Zare Flytrap in San Francisco’s SOMA district immediately impresses as you walk into the restaurant.
The food has a Persian influence, brought by chef and owner Hoss Zare. The building itself is historical and housed a restaurant under different management called Flytrap without “Zare” as part of its name. Since 2008, the new chef brings in incredients from local Bay Area farms and markets.
Zare was born in Tabriz Iran and immigrated to San Francisco in the mid-eighties. Prior to opening the “new Flytrap,” he has experience at South Park’s Ristorante Ecco and Aromi on Polk Street – both in San Francisco.
They had two Lebanese reds on the menu when I was there earlier this week. Take a look at what else they were pouring from a tweet I sent out in real-time on-site.
Below was my favorite, the pistachio meatball starter served with harissa-honey pomegranate glaze.
Also wonderful was the wild mushroom cake with asparagus and lemon confit.
One of the main courses we sampled was the flavorful grilled moroccan-style wild salmon served with toasted fregola, blue lake green beans and charmoula.
A little on the rich side but also incredibly tender was their lamb shank abgusht which they dished up with black-eyed beans and fingerling potatoes torshi.
While certainly tasty but not as uniquely presesented was the butter lettuce salad with parma prosciutto and a tarragon-mustard vinaigrette.
What I didn’t try but would like to on a future trip was the braised Italian eggplant with sun-dried yogurt, walnuts and crispy onions. The other thing that will bring me back is the warm ambience and historical feel in the restaurant itself as well as the vibrant bar – I will likely have dinner at the bar next time around. I do wish however that they had more diverse wine choices by the glass.
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.
