(2) Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad @ Zuni Cafe

Holy lord. If I had to choose one meal to eat for the rest of my life, it would be the Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad @ Zuni Cafe. If I had to choose my last meal on earth, it would be the Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad @ Zuni Cafe. If I had to choose one taste to be permanently injected into my taste buds, it would be the Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad @ Zuni Cafe. Is this a bit of an exaggeration? Am I a woman of hyperbole? Yes and yes. But holy wow, this dish just nails it.

Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad @ Zuni Cafe. Photo credit: Kendra Aronson.

What makes this chicken extra special is the entire prep process. The chicken is salted/seasoned 1-3 days in advance. According to Smitten Kitchen, they use small chickens because they "flourish at high heat, roasting quickly and evenly, with lots of skin per ounce of meat, are virtually engineered for succulence." (If your mouth isn't watering right now there must be something wrong with you). Then they roast the bird in wood-fired brick oven. Hands down, the best roasted chicken I've ever had in my liiiife. Available on both the lunch & dinner menus - Chicken for two roasted in the wood-fired brick oven; warm bread salad with scallions, garlic, dandelion greens, dried currants, and pine nuts. Two disclaimers: (1) this meal it meant for two (however, I think I could easily wolf the whole thing down solo, just sayin') and (2) It takes an hour, definitely worth every minute of the wait. The hunks of bread are charred and soaked through with tasty juices, the greens are bitter and the dressing acidic, the pine nuts and currents add a little crunch and texture. It's just perfection. Absolute perfection on a plate.

Entrance of Zuni Cafe. Photo credit: Google Maps.

Brass bar @ Zuni Cafe. Photo credit: Google Maps.

Kitchen @ Zuni Cafe. Photo credit: Google Maps. 

Upstairs @ Zuni Cafe. Photo credit: Google Maps.

Roasted Chicken and Bread Salad @ Zuni Cafe ($48)
1658 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
415.552.2522
Closed Mondays, Tuesday-Thursday 11:30-11:00, Friday and Saturday 11:30-midnight, Sunday 11:00-11:00