Yesterday, Skenes told us he'd be ready to fire it up for tonight's dinner. But this morning, Saison's hearth looked like a project only halfway completed, as masonry workers prepared to install its clay chimney. Starting this week, Saison is open five nights a week, with seating options Skenes described as three-tiered: the indoor dining room (prix fixe), the superluxe four-seat kitchen counter, and outdoors ― hearthside, on the terrace ― with its 20 seats and à la carte menu.
How does Skenes feel about the changes? "Fuckin' great. A lot of the cooking is going to be completely different," he said, describing a vision of cooking with embers that promises to be rather unlike Russell Moore's rustic fire-pit cooking at Camino in Oakland.
"We use the heat form the embers to gently and non-aggressively cook meats, fish, vegetables, roasting and gently cooking, the same way that we use the Molteni," the chef explained. The fuels: white oak, almond wood, and cooking vessels that include cazuelas and cast-iron cocottes. Skenes described a broth cooked in the embers, seaweed and dried bonito, used as a medium for braising little vegetables (again, in the embers): Japanese mountain potato, turnips, giant radish. The braising liquid becomes a gélée, turned all aromatic with olive oil steeped with young Douglas fir tips. Whew.
Meanwhile, back on Stable Café's terrace, a masonry worker with an Irish brogue was inspecting the pile of black ash on the half-finished hearth. "Looks like somebody used this last night," he scowled. "They shouldn'ta."
Saison's expanded, Tues.-Sat. service starts tonight.
Follow us on Twitter: @SFoodie. Contact me at John.Birdsall@SFWeekly.com
