XYZ Restaurant: Downtown SF
 

I've had two fantastic meals at the XYZ Restaurant (http://www.xyz-sf.com) over the past few weeks, located inside the W Hotel San Francisco. Everything I've had there has been fresh, interesting, plentiful and imaginatively served. The $29.95 3-course prix fixe menu is a good pick. The genuine friendliness of the staff each time I go, especially Sally, the maitre'd, and Terrence, the restaurant's GM, add a great deal to the whole experience.

--- Rupert

P.S. I don't work for the W Hotel chain, XYZ, or Starwood, just a rather satisfied customer and SF local!

Following up on my older review of this restaurant -- The SF Chronicle has named XYZ's Executive Chef, Malachi Harland, one of its "Rising Stars" for 2003:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...=food#mharland

I've been back many times since my initial writeup of this place, and the food continues to be seasonal, fresh, and perfectly prepared.

(G'day to Terry Haney, the awesome GM there, and Sally/Jennifer, the two super maitre'd's, if they should read this!)

Although I live in San Francisco, where XYZ is located, I recently had to work across the street at Moscone Convention Center for over a week and dined at XYZ twice daily. As a member of the Starwood Preferred Guest Program, the bonus was two fold, earning points in the program and enjoying fresh and innovative meals. Though I have my favorite dishes there, I did try a number of meals during the lunch period and agree with RupertS that XYZ is worth a visit. The staff is friendly and mostly attentive and the food is better than most hotel restaurants I've dined in.