Restaurant Review: Campton Place
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Daniel Humm took over the kitchen at Campton Place in early 2003, and four months later – at the ripe old age of 26 – he drew a 3.5-star rating from Michael Bauer at The Chronicle. Bauer described Humm as "a miracle worker" and a "shoo-in" for an eventual 4-star rating, and he positively gushed about Humm's talent and his menu. In the ensuing years, The Chronicle named Humm as a 2004 Rising Star Chef, The James Beard Foundation nominated him for Rising Star Chef of the Year in both 2004 and 2005, and Food & Wine Magazine named him one of its 10 Best New Chefs for 2005. And now, of course, Humm has joined the select group of Bay Area chefs who head up 4-star kitchens – a group that includes Thomas Keller, Ron Siegel, David Kinch, Hubert Keller, Roland Passot, and Alice Waters.
I had been to Campton Place for dinner once in the pre-Humm era, and that experience – coupled with other lackluster reports from around that same time period – had left me rather ambivalent about returning. But the blaze of glowing reviews that Humm and Campton Place have earned could not be ignored, and so it was that I recently joined some friends for dinner at the restaurant.
Menu
I began the evening with a glass of one of my favorite champagnes, the Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé. This was one of four selections available that night on the restaurant's champagne cart, a small mobile table on which a large
Campton Place: At A Glance | |
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Chef | Daniel Humm |
Pastry Chef | Garrett Melkonian |
Address | 340 Stockton St. San Francisco, CA 94108 |
Phone | 415.955.5555 |
Parking | Garage |
Restaurant Website |
metallic champagne bucket has been placed. In front of the bucket is a small billfold that contains a description – and the per glass price – of each of the selections, placed vertically so that diners can easily read the information. Although the wooden champagne cart at The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton is probably a bit more elegant than the one at Campton Place, any restaurant that has a champagne cart gets extra points in my book! I also appreciated the prominently displayed written description of the champagnes and their prices, which is something that most other restaurants do not offer.
The menu is divided into five sections, namely Appetizers, Soups, Aquatic Flavors, Fish and Crustaceans, and Meat and Poultry. Diners can design their own 3- or 4-course menus, or they can opt for a 7-course Chef's Tasting Menu or a 12-course Chef's Tasting Menu. The tasting menus, if desired, must be ordered by the entire table. After giving it some thought, my three dining companions and I settled on the 7-course Chef's Tasting Menu. As described below, however, the actual number of dishes delivered to our table was far greater.
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For the first full course, my half of the table received the Cauliflower Cream with Royal Sterling Osetra Caviar and Sea Urchin Foam (T:6.5 / P:8.5). This dish was visually quite appealing, with a nice presentation of the cauliflower cream and caviar set down before us and then topped tableside with a perfect dome of frothy sea urchin foam. In terms of taste, however, the dish did not fare quite as well. The sea urchin foam was fine, but it had a mild flavor that did not seem to engage much with anything else on the plate. Meanwhile, the cauliflower flavor in the cream was seemingly non-existent; it was either washed away by something else on the plate, or it was not sufficiently there in the first place. Only the caviar really shined, enough so that the overall dish was still quite good. The other half of the table received the Sea Urchin Sabayon with Osetra Caviar, Sea Urchin and Clam Gratinee (T:8.0 / P:8.5). A smooth, creamy custard with just a faint taste of sea urchin was punctuated with the same outstanding caviar as on my dish, while the clam gratinee served on the side was given a delicious twist by the unexpected presence of lavendar.
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The third course consisted of two separate variations on the combination of watermelon and tomato. I received Watermelon and Heirloom Tomato in an Almond Vinaigrette (T:8.0 / P:9.5), a dish comprised of several small "cylinders" of tomato or watermelon, each of different height and each stood on its end. The presentation here was beautiful, and the taste was fresh, light, very flavorful and summery. The herbs placed on top of the dish added a nice accent. The other half of the table received a Watermelon and Tomato Tartare (T:5.5 / P:7.0). This dish, though certainly interesting, had a very unusual flavor – probably due to the balsamic vinegar and pistachio that were used to flavor it. While the kitchen deserves high marks here for pushing some boundaries, this clearly was among the weaker selections of the evening.
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I prepared myself for the likelihood that the next course would not live up to the last, but it turned out that I was wrong. The Glazed Barberie Duck with Lavendar Honey and Spices (T:10 / P:10) was just as spectacular, with moist tender meat and crispy skin in a rich brown sauce that helped to amplify and deepen the flavors. It was the lavendar honey, however, that was arguably the key ingredient here, contributing a wonderful floral undertone that give the dish that extra special something. The visual appeal of the dish was also impressive, with the whole duck brought before us and then carved and plated tableside. Another perfect 10 for both taste and presentation.
