I was disappointed for a Michelin 3 star restaurant. The food was overly smoked. For example the abalone flavor was not even perceptible due to the over smoking of the dish. This happened to several dishes. The quality of the food had no chance to shine. Recently I have dined at several Michelin 1 to 3 star places and this does not deserve the 3. Not worth the cost.
Atelier Crenn After trying at least 3 different times, including a wait list, wife and I obtained a reservation for a midweek evening. The restaurant accepts only pre-paid ($410 per person with add-ons for chef’s tasting menu, no other choice. Service included.) reservations with wine, supplements, etc. paid at end of meal. From the outset, the staff (perhaps as many as patrons) were welcoming, warm, and always attentive. The layout is supposed to resemble at atelier with a central open space, some paintings, and a number of nooks, with framed poems on walls. There was also a sheet of poem on each table, a pretty long poem that took a while to read if you were so inclined. The atmosphere was somewhat dignified and conducive until more patrons arrived and all talked and laughed loudly – then it became quite loud which was annoying for us sedate diners. The 14+ course dinner (without wine pairing, but with a glass of champagne each, a half bottle of white wine, and a supplemental caviar course) was overall delicious including some unexpected delights, like the first course – an icy cold ball that burst in the mouth. For a Pescatarian restaurant, however, we were much of the time unable to taste the pesces in the food. Each dish was visually attractive, artfully prepared, intricately constructed (or deconstructed), many to be eaten in one bite. The teeny bites, however, were largely, very tasty. There were several dishes, e.g. the deconstructed onion soup, black cod, that were identifiable, not teeny, and excellent. The “moving feast” involved our moving, after the main course, to the Bar Crenn next door for the dessert and after dinner drinks following a brief tour through the kitchens. Bar Crenn had the look of a 1920’s comfortable bar. Overall, this atelier presents visually beautiful petite dishes, with very good to excellent taste and outstanding attentive service. The final bill came to $1,200 of which $820 was prepaid at reservation. Dining in this exclusive 3 starred Michelin restaurant, with its memorable service, savoring the artful yet uneven palate pleasers, was an experience!
Not that Atelier Crenn needs any more reviews, but this is a very unique dining experience. We booked months in advance, and we weren't disappointed. The entire evening was a story told in 18 chapters of awe-inspiring dishes. We celebrated out daughter's 21st birthday there, and they made it fun. It is an incredibly sensory experience while you are waited on lavishly by the entire team. Some of the reviews here say it's expensive. Yes, it is. It's a Michelin 3-star restaurant. Don't go if it doesn't fit your budget. But you will never have a dining experience like this. Watch the Netflix Chef's Table episode on Dominique Crenn before you go. If you can get in here, you won't be disappointed.
I was visiting friends for a week of gastronomy delights and we were told to try this restaurant, but we were so disappointed! Although the food was presented beautifully, there was nothing extraordinary or memorable about and not one of us enjoyed any dish on the tasting menu. We also upgraded and added truffles to some of our dishes and even that didn't uplift the flavour. In addition, we added the wine pairing for an extra $250 per person and only 1 of the wines they paired, were enjoyable for us. What was worse was my friend found a hair on her plate with the second dish and while they did apologise, no compensation of a glass of wine was offered. They didn't even appear embarrassed! If you are paying $395 per person and in a 3 Michelin star restaurant, you do not expect to find a hair in your food! Yes, mistakes happen but the restaurant did not even care or make up for it with a proper apology or a gesture of compensation, by a drink or something! Although the staff were friendly, service was also slow. The atmosphere was also lacking and very pretentious. I can no stand places that give the feeling that their establishment is better than their patrons and their reaction to the hair on the plate compounded it! We were so disappointed. Two days later, we found ourselves in Napa and at the French Laundry, which was absolutely amazing and restored my faith in what a real, 3 Michelin star restaurant is all about! Skip it and save your money.
Had dinner here and was disappointed. It felt like it was over priced by about 2x @ $395/person base price for the quality of food and experience. Hair in the food. They weren't too apologetic about it. Staff forgot our wine order placed at the beginning of the meal. We had to request multiple times for the wifi password and it took a long time to get it still. Similarly, the staff took > 20min to bring our bill when we let them know we needed to leave 3.5hrs into the meal to go take care of our kid. The bill was wrong initially with extra wine added. The food was good overall but had weak flavors in several of the dishes and extra time between the courses made us hungry. The ambience was ok but it was hard to find the front of the restaurants, it was loud and hard to hear the staff, and it was difficult to find parking. This would be a 4 or 5 star review at $200 per person and 1 Michelin star but for the price and 3 star reputation it fell far short.
I’ve dined all over the world and at dozens of Michelin-starred restaurants and Atelier Crenn is easily one of my top 5 dining-foodie experiences ever! The chefs’ and staff’s passion for excellence is abundantly obvious from the amuse bouche through the last bite of chocolate. I was a bit leery of on a non-meat dinner service but was blown away by the creative, innovative, fresh and extremely tasty fish and vegetable dishes. I highly recommend you request the wine pairing with the dinner since the synergy between them elevated both. The dishes were artfully presented by a courteous and professional staff who took pride in their work and the food prepared for us. It was a pleasure to meet the executive chef, sous chefs, and pastry chef when we transitioned from the dinner service at Atelier Crenn to the dessert service at Bar Crenn. It is easy to see why Dominique Crenn’s restaurant in the Cow Hollow district of San Francisco is a 3* Michelin Restaurant and consistently rated in the top 50 restaurants of the world…PERFECTION!!!! If you’re a foodie this restaurant should be at the top of your must do bucket list!
Such an amazing poetic journey through food! Was so star struck when Dominique Crenn visited our table ✨
My experience here was extraordinary. Both Chef Dominique Crenn and Pastry Chef Juan Contreras have created a sensory dining experience — in my humble opinion — without peer. I feel as though I was transported to a dining fantasy world where beauty reigned and pleasant surprises came at almost every turn. Probably the biggest surprise was realizing that I didn’t miss meat at all. The Onion Soup broth will forever keep me wondering — how on earth did they make something so incredibly delicious?I strongly recommend the “Moveable Feast” option. Being transported next door to the beautiful Bar Crenn to finish off the evening with Chef Juan’s fantastic dessert creations was literally the “icing on the cake”.
Hands down one of the best dining experiences that I have ever had. Many thanx to Chef Crenn for stopping by our table and making us feel so welcome and also to Alex and Ernesto for taking such good care of us. The food was sublime and I'm still thinking about which course was my favorite. After 14 courses, my mind was blown and it will be hard to stop talking about this dinner. So worth the investment.
My wife treated me for my birthday dinner. First time back since the pandemic. Not believing it was possible but the experience was at a whole new level. Every course, every wine pairing to match the food was absolutely amazing. The service too, each of those hard earned stars are well deserved. So lucky to live her in SF. Made for a wonderful evening with my bride of may years:)