Imagine the famed Abstract Abstractionist artist, Jackson Pollock, circling his canvas in his studio, contemplating his composition, emanating his creative energy with his palette, adhering to his artistic principles, and moving the viewer with his emotional connection to his artwork. This is the life that Chef Amaryll Schwertner, lives every day at her restaurant, Boulettes Larder, at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, which has recently expanded into a new concept in the adjacent space a few months ago, called the Bouli Bar. Amaryll and her business partner and collaborator for many years, Lori Regis, named the new concept after the nickname they had for Boulettes Larder.
Before Boulettes Larder was renovated, the space included the open kitchen (Chef Amaryll’s canvas), a community table for diners, and a small retail section for prepared foods, spices, oils, and artisanal baked goods. Chef Amaryll would conceive of her breakfast and lunch menus on the day of service after the local, organic farmers and purveyors of sustainable food sources in the Northern California region would visit her with the seeds of Chef Amaryll’s inspiration (Chef’s painterly palette). Since the space was too small for dinner service, Chef Amaryll and Lori would reserve evenings for private parties.
Before Boulettes Larder was renovated, the space included the open kitchen (Chef Amaryll’s canvas), a community table for diners, and a small retail section for prepared foods, spices, oils, and artisanal baked goods. Chef Amaryll would conceive of her breakfast and lunch menus on the day of service after the local, organic farmers and purveyors of sustainable food sources in the Northern California region would visit her with the seeds of Chef Amaryll’s inspiration (Chef’s painterly palette). Since the space was too small for dinner service, Chef Amaryll and Lori would reserve evenings for private parties.
After the renovation, the space was resized to include the open kitchen so Chef Amaryll can continue her Farm-To-Mouth creative explorations before the public’s eye, and to provide multiple seating arrangements and a still-to-be determined stand-up bar space.
On a recent visit for breakfast, I ordered the scrambled eggs over a puree of fresh herbs, sliced avocado and lime wedge for acidity, and grated grana padano cheese to boot.
As a sweet balance to my indulgent breakfast, I ordered an array of fresh berries, including the candy of the strawberry family, Mara de Bois, and richly dark, young crimson red raspberries in liquid compote.
A few months ago, Chef Amaryll and Lori opened the expanded, adjacent space under the concept, Bouli Bar. Spacially, they relocated the retail section from inside the Boulette Larder to a take out counter along the West side corridor paralleling the restaurant. Here you can order the wood burning hearth pizzas and daily specials from the Bouli Bar as well as the artisanal products formerly sold at the Boulettes Larder, such as unique spices, pastries, and the incomparable stone grained organic rye bread, rye crisps, and the all-too addicting rye crisps dipped in dark chocolate by local baker, Anna’s Daughters' Rye Bread.
Inside the Bouli Bar, there are two dining areas, separated by an elegant, drapping border. The front dining area which is more open to the public as it lines the central, east-west corridor in the building and the back dining area which provides a more private dining experience and view of the action at the wood burning hearth where most of the menu items are prepared. Both dining areas have communal seating and individual tables.
Like Alice Waters, Chef Amaryll has continued the tradition of collaborating with local producers and honoring the integrity of their seasonal, organic ingredients throughout the menu. These local producers include dirty girl produce tierra, vegtables mcevoy ranch, the Sherman island forager, 4 sisters, la tercera, mariquita farm, marin roots, full belly farm, county line harvest, green gulch, Hamada orchards, casa de case, knoll farm, oak hill farm, riverdog farm, star route farms, anna’s daughters’ rye, andante dairy, and terra Sonoma.
My first bite at Bouli Bar was a Mezze of freshly made, puffed pita with a savory selection of carrot relish made with honey, raisin, walnut, verjus, and olives, eggplant salad containing lemon, olive oil, herbs and garlic, and finally a chickpea hummus seasoned with za’atar.
Then, my second bite was Chef Amaryll’s version of a Margarita Pizza, called “lola sempre,” prepared with tomato, buffala burrata, mozzarella and basil. As you will discover, the pizzas are not only a central focus of Bouli Bar’s menu but also a profound culinary experience. The pizza was perfectly charred on the edges, aerated in the crust, and balanced between the subtle richness of the cheese and sweetness of the lightly layered tomato sauce. Chef Amaryll uses a blend of flours, including 00, that produces a harmony of density, texture, and flavor that compelled me to order another the following day. In addition to the “lola sempre,” Chef Amaryll produces other versions, which like the other items on the menu, have a Mediterranean influence. Although I have yet to taste them, they are worthy to note. The “musa” contains Turkish spiced lamb, tomato, feta, mint and parsley. The “fiori” contains summer vegetable compote (peppers, eggplant, tomato, zucchini), capers, summer squash blossoms, and buffala burrata. The “fichi in the log” contains figs, pecorino fresco, pancetta, pecorino, fiore di sarda, lard, arugula, wild oregano, and black pepper. The “la capuccina” contains local crescenza cheese, heirloom chickpeas, green olives, fennel seeds, rosemary, chili and frisee.
After having a palate cleansing salad of green gulch farm coastal lettuces with seasonal melon and sea salt, I had the seafood + socca, containing pristine scallops, shrimp, calamari, haricot vert, and socca, which is a hearth roasted chickpea-slurry (or what I thought to be a potato latka---a gourmet version, of course) with black pepper and thyme that I used as my means to eat the seafood.
On the following day, I had the eastern Mediterranean salad with an exciting blend of ingredients, including little gem lettuce, purslane, barberries, freekeh, bulgur, cucumber, tomato, ricotta salata, pomegranate reduction with a red wine vinaigrette.
I also had a very satisfying vegetable farmhouse lunch of lentils, black quinoa, spicy Turkish tomato paste, caramelized cabbage, French boiled egg, cherry tomatoes and purslane.
For sweets, I relished the yogurt panna cotta with summer berries, rose syrup, crystallized pistachios, and sweet basil seed bubbles, formed by steeping the basil seeds in simple syrup.
For chocolate lovers, indulge in the bittersweet chocolate custard with foamy expresso cloud, sesame nougatine complemented with a turkish coffee cocoa nib shortbread.
What is so deliciously unique about Boulettes Larder and its newly born sibling, Bouli Bar, is how graceful Chef Amaryll has so artfully conceived each dish to its most fundamental form that the brilliance of each thoughtfully selected ingredient shines through all of our senses. We are not only the viewer of Chef Amaryll’s art but also its active participant.
Boulettes Larder is located at 1 Ferry Building in San Francisco, (415) 399-1155, and is open for breakfast from Tues – Fri, 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Bouli Bar is located adjacent to Boulettes Larder, currently open from Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m, same telephone number, www.bouletteslarder.com.
What is so deliciously unique about Boulettes Larder and its newly born sibling, Bouli Bar, is how graceful Chef Amaryll has so artfully conceived each dish to its most fundamental form that the brilliance of each thoughtfully selected ingredient shines through all of our senses. We are not only the viewer of Chef Amaryll’s art but also its active participant.
Boulettes Larder is located at 1 Ferry Building in San Francisco, (415) 399-1155, and is open for breakfast from Tues – Fri, 8:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and Sunday brunch from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Bouli Bar is located adjacent to Boulettes Larder, currently open from Tuesday through Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m, same telephone number, www.bouletteslarder.com.