Romantic Dining: Aziza, SF

My wife and I generally go out the day before or the day after Valentine's Day rather than on the day itself.  Food on holidays is always more expensive (sometimes twice a much) and lower quality than on other days, and service is usually terrible.  The staff doesn't want to be working on Valentine's Day any more than you do.  Historically, we've usually gone to Chapeau!, but Phillipe seems to be still struggling, menu-wise, with running two restaurants, so we went to Aziza instead.

For those of you who don't know Aziza, it's the creation of Chef Mourad Lahlou, a Marrakesh native who decided to bring fine, new Moroccan dining to San Francisco.  He's an iconic chef -- so much so that next month he'll be competing in Iron Chef America. 

Aziza is located in a former nightclub deep in the Richmond, and doesn't look like much from the outside.  It's a good location if you're driving in, though; parking at the meters on Geary is sometimes possible.  Otherwise, take the 38 out there so that you can drinks as many cocktails as you want.

Once inside, you realize why this is a great restaurant for a date ... or an affair.  Most of the seating is in booths on the walls, many of which are semi-private.  The lighting is low, the music is low, and the Arabic archways and inlaid wooden tables carry out the Moroccan theme coherently and tastefully.  Some of the booth seating is on built-in half-circle benches, so you can snuggle right up to your sweetie while eating.

The only real drawback to the restaurant design is that it's mostly hard surfaces, so if you're unfortunate enough to be at one of the tables in the middle, it's quite loud and conversation is difficult.  So make a reservation, early, for a booth.

Service is plentiful, attentive, and polite.  The last time I was there, I got a glass of wine I didn't like, and the waiter replaced it promptly and with apologies even though he thought the wine was OK.

Aziza makes a lot of their cocktail bar; there's two bartenders on staff and they have a whole menu of wierd exotic cocktails (I had a cucumber-mint Pimm's cup, which was surprisingly good).  The wine list is a bit less inspiring; it's a small selection, few of which are available by the glass.  Where Aziza really shines unexpectedly is tea; they have a selection of high-quality teas served in french-press carafes at the table, including sweet mint-verbena tea prepared by our waiter.

Half the menu is small plates.  This is a good thing; both times I've been to Aziza,  we've ordered mostly small plates.  We just don't want to miss out on the variety of what's there.  At the top of the article are the meatballs on a bed of shredded minted jicama; my wife raved about these after we left the restaurant.

This is flatbread with three spreads: eggplant-cumin, yogurt-mint, and pepper-pomegranate.  You have to have this, as well as one or two additional side orders of flatbread, which goes excellently with other plates, such as the sardines with preserved lemon.

Other dishes which I recommend include: carrot salad, goat cheese with tomato jam, "lima" beans with sheep's cheese, and, of course, couscous (served properly with butter.  yum).  Not to be missed on your first visit is the proper basteeya, a sweet-savory pastry which makes you understand why North Africans never gave up on mixing sugar, spices, and meat.

About 1/3 of the menu is vegetarian.  The "farm egg" with charmoula and slow-cooked root vegetables was surprisingly delicious; I'm going to have to try to recreate it at home.

Unfortunately, neither my wife nor I have generally been wild about Moroccan-style desserts.  Since we're usually stuffed full by the time the dessert menus come out, we've skipped dessert at Aziza.  I can't say we've been that intrigued by what's offered though; maybe it's how the descriptions are written.

I'm sure it's too late to get in for Valentine's day, but for your next romatic occasion ... Aziza!

Pictures gratuitously borrowed from Aziza web site, since lighting in the restaurant was too low for pictures.