Week in Reviews: Prima Nets 2.5 Bauer Stars

Today's episode of The Bauer Hour takes our hero to the unlikely location of Walnut Creek. While there, he decides to revisit Prima, the 40-year-old restaurant was last reviewed in 2000, when it notched 2.5 stars. Almost a decade later, the decor still appeals, but the service is an issue:

[The service] is mostly inattentive but friendly ... when we saw the sommelier bring a drink and a glass of wine to the table holding the bowls, rather than putting them on a tray, I knew the staff was in serious need of training.

Though the service has slipped in the last few years, the overriding good news for Prima is that chef/owner Peter Chastain has the food firing on all cylinders, miserly poultry portion policy aside. So, thanks to items like "flawless" lamb ragout and "indulgent" fava beans, Prima manages to keep its 2.5 stars, and everyone lived happily ever after. [Chron]

Meredith Brody is the first mainstream critic to file on RN74, roughly six weeks after opening. Turns out she's not entirely pleased with the service after a sommelier tiff and after being told she can't order solely off the bar menu in the dining room: "The wine list is amazing, but the rest of RN74 needs work." [SFW]

Paul Reidinger stops by the new Fly on Sutter, last seen housing the short-lived Brick. Most of the menu resembles the original Fly, but the burger is a winner: "Apart from the name-giving brick wall, the chief legacy of Brick is the Brick burger ($9), a hefty lump of well-seasoned Angus beef ... The fries are excellent, as is the burger. In fact I've never had a better one in these parts." [SFBG]

The Coco Times chimes in on Barlata, Daniel Olivella's new tapas joint in Oakland: "What impresses me most about this young restaurant is that it already seems so sure of itself. I'm betting on Barlata to grow into a comfortable neighborhood favorite and a cycling hangout." [CCT]

THE ELSEWHERE: Mission Local takes an early look at Flour + Water, the PressDem finds Bodega Bay's best restaurant in Terrapin Creek Cafe, the EBX balks at fusion fun at Alameda's Zen, and Sunday Chron review dropped a standard 2.5 stars on Artisan Bistro.

[Photo: Prima]

Foursquare

RN74

301 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94105 415 543 7474 Visit Website