Leopold’s - Wine & Spirits Magazine

Leopold’s


Confronted by five-litre beer boots and lederhosen-clad wait staff, the casual observer couldn’t be faulted for assuming that Leopold’s is a German-style brew haus built with a tourist crowd in mind. After all, Fisherman’s Wharf isn’t too far away. But when the pig trotter rounds arrive, served on a delicate bed of frisée with pickled shallots and a quail’s egg, this Austrian-styled establishment betrays surprising nuance. Dishes like the pan-seared trout, wrapped in pancetta and filled with leeks and garlic purée, bring further sophistication to an antler-heavy dining room reminiscent of an alpine ski lodge. Pilsners and lagers abound, but Leopold’s small wine list, leaning toward Austria and Northern Italy, is well-chosen. The list is embellished by quirky selections like the 2009 Crnko Maribor Jarenincan, a zippy, citrus-inflected blend of riesling, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc from Slovenia. That wine provides an admirable match for crispy speck and arugula flatbread. And if a glass or two of zweigelt leads to a boot of Bitburger and a round of drinking songs, who are we to judge?


This review appears in the print edition of the October
2011 issue.

 

 

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Confronted by five-litre beer boots and lederhosen-clad wait staff, the casual observer couldn’t be faulted for assuming that Leopold’s is a German-style brew haus built with a tourist crowd in mind. After all, Fisherman’s Wharf isn’t too far away. But when the pig trotter rounds arrive, served on a delicate bed of frisée with pickled shallots and a quail’s egg, this Austrian-styled establishment betrays surprising nuance. Dishes like the pan-seared trout, wrapped in pancetta and filled with leeks and garlic purée, bring further sophistication to an antler-heavy dining room reminiscent of an alpine ski lodge. Pilsners and lagers abound, but Leopold’s small wine list, leaning toward Austria and Northern Italy, is well-chosen. The list is embellished by quirky selections like the 2009 Crnko Maribor Jarenincan, a zippy, citrus-inflected blend of riesling, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc from Slovenia. That wine provides an admirable match for crispy speck and arugula flatbread. And if a glass or two of zweigelt leads to a boot of Bitburger and a round of drinking songs, who are we to judge?

2400 Polk (at Union), San Francisco, California

Austrian

415-474-2000


This story appears in the print issue of October 2011.
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