Opened by Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of Michelin-starred State Bird Provisions and The Progress in October 2020 on Lower Fillmore Street, The Anchovy Bar was a brave entrant in a brutal year. It was easily among my top few new restaurants of that year — and my top two next to Belinda Leong, Michel Suas and John Paul Carmona’s Routier.
I’d eat at any place Brioza and Krasinski open. Their stellar team includes beverage director over all three restaurants, Adam Robins, their “on it” waitstaff, and at Anchovy Bar, newer, Singaporean sous chef Tiffany (Tif) Thomasz. From day one, they had me at anchovies.
Sicilian on my mother’s side and an avowed lover of anchovies and sardines, these so-good for you, tiny bottom-feeder fish run in my blood. The theme alone calls before we’ve even started on the stellar drink list, heavy on vermouth, sherry, low proof cocktails and savvy wine list.
Having dined since Anchovy Bar opened, both my late 2022 and my January 2023 visit have been the best yet — one with out-of-country friends, one with my partner, Dan, “The Renaissance Man.” The menu feels dialed in yet more varied than in the initial year: more exciting and bold yet still focused around, yes, the anchovy (there is an entire section of both anchovy platters and dishes with anchovies in some form) alongside other seafood dishes (vegetarians, be aware: there is seafood of some sort in most dishes).
The tiny place books up, so it’s not easy to drop in and weeks’ ahead reservations are necessary (the parklet allows for more seating and larger parties the inside can’t accommodate).
No surprise: anchovy platters are a highlight, whether local (our season runs roughly April to October), or from Spain. There is a changing anchovy toast (recently with burrata, broccoli, jalapeno) or a platter of a half dozen Anchoas Don Bocarte anchovies from Santoña, Spain — historically with toasted ciabatta, cucumber, crème fraîche, radishes and seasoned tomato (reminiscent of Spanish pan con tomate) — or on one of my recent visits, with gazpacho ‘vinaigrette’ and whipped colatura (Italian fish sauce) butter on toast. A special of local boquerones cured in lime and jalapeno threatens to star. Whispers of Mexico and Southeast Asia echo in the simple-yet-vibrant cured anchovies, which go down like silk.
Keeping in the anchovies section, cazuela de anxoves are ridiculously good. Served in a cast iron skillet, start with Spanish Callol Serrats anchovies from L’Escala, teeming in fried and caramelized onions, quail farm eggs, espelette pepper and my beloved Idiazabal cheese from Spain (a cousin to Manchego). The dish’s pungent decadence tastes like my dream breakfast, sealed with eggs. Its savory happiness escalates paired with an elegant house Negroni Fugazi, a low proof Negroni of “Farm gin” (their own botanical infusion), sweet vermouth and smoked bitters, a flight of sherry or vermouth, or individual glasses, like the earthy bitterness of Mattei Cap Corse Rouge vermouth from the French island of Corsica.
This January from the anchovies section, we tried saemyeol anchovy steak tartare, laced with Korean-style anchovies, kimchi and smoked soy sauce, with vibrant watermelon radishes to scoop up. Umami all the way, it’s a welcome, Korean-inspired play on ubiquitous steak tartare.
A standout that thankfully has been on the “Today’s Menu” section over my last months of visits (depending on availability) is uni guacamole. Santa Barbara sea urchin (uni) melding with avocados is as extravagant as it sounds. But it’s passionfruit ponzu woven into the guac that makes the urchin’s briny umami pop and the avocado (almost) as bright as traditional lime. Crispy rice chips are the scooping mechanism in a dish that feels like a reimagined California classic, showcasing our bounty of sea and land.
Recent “today’s specials” standouts included fennel-crusted seared albacore (from Eureka, CA) over a spicy Calabrian chile puttanesca. Subtle orange zest and red onion slivers bring the acid and vividness to the silky fish and hit of chiles. Maine (from Cobbs Cook Bay, ME) diver scallop ceviche also swims in the silky zone, going for strong Japanese vibes with Japanese cucumbers, charred alliums dusted on top, toasted nori and bright oranges.
A State Bird Provisions’ classic since the beginning (just over a decade ago) is also rightly at Anchovy Bar: smoked trout roe “Kennebec chip and dip,” lush with trout and nori from Mendocino under potato crema. Seafood toasts are always on the menu, including the aforementioned anchovy toast. But with Dungeness crab season just kicking in locally at the end of December, we had to order crab toast, beautiful on its own, but sent over the top in anchovy sambal and shallot curry leaf crunch. Hell, yes.
There is a full oyster section and usually about three vegetable-fruit-cheese heavy small plates. Though Bellwether Farms ricotta with hachiya persimmons and fennel meyer lemon-oregano crackers stood out, we opted for roasted beets and tomatoes in madras curry and a potato crunch. The tonnato aspect is what sold me on this dish, traditionally an Italian tuna dish touched with olive oil, mayonnaise, capers, lemon juice, garlic, and, of course, anchovies. Despite the welcome umaminess this brought to the beets and tomatoes, it was my least favorite dish of the January visit, though certainly still good. Just lacking in a bit of the memorable oomph many of the other dishes brought.
Robins’ drink menus at all three neighboring Brioza-Krasinski restaurants are top notch, centered by tight wine lists weaving from natural, funky, interesting, to classic, lean, elegant. An unfiltered 2020 Kasnyik Tramin orange wine from Južnoslovenská, Slovakia, wowed with a bold floral hit of elderflower and passionfruit, while a 2019 Kolonics Juhfark white wine from Somlo, Hungary, unfolds with layers of character and subtle funk. On the more understated, crisp, refined side, a 2020 Grosjean Montmary Extra Brut Rosé of Pinot Noir/Gamay from Valle d’Aosta, Italy, is a lovely sparkling, pairing nicely with many dishes.
The aforementioned vermouth, sherry and low proof cocktails selections could make a winning night on their own. But tributing former beer haven Fat Angel, which was long in the space prior (I wish it could still be around, too), there are a couple draft beers and always a “rare and hard-to-find” beer, like one of my faves in Belgium, Drie Fonteinen’s no-longer-produced lambic with plums aged in Bordeaux barrels.
There are anchovy kits to take home (including anchovy tins with that dreamy whipped colatura butter), and if you have room, two choice desserts, a wise choice given Krasinski’s pastry chef brilliance. Recent desserts were vanilla tamarind ice cream sundaes, naturally in anchovy-coconut-cashew crumble, or caramelized nori arlettes (a French biscuit/cookie) marked by bittersweet chocolate ganache and lilikoi-yuzu curd. A rare treat of 2003 Josef Rosch Riesling Beerenauslese wine — which unfolds with green vegetal notes and honeyed sweetness — makes an ideal dessert on its own or pairing with dessert.
Anchovy Bar holds a more casual spirit than even casual yet buzzy State Bird around the corner. The Progress is most elegant of the three, though still super relaxed, especially at the bar with cocktails and bites. Which makes me wish one could just drop in to Anchovy Bar for some sherry and anchovies vs. planning weeks ahead with a reservation (more so, I wish it was open all day). But I am grateful they are packed and beloved by our city of anchovy eaters. Which I hope ensures Anchovy Bar will be around for decades to come.
// 1740 O’Farrell Street, www.theanchovybar.com