Lounge of Tomorrow - RtS: Foreign Cinema

Rank the Swank - Restaurants and Bars

Overall Swank Rank

Foreign Cinema
2534 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA
February 25, 2006
http://www.foreigncinema.com

The Lowdown
An absolute top notch meal accompanied by a foreign film in an inviting atmosphere.

Food
Decor
Service

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The Gig
Dinner (and a movie)

The Grub
As an apatizer, we had a delicious crustini, the highlight of which were the picholine olives.

As one entree Lavandered pork chop with sauted spinach and scalloped potatoes.

For the other, a trio of meats: A cut of pork, duck, and quail (aka, the Dick Cheney Special) with mashed sweet potatoes.

For desert, chocolate pot de creme.

The Scene

This was an outstanding experience, recommended to us by our wonderful hosts. What was refreshing is that it wasn't just a restaurant with a gimick (the projected film), it had the quality food to go with it.

There are three seating areas. We sat in a central open air courtyward (well eated, and covered) which offers the best view of the film. The film (Death in Venice when we went, they change it monthly) is projected on the back brick wall, and the sound comes from vintage drive-in speaker boxes spaced around the area.

There is an indoor downstairs dining area. The decor is tasteful, though sparse.

The third dining area is upstairs, which we didn't see.

As I mentioned, the food was outstanding, a true delight. The food alone ranks as one of the top meals of my life, let alone with a swanky film playing. The film was an excellent selection, very visual. Even with subtitles, we of course weren't interested in staring at the wall as we ate our meal. But it really was great to be able to turn our head every once in a while and enjoy the visual aspect of the film. Which reminds me, I gotta go add it to our Netflix queue...

After our spectacular dessert (mmmm, pot de creme), we took a stroll through their small gallery, a lovely way to end the evening.

Highly recommended if you're in SF.