Bizou morphs into Coco 500

Tim and I were looking for a place to have dinner together on Tuesday night. I remembered an old favourite, Bizou, that Radhika and Sunil had taken me to when I lived in San Francisco. We spent five minutes walking up and down 4th street not being able to find the restaurant. We decided to walk into this restaurant at the same place where I swore Bizou had been located. Little did we realize that we were at the grand opening of Coco 500, Chef Loretta Keller's reincarnation of what was previously a French bistro.

Coco 500 specializes in small plates inspired by local produce and Mediterranean flavours. I loved the teak wood tables which added a real warmth to the place. The menu is very innovative on top of being vegetarian friendly and includes a host of assorted starters, salads, pastas, flat-bread pizzas and vegetable sides.

We started with tender green beans that were lightly fried. They came with a spicy, mustard dipping sauce:


This was followed by four ravioli pillows swaddled in a fresh, green sauce made from fava beans and peas that are in season now topped with a few lavender flowers:


We then nibbled on some greens that were perfectly dressed in a champagne vinaigrette and tossed with toasted almonds:



Main course was rocket and red pepper pizza with feta which you'll love if you like the sharp taste of rocket:


We also couldn't resist tasting the side of mushrooms that had been slow-cooked to coax out the robust flavours:


Finally, we gave in to some sweet indulgence as the coco bar looked too good to pass up:




500 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA 94107