A $48.00 Roast Chicken? Yes, and it's worth it.

Just about a year ago, I traveled to San Francisco on business. I was only going to be in town for one night, so I wanted to take my business colleagues out for a really good meal. I consulted with my personal restaurant concierge (Cynthia will just love me referring to her that way) and, after some research, she suggested Zuni Cafe. Oh, she also told me what I had to order. It seems that the restaurant is famous in certain circles for its brick oven whole roast chicken for two.

There were three of us at dinner that evening, so my job was to convince one of the other two that we had traveled all the way across the country to eat chicken. It wasn't easy. As you probably know, San Francisco has a great food culture and Zuni is no different. There are a lot of more interesting things on the menu than chicken, but I twisted Patrick's arm a little and told him to trust me. It also didn't hurt that the two ladies at the table right next to us were being served their chicken just as we were asked for our order. The menu states very clearly that the expected time to prepare this dish is "approximately one hour" since each chicken is roasted to order. So, we settled in, enjoyed our appetizers and had a couple of Anchor Steams. About 65 minutes later this arrived at the table.

The perfectly roasted whole chicken was served with a warn bread salad with scallions, mustard greens, dried currants and pine nuts. There wasn't any other accompaniment. None was needed. Juicy, flavorful and filling.
If you're in San Francisco, looking for a great, uncomplicated meal, find a friend and give it a try.