Pipian, with zucchini,

swiss chard, plantain and poblano, with a carrot and heart of palm ceviche, over

a red quinoa cake, avocado and an aji-chile-coconut cream. It was fantastic, an

exotic melange of South American flavors, but I didn't want my Indonesian curry

to get cold, so I abandoned the Pipian, in favor of my plate that was now in

it's rightful place, before me.

 

My sister ordered the French Fingerling Roulade, a potato roulade encased in a

black pepper pastry crust, with a cremini mushroom duxelle, a golden tomato

coulis, with seared romano beans and truffled black pepper thyme oil. It was

delicious, but not my favorite at the table. That honor goes to my bro-in-law's

dinner, the Lobster Mushroom Risotto.

 

The risotto was cooked perfectly, creamy and al dente, the lobster mushrooms

adding an earthy essence, and atop it was a beggar's purse filled with a sweet

and savory corn pudding that the mere thought of is causing my mouth water as I

write. It was delicate, yet held the slightest crunch of fresh sweet corn that

tasted as if it were just taken from the cob; sublime.

 

By now, I was stuffed, and the thought of dessert, no matter how tempting, was

about to put me over the edge. My dining companions offered to share theirs,

but I just couldn't possibly put another bite in my mouth. Okay, maybe just one

more---oooh, I'll definitely take that lovely fig off your hands......

 

So when an opportunity presents itself to take your palate to the uncharted

territories of elegant, upscale, gourmet vegan cuisine, don't dally, for

heaven's sake; after all, he who hesitates, misses the last

oyster-------mushroom, that is.

 

For menus, hours, and other pertinent information,

http://www.millenniumrestaurant.com/