Serious Fun
'Wine Spectator' Magazine June 2004
The Rosenthal's cavernous Town Hall, on a quiet stretch of Howard Street, in the South of Market area, throws a nonstop party with great food. The restaurant occupies a two-story, free standing brick building. An array of spectacular chandeliers rescued from a 1930s theater in New York's Spanish Harlem hangs from the ceiling, and the path to the dining room winds past a community table for drop-in customers, the open kitchen and a long, well-stocked bar. There's a lively vibe from the (mostly) young crowd. Many of them are digging into warm and crumbly jalapeno corn bread, a must order.
Mitchell, who once worked in New Orleans, and his brother stocked their winter menu with smoked chicken gumbo and barbecued shrimp. Creamy dayboat scallops sit atop andouille sausage jambalaya. They garnish an excellent tuna tartare with fried green tomato slices, an inspired idea. Slow-roasted duck is so tender it yields to the gentle nudge of a fork. This is first-rate cooking.
General manager and co-owner Doug Washington, formerly the manager at Postrio and Jardiniere, had the service humming smoothly after only a couple of months. The 120-label-strong wine list, printed on th back of the menu, delivers satisfying choices at less than $50, such as Panther Creek Pinot Noir Winemaker's Cuvee 2001 from Oregon ($40) and Tablas Creek Cotes de Tablas 2001, a Rhone-style red from Paso Robles ($45).
San Francisco has always had casual neighborhood restaurants with better food and sharper wine selections than their open-collar looks would suggest. During the boom years of the late 1990s, the buzz was about the newest den of luxury, but now the sheer approachability of Town Hall...is back in style.
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