“Mind Your Onions” ~ S'il Vous Plaît

Here we are again, we find ourselves out and about on a warm Sunday evening in one of our favorite San Francisco neighborhoods, Hayes Valley. A neighborhood sprinkled with chic niche restaurants only the locals know about and boutiques the most “in” of in-crowds drop some serious cash at. It's an all too common problem, maybe it's even a “first-world problem,” when there’s too many delectable restaurants and eateries and we simply can’t choose. This isn’t a first-world problem, but it's definitely a San Francisco problem. Do we want Japanese? Italian? Moroccan? We don’t know, so we say we’ll walk until our hunger demands we make a choice. As we stroll and read menus on bar and diner windows alike, we begin to reminisce about our time in France not too long ago. A time well spent in ​Le Marais ​where we had unforgettable dining experiences, experiences that have our mouths watering at the mere thought of the exquisite French cuisine. ​Voila! ​We think we’ve found the answer to our dilemma, ​Chez Maman​ ​West​.

"People who love to eat are always the best people."

- Julia Child

Chez Maman is a French restaurant located in the heart of Hayes Valley. Literally translated to ​at my mom’s ​or more sensibly to ​my mother’s house​, Chez Maman provides us with an authentic French dining experience. Since most restaurants are partaking in outdoor, sidewalk seating, it's only natural that our minds and hearts are going to imagine we are actually in Paris eating curbside and sipping wine ​avec nos amis​. It's a warm end-of-summer night and we want to take advantage of the fact that the sun is it's time to set and that we’re at that unique hunger level where we had a late lunch and want something savory and something sweet.

It doesn’t take us long to decide that we’ll all have a round of french onion soup, a few glasses of red wine and a couple of white and that we all selfishly want a creme brulee all to ourselves. So yes, that’s a whole lot of soup, wine (and more wine) and about half a dozen creme brulees. Can you blame us? The french onion soup is the definition of riche.​ A thick layer of gruyere cheese gives way to a flavorful broth full of thinly sliced onions and topped with a slice of sourdough baguette. This alone is filling enough, so it’s time for an intermission filled with more wine, a few cups of tea and then it’s onto dessert. Creme brulees topped with sliced strawberries is pure bliss on this warm, end-of-summer evening. Cracking the glass-like top layer of this dessert is always the most satisfying part, unless you’ve had creme brulee from Chez Maman, then you know scraping the heavenly custard from the dish to create that last perfect bite is really the best part​.

Is any meal really ​that ​good if the atmosphere doesn’t match? One of the great things about Chez Maman is the outdoor experience. The twinkling string lights above the table, the waiters with authentic French accents and the lull of chatter between friends and lovers, lovers and friends. Of course, we have lots to talk about at our table. Things like the weather, what stores we want to window shop next and finally our schedules so we can plan another meal at Chez Maman West.

xo

SS

Photography: Kailyn Chadwick