SFReview
Included In
The prix fixe menu at Mijoté in the Mission changes daily, and each course is described with just three ingredients: “maitake, hazelnut, clove,” or “carrot, jasmine, white chocolate.” There’s always an element of surprise to whatever simple, bright dish ends up on the table, and that’s exactly what makes this French restaurant so exciting.
The charming, sunlit space adds to the excitement. Tables and bar seats are close together, so don’t be surprised when you end up exchanging names with your neighbors and then sharing a bottle with them later. The list of rotating wines by the glass (all natural) is scrawled on chalkboards and little mirrors throughout the dining room, and food is served on vintage floral plates. Mijoté used to be an omakase spot, and the long wooden sushi bar is still intact. It’s the best place to sit, so you can watch the staff across the counter finish slow-roasted maitake mushrooms with tiny edible flowers and slice up hunks of Josey Baker sourdough.
photo credit: Erin Ng
The only option here is the four-course set menu ($82) consisting of a couple of small appetizers, a sizable entrée (usually a protein), and dessert. These dishes aren’t stereotypically heavy French food. Fruit is incorporated into most courses. Depending on the day, you might be served a tower of scallops, cucumbers, and nectarines, or perfectly tender roasted chicken drenched in elderberry jus. The optional add-ons like roasted lobster with saffron beurre blanc ($36) or a cheese of the day ($11) are plenty delicious but only necessary if you really want to go big and do it up. Every dish that lands in front of you will also likely involve show-stealing sauce, poured tableside, or by someone behind the counter. A rich, fragrant sauce poivrade might spill over a massive hanger steak. And sweet cardamom cream or harissa butter sauces are so well-balanced and flavorful you’ll wipe them clean off your plate.
Since it’s impossible to predict what the menu will look like on any given night, here’s what you can actually count on: Mijoté will be filled with families celebrating milestone birthdays, dates cozying up at the bar, and solo diners working their way through a bottle of funky pét-nat. And before your first meal is even over, you’ll probably have already booked another reservation—even if just to see what three-word combinations the kitchen comes up with next.
Food Rundown
Scallop, Costata Romanesco, Cardamom
photo credit: Erin Ng
Maitake, Hazelnut, Clove
Chicken, Kale, Elderberry
photo credit: Erin Ng