June 16, 2010  HLFD in SF: Gary Danko  To celebrate me turning
another year older, we made reservations at Gary Danko.  This
French-American restaurant gives you the option of designing
your own 3, 4, or 5 course tasting menu (priced $68, $85, and
$102 respectively).  We could mix and match amongst the
appetizers, entrees (seafood and meats), cheese, and dessert
sections.  As our waiter explained, we could (and wouldn't be
the first) to have all desserts as our entire tasting menu.  As
tempting as that offer sounded, I couldn't bring myself to spend
$102 on just desserts, so we both opted to choose a medley of
dishes and make our own 4 course $85 meal.  As you'll soon see,
I opted for a progression of courses, while my husband went
full-on with a meat-lovers' dream menu.  My husband chose two
value-priced red wines:  the Eric Texier, St. Gervais, Vieilles
Vignes des Cadinières 2005 ($42) from the Cote-du-Rhone-villages
region in France and the Figge, Paraiso Vineyard 2007 ($50), a
pinot noir from Monterey Cou