Maverick

Because of Maverick, I am starting to wish I still lived in the Mission.  It opened round about the same time as the much loved (though not by me) Range, but to much less fanfare. I think that is a mistake: Maverick is small but swanky, totally unpretentious and masterfully good.

Mr. Food Musings and I had reservations last night, and we arrived separately. My cab beat his BART train by about 3 minutes, so I sat outside on the new wooden bench and waited for him in comfort while watching the night's foot traffic waltz by. Just one step inside the door and we were right smack inside of the tiny restaurant. (It's in the former Limon space, if any of you recall that.) The first room is painted a vibrant orange and houses a high communal table (also surprisingly comfortable), a two-top and the "host stand," which is nothing more than a computer screen hanging on the wall and a spot for the menus. GM Mike Pierce does his job with aplomb, toeing the line between friend and stalker gracefully. He poured me a chewy Cab to start, and a light Tokai Friulano for Mr. FM, and we were off. From our perch, we could see into the open kitchen, which is mere steps from the entrance, as well as the main dining room with its fiercely dark brown walls. There are few adornments on the walls -- a few painted light boxes, some honey wood shelves storing sparkling glass decanters and, in honor of the recent holiday, a few baby pumpkins hither and yon.

On to the food, which is distinctly American and often Southern (go white boy, go white boy, go!) Chef Scott Youkilis and his team turn out things like crab puffs with tartar sauce, cornmeal-crusted fried green tomatoes napped with Ranch dressing, and pork ribs in a pool of tangy BBQ sauce. The ribs were so tender the meat literally fell off the bone as though choreographed by the kitchen: 1-2-3-now! I felt the need for an immediate taste test of the world-class ribs at Oola to see which are best. That is quite a compliment, since Oola's beloved ribs are quite possibly the city's best.

A fellow blogger let me know that he'd enjoyed their fried chicken recently, so I sweetly begged Mr. FM to order some (a girl has her diet to think of, after all). It was delicious. The meat, both dark and white, was juicy and plump, and the crust nice and crisp. My palate is no Sherlock Holmes, but I managed to correctly detect cinnamon in the nicely seasoned crust. The chicken came with a pile of sharp collard greens and mashed potatoes in gravy, both of which were solidly good, though nothing to scream and shout about. I went with the vegetarian dish, a roasted sugar pie pumpkin "steak" topped with black beans, cumin creme fraiche, and roasted pepitas with a few swipes of roasted tomatilla salsa on the plate for good measure. The only thing was missing was a small plate of tortillas to wrap it up into a Mexican sandwich. The flavors were deep and rich and played well together in the sandbox.

And then there was the mac-n-cheese.

After our recent meal at Circa, where we ate some of the best mac-n-cheese on the planet, I wanted very badly to have a repeat performance. Though Maverick's version wasn't tricked out with lobster or truffles, it was sickeningly good. I loved the smoky, sharp cheddar they used, and it was both ooey-gooey and broiled so that the top was lightly toasted. Though we barely had two bites left, I made them box it up for us to bring home. I think I might hear it its siren song in the kitchen right now (...or is that the asshole  neighbor who started banging on his piano at 8 this morning? Ah yes, I believe it is him.) My only nit with the mac was that I could taste a touch -- just the merest hint, really -- of flour in the bechamel sauce, which was a bit careless, but still I give it an A. It was that good.

A word on service, and especially on Mike, the GM: awesome. Because we were sitting next to his host stand, I witnessed him more than once cheerfully try to find space for latecomers without reservations. He always looked at the screen to see how or if or where he might put them. The answer, alas, was always no -- at one point, he joked he couldn't even get his parents a table if they wanted one -- but he didn't just slap on the condescending face so many hosts do and tell the hopefuls to buzz off. As we were departing, Mr. FM's silly brain refused to operate properly, leading to a twitching fit so violent he shook his glasses off his face. Mike was incredibly kind, rushing outside when he noticed our distress to offer all kinds of help, which we accepted in the form of a phoned cab. (Thanks also to the cabbie, who left his car running in the middle of the intersection in order to help us into our apartment building.)

We did not try dessert (see also: diet) and so, sadly, I cannot comment on either the pumpkin chocolate cake or the apple crisp. Mr. FM promised that he would bring me back when my thighs no longer brush against each other in constant greeting for a bite of one, or both, of them. I want to return on a Monday night, when bottles of wine are 40% off. That's not a typo folks -- 40% off every bottle of wine, no limit, every Monday night. You have to eat, but why on earth wouldn't you want to?

***
Maverick, 3316 17th St (b/w Mission & Valencia), 415.863.3061

Comments

[sam]

I hope you made our planned Maverick reservation *before* you wrote this and the stampede you'll no doubt incite!

[cookiecrumb]

This just came to me. If they can make those itty-bitty mini cupcakes, why not teensy portions of mac-n-cheese? Different flavors, different "icings."
I can see a whole Sex and the City episode about that.

[Catherine]

Sam -- but of course!

Cookie -- ooh, that is a wicked good idea! I'm putting them on the menu in my pretend restaurant (and hope that maybe a real restaurateur will see that and take a hint!).

[Fatemeh]

Oy, I am going to have to save up every last WW point for our dinner!

So, if we run over past midnight, do you think I can use two days' worth of points????

[Catherine]

F -- it makes perfect sense to me.

[alison]

perfect timing - was thinking of somewhere to go to celebrate birthday and funnily enough just met Scott Youkilis at the weekend when i was down at the F.B. thanks for the inspiration!