Good News/Bad News: Gitane

Jennifer Yin, 11/20/08

Just over a month old now is Gitane, the stylish, Basque-inspired little sister of Cafe Claude. The timeline, of course, means that Lord Bauer is going to start making his visits, if he hasn't already. Much of the buzz surrounding Gitane has centered around the daring Charles Doell design, and rightly so; it's a unique, welcome design worthy of conversation—particularly in San Francisco, where atmosphere can often be an afterthought. But how has the dining public reacted to Gitane and its young chef, Lisa Eyherabide? Let's have a looksie at the good news, the bad news, and everything in between:

All Good News: "So Tuesday night I checked out Gitane. The restaurant looks great. It's got a dark supper club kind of atmospher. On a Tuesday afternoon the restaurant filled up and the bar was hopping by the time we left..... Service was smooth. The waiter seemed familiar with the menu, the bus boy was attentive and the manager stopped by to see how our meal was." [Chowhound]

Mostly Good News: "Has there been a lusher, sexier, more highly concepted restaurant design than Gitane in -- oh, I don't know -- years? ... Bonus: they have not only bacon bon bons, but also wood-oven pizza. The jury's still out on Dominic Venegas' sherry cocktails, however." [SF Station]

Mostly Bad News: "...a very stylish and fun place. The food is average, nothing amazing. We would recommend going here for drinks and a couple small plates. Bigger meals get pricey, causing value to severly erode." [FoodNut]

Quintessentially Useless Yelp News: "i do not know say what about you. just good" [Yelp]

One Last Bit of Positive News: "Gitane might just be one of those perfect San Francisco dining experiences ... The food is a mixture of Basque, a little French, a little Spanish ... you'll also be able to have a true Neopolitan wood-fired pizza; I highly recommend the Gitan (chorizo, piquillo peppers, mushrooms, mozzarella and a sunny side up egg) ... Drinks are a whole other aspect of Gitane -- one of the bartenders told me they were focusing on sherries -- I don't know what that means but my Negroni Tinto nearly seduced me. [Nish/Yelp]
· All Gitane Coverage [~ESF~]

As always, your thoughts on Gitane are welcome in the comments.