Designer Pat Culeto and Executive Chef and partner Parke Ulrich have created a wonderful ambiance and are dazzling diners with their hit, Epic Steak. Located on San Francisco’s Embarcadero Waterfront, visiting foodies are graced with panoramic views of San Francisco Bay. On warm summer days, the 5,600 feet of outdoor patio space makes the modern steakhouse the perfect setting for a cocktail or light meal.
By a stroke of luck, my visit to Epic Steak would be on a day when flawless pairings were in order. Epic had welcomed another Bay Area favorite: Hangar 1 Vodka. Hangar 1 was created by Head Distiller extraordinaire Caley Shoemaker, who has truly taken to crafting, blending and pairing vodka, made with sustainable produce. Ingredients are sourced from local farmers, focusing on what is seasonally available. A rare opportunity to sample a few dishes with an epic proportion and tasting.
If you’ve ever been next door to Waterbar, you might have noticed Chef Ulrich in the kitchen orchestrating seafood magnificence. The multi-tasking master chef now shares duty at both restaurants. Under to tutelage of chef Ulrich, the restaurant formally known as Epic Roasthouse has taken on a new direction in preparing succulent cuts of meat. In the past, steaks were perfected and finished over walnut and almond wood in the wood-fire oven.
Ulrich, the son of a butcher, now cooks his steaks on a mesquite, open fire grill, mentioning that, “steaks burn hotter and more consistently, creating an out of this world flavor.” In baseball terms, Ulrich has hit it out of the park. The steaks are blackened to perfection, with just the right saltiness, and juices flowing. The smoky flavor accentuated from the wood on the open grille as a sweetness to the meat.
Perhaps, I entered Waterbar by mistake. The afternoon’s starter to a day of pairing showcased Ulrich’s affinity for seafood caught or farmed in environmentally and socially responsible methods. The opening act was a shellfish indulgence platter that would satisfy anyone’s craving for locally sourced fruits of the sea, splendidly teamed with Hangar 1 Fog Point Vodka.
After a hefty sampling of locally sourced oysters, crab, ahi, and lobster flown in from Maine, I was left wondering how the day could the get any better.
The second course consisted of a complex salad of roasted asparagus & mushroom conserva frisée drizzled with aged sherry. The dish was matched with a fruity, Hangar 1 Vodka, Buddha’s Hand Citron. The orange and sherry flavors left my taste buds in a state of bliss. The flavors were harmoniously matched with a fruity, Hangar 1 Vodka Buddha’s Hand Citron
The exceptional afternoon continued, as I was presented with a whole roasted, medium-rare New York Steak, with just the right amount of pink. An added touch topped with an English pea purée, al dente baby carrots cooked in red wine. Hangar 1 outdid themselves adding the distiller’s exclusive Pink Peppercorn vodka. Sadly, the day's festivities were nearly over, but not before an “Epic finale.” To cure my sweet-tooth, a caramel & sage tart, reinforced with a glass of Hangar 1’s exclusive Honeycomb Vodka.
The Russians have long discovered the marriage between vodka with a meal. In fact, the marriage of epicurean delights and fine Vodka is a tradition not only in Russia, but also Northern and Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Although a bit of a newcomer on the craft vodka scene, it seemed like Hangar 1 was also getting the hang of the practice. Hangar 1 Vodka commingles with your taste buds, and the various infusions synthesize and combine well with both seafood and Ulrich’s prime and dry-aged, cooked-and-charred-to-perfection steaks, which remains at the epicenter of the menu, and desserts.
At Epic Steak, the only thing that rivals the eye-popping views of the San Francisco Bay, are the heavenly, hedonistic, savory masterpieces of Chef Parke Ulrich.
