Flatiron

San Francisco, August 2, 2012—

DOWN TO WHAT some of us still call The City today, there to hear a rare Mozart opera and, first, have dinner and, last, a drink with friends and relations.

How to choose a restaurant? We use a number of sources: Zagat; the San Francisco Chronicle's annual Hundred Best; KQED's television show "Check, Please! Bay Area"; the occasional report from a friend or associate. I sometimes run these against Yelp or Urbanspoon to get a fuller picture of what the hoi polloi might think, but truth is I don't think much of those sites; there's just too much noise from sources whose "values" I don't really trust.

Tonight we go to Zagat, and pick the top-rated (for cuisine: service at setting aren't that important to us) place near the opera venue. Well, it wasn't disgusting, as my Belgian friend is wont to say. I started with an arugula salad tricked out with slices of raw Fuji apples and not-quite-ripe Mission figs, slices of fennel, and goat cheese, with a nice lemon vinaigrette; then went on to this crowded plate of grilled flatiron steak with a Bearnaise sauce (called Bordelaise on the menu), haricots verts, and potatoes.

Well, in fact, I started with what the menu suggested might be a Martini, but it was a very odd one; only when I asked the waiter about it did I realize the menu had stipulated "Soju cocktails". Soju is apparently a thin distillate from Korea: it is not vodka, and certainly not gin, and does not make a Martini. Further, the service came with extended commentary: "We are a very good restaurant; we recommend you take two courses; you might want to order one course from the first group, the other from the second"; yada yada yada.

Still, the food was not disgusting, and the prix-fixe menu was $29, and the "Martini" and the wine a flat $5 per, at least until seven o'clock, which was all that mattered to us. The opera was splendid, and drinks afterward — I had a Hanky-Panky — were quite fine, in a very nice neighborhood locale that we'll return to.

Pinot noir, Bonneau (Carneros, California), 2008: light but good varietal, pleasant

• Isa, 3324 Steiner St, San Francisco; (415) 567-9588
• The Brazen Head, 3166 Buchanan St, San Francisco; (415) 921-7600