Cafe Chou Chou

Many great memories were made this past weekend, but I wanted to write about one in particular while it's relatively fresh in my mind.

I had one of the best dining experiences of my life on Saturday night.
My friends and I had made reservations for Cafe Chouchou at 8 pm in San Francisco. None of us had ever been to this place but I had seen the great reviews on yelp, and for the sake of quick decision making decided to try it out.
The first five of us got there around 7:45. We saw a quaint, unassuming small bistro on a indescript corner with simple, neon blue letters spelling the name "Cafe Chou Chou." It looked like it could seat around 20 - 25 people at most. As I walked inside behind my friends, I noticed a tall, reddish-blond haired man whom I thought to be a waiter shake my friend's hand. Initially I thought somehow my friend must have known this gentleman, but then the waiter bent down and kissed my next friend (female) on the hand, and the next two on the cheek. And as I stood there in a bit of confusion and surprise, he turned his attention to me and with a huge grin spitting his freckled face, crushed me tightly and shook my hand too while declaring his joy at having us at his restaurant in a thick, french accent. This gentleman turned out to be the owner and chef of Cafe Chou Chou, and over the next couple hours we could see how his personality affected everything around him, from the customers to the employees to the ambiance to create a fantastic dining experience.
As 7:45 became 8:00, and 8:00 became 8:15, our group of 12 were still outside waiting. I went inside to check on the table and inquire as to how much longer the wait would be. The owner looked almost mortified that he couldn't seat us yet as there was another table lingering after dinner, and with a look of uptmost resolve on his face grasped my shoulder and firmly reassured me that we were in his heart every second and he would not stop thinking about us. Then he looked up, and as if a brilliant inspiration had come to him, declared that he would tell all of us! Leading a bewildered me outside to where my friends were waiting, and after more fervent kisses and crushing hugs, he told us it wouldn't be much longer. Over the next 15 minutes, we saw various customers finish their dinners and depart from the restaurant, and I noticed that without fail, the owner thanked every single one of them, hugged/kissed every single one of them and every person left with a smile on their face. He came outside again, and brought every single one of us a glass of free blackberry champagne, and so we spent the next 5 minutes drinking outside, toasting this amazingly friendly, cheerful frenchman.
Even though our wait was almost 45 minutes after our reservations, the owner's charisma and service were so exemplary, the wait just didn't matter. This is one of the best dining experiences I've ever had, and we hadn't even gotten to the food yet.
Over the next couple hours, with warm, crusty, fresh-baked bread and half a bottle of red that the owner complimentarily changed into a full bottle of another wine he personally recommended, I ate New York kobe beef grilled to a perfect medium rare with a delicious glaze I sopped up with that crusty bread. I had full, huge steamed mussels that were loaded with an amazing, savory fragrance, and tender slices of duck with berries soaked in wine. Hands down; however, the best dish of the night was the warm goat cheese tart that practically sang to my palate. Everyone raved about it and simply could not get enough. The tart itself is like a caprese, but as apt as that description is it still doesn't do it justice.
We had a large party, and were one of the last customers to finally leave. As the night wound down and customer after satisfied customer groaningly walked out the door into the cold San Francisco evening, I saw the chef joke and chat with his employees, then grab all five of them and give them a tremendous embrace as they all laughed away. I can only imagine that he truly loves his job, his cafe, and all the people around him and he must be fantastic to work for.

The night finally ended for our group as well, and as all of us left there were more hugs to go around, more kisses for the ladies, more handshakes for the men. We all left the restaurant warmly satisfied, practically glowing with the knowledge that we just had an absolutely amazing experience that was simply worth every cent spent and more.