In February, Todd Spanier, a.k.a. “The King of Mushrooms,” made an appearance at Rockridge Market Hall’s Truffle Fest. Under the same moniker, Spanier sells wild and farmed mushrooms to “chefs, grocers and mushroom enthusiasts.” One of his products is the most popular starter at Equal Parts, a new restaurant and bar in San Francisco’s North Beach.
The maitake mushroom tempura appetizer ($18) made its way to our table and just about every other one in my line of sight. Executive chef Melissa Perfit cooks the hen-of-the-woods’ bodies whole. They’re meaty and coated with a tempura batter that adds a hearty crunch. The dipping sauce, a whipped crème fraîche, adds a welcome note of creaminess to the fried ingredients.
As a line cook at Michael Mina’s RN74, Perfit first made a version of the dish there. She described it as a “throwback” to that part of her two-decades-long cooking career in Bay Area kitchens. Even though she’s previously opened other restaurants, the chef told me the Equal Parts’ menu was different.
“Usually the owners or my business partners—they want what they want,” she said. Because of the time she spent at Ayala and Popi’s Oysterette, Perfit became well-known as a seafood chef. For this venture, business partners Victor Pichardo, Jacob Cortes and Richard Yu gave the chef more creative freedom.
“It dawned on me that I could take dishes that I missed—whether I was a line cook, sous chef or chef de cuisine—and bring back my favorites,” she said.
Perfit also worked for the late Charles Phan at Hard Water. She’s paying homage to that restaurant’s “New Orleans-style Southern food” with dishes like fried chicken ($22) and a braised pork shank ($36). “I brought the fried chicken back because it’s gluten-free and it was one of Charles’ recipes, and I feel like he would like me to have it on the menu,” she said.
The pork shank is another nod to Hard Water. It’s large enough to feed a table of four diners with healthy appetites. Perfit and her sous chef, Bethany Hunt, amended the original recipe. They substituted a butter-bean purée and a salsa verde for black-eyed peas. The portions are substantial on every plate. Even vegetable-forward dishes such as roasted beets and carrots ($16) or a little gem salad ($18)—with a fantastic fines herbes crème fraîche dressing—are filling. Three appetizers was one appetizer too many. But when the salad landed at a nearby table, slathered as it was in dressing, I couldn’t resist ordering it. To this day, I do not regret it.
Before she arrives for her shift, the prep cooks have been making sauces, braising lamb ribs and pork shanks, and roasting octopus. In line with her reputation, Perfit’s menu includes at least six seafood entrées. She said the whole roasted branzino ($42) and a tombo tuna carpaccio ($21) are the most popular items listed within the “From the Sea” section. “We blow through the branzino like crazy,” she said. It’s made with brown butter, blood oranges and basil.
Once she’s on site, Perfit makes sure that the kitchen is stocked for the service that night. She also helps to set up the stations for the evening crew. The location of the kitchen at Equal Parts is hidden away in the back. On Friday and Saturday nights the chef likes to “run food” to the dining room. “Most of the kitchens I’ve worked in are open kitchens, so for me, this is new,” she said. “It helps me interact with the guests.”
I ate dinner at Equal Parts mid-week thinking it would be a quiet night out. But as we settled in for the evening the energy in the room kept building up and expanding. It started to feel less like a sit-down restaurant and more like a neighborhood block party. Not raucous and out-of-control, but people were definitely out to have a good time. It’s the liveliest dining room I’ve been to in many months.
“I’m just really hoping it continues on its trajectory of being busy and people being happy,” Perfit said.
Equal Parts, 478 Green St., San Francisco. Closed on Mondays, hours vary the rest of the week. equalpartssf.com
