The next dish is the richest of the rich, a crawfish bisque redolent of green garlic, made even richer by the addition of bacon vinaigrette and chiccharrón. The above-mentioned red wine cuts through the cream gracefully, with ripe fruit and an elegant structure.

Crawfish bisque with green garlic. (Kim Westerman)

The main course appears simple, but isn’t really: roasted chicken is surrounded by boudin blanc-stuffed morels, the essence of spring, For $25, you can get a generous shaving of black truffle, but the already decadent dish doesn’t need it. On the side, served on a bread board, is an exquisite potato and leek terrine with fermented turnips, which gives the savory notes a pickled lift. According to the server, this dish alone takes three days to prepare, start to finish.

Roasted chicken with boudin blanc-stuffed morels. (Kim Westerman)

Potato terrine with fermented turnip. (Kim Westerman)

It was almost impossible to eat dessert, so satiated were we, but the light, soft-baked meringue with airy Meyer lemon cake and almond praline hit the spot.

Soft-baked meringue, Meyer lemon cake and almond praline. (Kim Westerman)

Servers are studied, friendly and constantly anticipating diners’ needs. Even as the dining room filled up for the dinner service, I noticed the harmonious staff’s careful attention to each table. As is the nature of experiments, feedback is solicited to take back to the kitchen. While I had my favorites (the octopus and the potato and fermented turnip terrine), our meal was a smashing success from start to finish, much more polished than a mere test run. It will be fun to see which of the dishes from Les Experiments end up on the main restaurant menu.

RN74
301 Mission St. [Map]
San Francisco, CA 94105
Tel: (415) 543-7474
Hours: Sun-Thu, 5:30-10pm; Fri-Sat, 5:30-10:30pm
Facebook: RN74
Twitter: @RB74_SF
Instagram: rn74_sf
Price Range: $$$ (Les Experiments Sunday dinners, $49)

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RN74 Debuts Market-Driven “Les Experiments” Menu