The cheese course came next, and the entire table was served a Fresh Andante Dairy Goat Cheese (T:7.0 / P:8.0). A small piece of soft tangy cheese was sprinkled with dry herbs and fleur de sel, and then drizzled with olive oil. The result was very good, if somewhat unremarkable, but the odd thing was that the only bread made available was olive bread – despite the fact that other breads had been on the table throughout the entire meal. A perfectly fine dish overall, but I have certainly had better.
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The meal closed with a bowl of soft sugary beignets, and another long and narrow plate – this time carrying the mignardise. Here again, all of the confections on the plate were very good, but nothing that one cannot find at other restaurants of this caliber.
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Service and Decor
The one thing that really caught me by surprise at Campton Place was the service. It was, in a word, outstanding. So outstanding, in fact, that I can confidently say that it was just as good as any that I have encountered in the Bay Area during the past several years.
Our server was the consummate professional – knowledgeable about the menu, attentive to everything happening at the table, and responsive to our requests. He kept a close eye on wine levels throughout the evening, refilling our glasses frequently enough to keep them from being empty, but not so often as to become an intrusion. After presenting the duck to us and taking it over to the tableside carving board, he noticed me trying to take a picture of it from a bit of a distance. He promptly lifted the pan and brought the duck back over to me, simply so I would be able to take a close-up shot. And so it went the entire evening, his interactions with us becoming more involved when we were amenable and less so when we were engrossed in our own conversation. It takes a certain talent to be able to "read" the mood of a table, and our server pulled it off masterfully.
The rest of the waitstaff were equally impressive. They replaced silverware seamlessly and unobtrusively, presented dishes to everybody at the table at the same time, and maintained consistency both in the direction from which plates were served and cleared and in the side from which wine and water glasses were refilled. My only minor criticism – and it's a personal pet peeve – is that the servers regularly brought courses to the table even when one of the diners had momentarily stepped away. I realize that it's a major inconvenience for both the kitchen and the servers to have to readjust the timing of everything the moment a diner leaves the table, and I know that it's much easier said than done. But a restaurant of this caliber ought to make the effort, and top-tier service – in my view, at least – demands it. Regrettably, I have seen only one restaurant in the Bay Area that consistently abides by this principle, and that is The French Laundry.
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There were other nice touches as well. For example, it's my usual practice at the end of a meal such as this to inquire whether I might be able to get a copy of the menu to take with me. Here, before I even asked, our waiter brought over a small piece of folded cardstock, inside of which was printed the entire tasting menu that we had just enjoyed. Moreover, the menu had been signed and dated by Chef Humm. As another example, Chef Humm himself walked through the dining room several times throughout the night, stopping at every table at least once to say hello. It's thoughtful gestures such as these that define a great restaurant.
There is one final point about the service that I feel compelled to note, and that has to do with the time it took for our meal. As we sat at the restaurant enjoying our dinner, the pacing of the meal seemed perfect; not too fast, not too slow, and a relatively consistent interval between the delivery of courses to the table. And it certainly did not feel like the meal was dragging on in any way. Yet, I was surprised when I looked at my watch on the way out and realized that we had been there for four full hours. Now, it's true that our 7-course meal
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The décor and atmosphere at Campton Place are elegant refined, modern and understated. Tones of beige and brown are periodically interrupted by peach and red accents, while white tablecloths and modern furniture give the room a sleek look. A large hand-blown glass light fixture sits suspended from the ceiling in the middle of the room, its reddish tones and free flowing shape echoed in the small glass pieces that surround the candle on each table. The names on the tableware are all first-rate – Bernardaud, Christofle, Spieglau – and the fabrics in the room are warm and inviting. Overall, the feel is calm and tranquil – a marked departure from the hustle and bustle of Union Square that lies just outside the front door of the hotel in which the restaurant sits.
Conclusion
There can be little question that Campton Place is one of the Bay Area's best restaurants, and the plaudits that Humm has earned for the establishment are clearly well-deserved. Humm's menu is well-grounded in the fundamentals to be sure, but it is equally marked by the pairing of disparate ingredients, the incorporation of modern techniques, and the exercise of great creativity. Indeed, there are only a few restaurants in the Bay Area that produce dishes so distinctive that one could immediately identify their source simply through sight and taste; Campton Place is one of them. It's true that some of the innovative combinations that Humm offers work better than others. Yet, I give him a lot of credit for not simply emulating the successful approaches of other chefs, and for instead seeking to blaze a path that is uniquely his own. And given that Humm is still only 28 years old, we will hopefully have the privilege of witnessing his ongoing evolution for many years to come.
Campton Place | |||
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Food Taste | 8.5 | 8.5 Overall | |
Food Presentation | 9.5 | ||
Service | 9.5 | ||
Atmosphere | 8.5 | ||
Price | $$$$$ | ||
Number of Visits: 2 |