While it appears that all my music friends know of The Vestry and the adjoining Chapel in San Francisco’s Mission District, I had never been. The Vestry is on the left and is a casual eatery that serves simple but fun dishes and on the right is The Chapel which has interesting performers and live bands throughout the week.

Mains are simple and there’s not an extensive choice, but with good reason – they aim to be a pre-show option. Because of that, people tend to order from the salads, veggies and small plate menu the most. They offered four main course choices the night we were there: a Flat Iron Steak with blistered cherry tomatoes, padron peppers and roasted oyster mushrooms, Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes, brentwood corn and snap pea succotash and pan gravy, a Grilled Swordfish (pictured below) with toasted almond haricot verts, piquillo pepper piperade and charred corn beurre blanc, which I had and the Moules Frites, aka mussels with pommes frites and aioli, which Anthony ordered.

The mussels below:

Lighter options include an Arugula-Grape salad with roasted grapes, pickled red onions, lemon-dijon dressing and toasted almonds, a wedge salad with little gem wedges with ranch dressing, crisp bacon, radish, tomato and chives, Avocado toast with house made pumpkin seed bread, pumpkin seed butter and pink peppercorns and a Hamachi Crudo with chioggia beet chips, popped amaranth, mango, cilantro, fresno chiles and passion fruit vinaigrette.

The restaurant’s seasonal menu is influenced by cuisine from regions of France, Italy  and the Mediterranean.  The bar incorporates a range of spirits, house-made syrups and fresh ingredients to create exceptional handcrafted cocktails, while the carefully selected food-friendly wine list includes California, European and new world wines.

The Vestry has private dining areas for larger parties and a fun outdoor patio with sun in the daytime and warm heaters at night.  I love the fact that there’s a female chef too — bravo to Executive Chef Elaine Osuna!

A little more heavier but glorious is their Poutine with fries, short rib gravy and beecher’s cheese curds or their Gnocchi Alla Romana with grilled broccoli romanesco and jimmy nardello peppers.

Also yummy on the list is Garlic-parsley spaghetti made from heirloom summer squash, heirloom eggplant caponata and bellwether farms ricotta, Crispy Greek lamb meatballs with lemon greens and tzatziki (pictured below), Prosciutto Di Parma and Balakian Farms Nectarine Pizzetta with beilwether farms crescenza, mozzarella and chives, cheeseburger slides or french fries served with aioli.

We paired our dishes with all whites despite the fact that we could have varied it a little given our meatball starter. Anthony went for the 2013 Gardener Dry Riesling and I opted for the 2010 Feuillat-Juillot Chardonnay (oh so Burgundian) and 2013 Les Caves Roties de Pente “Rhone-Style,” which had a bit more balance and was a tad smoother than either the Chard or the Riesling.

They are known for great cocktails as well, whether it’s a seasonal margarita, a Gin-Gin mule, a delicious sour, a Knickerbocker with golden rum, raspberry, curacao and lime, an East India Cocktail, which they serve with cognac, raspberry, curacao, maraschino and angostura bitters (my grandmother would have loved this one) or a la Louisiane with rye, sweet vermouth, benedictine, Peychuad’s and absinthe. Yum!!

The Chapel occupies an historic 1914 building that was originally built as a mortuary and has now been stunningly renovated by veteran Bay Area commercial real estate developer and restaurateur Jack Knowles.  The beautiful chapel with its 40-foot high arched ceiling has been converted to a music room with mezzanine, while the rest of the building has been remodeled to hold a restaurant, neighborhood bar, and an outdoor dining patio.

Below is the performance we saw at The Chapel — the ambiance was lively and plenty of people were clapping their hands, tapping their feet and dancing. Two thumbs up!

 DETAILS:

Renee Blodgett

Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.

She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.

Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.

Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.