RN74 - San Francisco Restaurant and Wine Bar

So, as a reward for the crazy all nighter we had to pull, our team went to a lunch at the relatively newly opened RN74. It is a new "casual" restaurant opened by the celebrity chef Michael Minna.

The restaurant's theme is that of "train station." There is a large wine board hanging at the back of the narrow restaurant that is modeled after one of those train schedule boards where the numbers and letters flip. Our waitress explained that the board was custom made in Italy for the restaurant and that each wine listed on the board is the restaurant's last bottle of that particular wine. When someone buys one of the listed wines, the board changes, just like at a train station, and makes that clack-clack-clack noise as it flips. I looked at the board and saw quite a selection, with the majority of the prices at $100 or over. The crazy thing is that during our LUNCH, the board started to flip, and I noticed that a bottle listed at $195 was no longer there. Someone bought a $200 bottle of wine for lunch. Let me be the first to say (perhaps, shamefacedly) that I can understand the purchase of a fine bottle of wine, and have been guilty of paying a lot for wine, but somehow in this economy, and at a lunch, it seemed a little excessive...

I know that the original idea was to be a wine bar with small tapas-like plates of food, but apparently, that idea did not work. RN74 has already had to undergo a menu change because people were complaining about the tiny portion sizes. Even when it was supposed to be "small plates" the people complained about the tiny portions!

In the end, all I can say is that I was glad I was not paying the bill. For a LUNCH for 4 people, I think the bill was over $200 bucks (without tax and tip), the portions were still tiny, and none of the food blew me away. Maybe we were there on an off day. I know that when we go to places like these in San Francisco, you can't expect huge portions, that you are paying for the atmosphere, the experience, etc., and we did not order any wine, which is supposedly the whole raison d'etre for the place. And, again, let me be the first to admit (shamefacedly, again), that my husband and I have paid what many people would think is an excessive amount for food and fancy dinners, but honestly, I don't think I would go back again. I can think of many other places I would rather go to for that price.