I’ve been waiting for this restaurant opening ever since I heard about it last year!

Coming from my former boss, chef David Barzelay of Lazy Bear and True Laurel, his newest addition to the San Francisco dining scene is a swanky French restaurant that oozes decadence. With the closure of Monsieur Benjamin in 2024, there’s been a void for refined French restaurants so I was especially excited to try JouJou which just opened in March. Reservations aren’t easy to get but if you sign up for cancellation notifications, you should be able to snag one (that’s how I got mine). The space is quite large with multiple dining rooms and a separate bar area. We arrived right when they opened and by the time we left, the entire restaurant was packed.

The menu is extensive with a large raw bar featuring over the top seafood towers, alongside small plates, soups and salads, entrées, and sides. To be honest, everything sounded amazing which made choosing dishes quite difficult but I tried to get at least one item from each section. We didn’t even look at the cocktail menu since neither of us drink but I’m sure the beverages are stellar given how strong the cocktail programs are at Lazy Bear and True Laurel.

I mean you can’t go wrong with a warm baguette with creamy French butter. Now does it beat Lazy Bear’s incredible cultured butter? Hard no but still great.

The velvety smooth chicken liver mousse paired nicely with the slightly sweet but tart kiwi jam and floral nutty notes from the sauternes gelée. The buttery homemade brioche bread is a wonderful accompaniment with the chicken liver mousse. We did compare this to Monsieur Benjamin’s signature chicken liver mousse with apple compote and brioche and we both agreed that Monsieur Benjamin’s chicken liver mousse had a slightly more subtle flavor whereas JouJou’s chicken liver mousse was a bit more intense.

A very colorful salad of mixed chicories, orange, mandarin, roasted beets, and a slice of brûléed grapefruit all dressed in a tarragon citronette. Of course I wanted more of the brûléed grapefruit because the texture and flavor of that sweet caramelized crust in contrast with the bitter grapefruit was delightful. Tommaso wasn’t as crazy about the salad since he doesn’t care for grapefruit due to its natural bitterness.

They actually split the lobster bisque in two portions even though we told them they didn’t need to. The lobster bisque was flavored with brandy and fine herbs and was extremely luscious and rich. The lobster claw pieces were perfectly cooked and tender. My biggest criticism was that the soup was lukewarm and if they had served it in one bowl, instead of splitting the portion, perhaps the soup would have stayed warm longer?

Gnocchi à la Parisienne is different than Italian gnocchi where the dumplings are made from choux pastry rather than potatoes and then boiled and pan seared. Their rendition made the dough into a spiral puck rather than individual dumplings which was a creative twist. The gnocchi à la Parisienne was served with various vibrant spring legumes and herbs and a Gruyère cheese fondue flavored with vin jaune. I enjoyed all the flavors together but my biggest criticism was that the choux pastry itself needed more salt. When eaten with all the components, it was relatively seasoned but eating it alone, the dough was underseasoned. I think I would have also preferred individual gnocchi.

This received my lowest score for a few reasons. While the trout was nicely cooked, very tender and medium rare, leaving the skin on the trout was unnecessary since it wasn’t crispy. The almond crust topping was enjoyable but it could have been placed directly on the flesh of the trout. My biggest issue with the dish was that everything was basically cold. The toasted almond beurre blanc, while tasty, was cold and so was the fish. I’m not sure if they executed the dish too early and were waiting for the gnocchi à la Parisienne to be finished since they came out at the same time (the gnocchi was hot). One of my biggest pet peeves is having the correct temperatures aka cold food should be cold, hot food should be hot, because it really affects the overall experience of the dish. If everything was hot, I’m sure my experience eating this dish would have been totally different.

This was a gift from the kitchen, a beautiful side dish of white asparagus with brown butter and hollandaise.

These were addictively good pommes frites.

Now onto the desserts which were all pretty fantastic.

The baba au rhum cakes were squishy and soft and had the right amount of rum soak without being too boozy. It was served with whipped coconut and pineapple flambée which really gave tropical vibes.

The one dessert I HAD to get was the tarte tatin, one of my favorite desserts of all time. The Pink Lady apples were beautifully caramelized and soft, the puff pastry underneath was buttery and flaky, and the brown butter chantilly tied everything together.

I also wanted to try their canelé and it was delicious. Warm custardy interior and a crispy shell. Maybe I wanted the shell to be a tad crunchier but that’s being nitpicky.

Another gift from the kitchen was their double vanilla ice cream and you might think what’s so special about this? Well this was the most intense vanilla ice cream I’ve ever had where they used both Tahitian and Madagascar vanilla which do have different qualities. Madagascar vanilla is more of that classic rich and creamy flavor whereas Tahitian vanilla is more floral and fruity. Together it created a vanilla ice cream that I’ve never had before and it was served with a strawberry confiture that just elevated it even more.

Overall JouJou delivers a decadent and thoughtfully executed take on French dining with clear strengths in its desserts and classic preparations. While there were a few inconsistencies, particularly with temperature on some savory dishes, the highs were memorable enough that I’d return to explore more of the menu (and yes, order that tarte tatin again). It’s still early days and once the kitchen finds its rhythm, JouJou has the potential to become a standout in San Francisco’s French dining scene so my rating is an 8/10.