On the plus side, the food is everything that you expect. Absolutely fabulous. The fish and game were unparalleled. Oddly, however, my favorite memory of this is the cheese cart. The cheese service was excellent, and although I can't remember the exact cheeses, all were excellent and professionally described.

Again, although I think that our service issues were most likely rare, the food is worth it. Prices are approximately $50-80, depending upon how many courses you select.

We each enjoyed the tasting menu, which meant we could choose an appetizer, a fish and seafood item, a meat item, and a dessert. The decision was extremely difficult, but I had evil melt-in-your-mouth seared foie gras with carmelized red onions for an appetizer. Ally enjoyed an amazing seared ahi tuna with avocado, nori, and a unique lemon-soy dressing. And that was just for starters!

Our time in dining paradise continued with the wonderfully juicy soy-glazed filet of beef with roasted eggplant-pepper marmalade. That was my main course, and Ally had the lemon herb duck breast with Rhubarb, spinach, and parmesan potatoes. For the first time in my life, I also ordered a cheese course, which brought to my taste buds a unique cheese called "mimolette", which is carrot-orange with a waxy and hard texture and tastes like a smoked carrot.

Dessert was a pleasure, and all I can remember is that Ally had a big smile on her face when she scooped into her Baked Chocolate Souffle with Two Sauces. Jeremy was our server, and he handled the dinner with plenty of smiles and excellent advice. A very warm touch that ended the dinner were the superb petite fours (small plate of treats and cookies) which had Happy Birthday written in Chocolate Icing on the plate and a single, tall pink candle for Ally. I did not pre-order any birthday special, but I think I may have casually mentioned it to the server during our dinner. So it was a delicious surprise, and even after the dinner we ate each piece from the plate!

The four course tasting menu is $64 dollars, but you will find this dining experience a very memorable San Francisco experience. The Gary Danko website is a superb one: www.garydanko.com

On our recent visit, my husband and I both selected the 4-course menu. We both started with oysters in lettuce cream with caviar. It was heavenly. The oysters were small, but very fresh and barely poached. The lettuce cream was a pool of almost a cream soup. The sprinkling of caviar provided just the right accent. In the past here, I have had similar oyster preparations -- always with caviar but with a different flavored cream sauce -- and they have all been perfect. My husband had scallops as his next course and they, like the oysters, were cooked to just the right point, crusty and caramelized on the outside and soft inside. I had lobster salad, which was arranged like a work of art. About half a small lobster shared the plate with slices of avocado and citrus fruits. My husband's main course was pheasant cooked two ways, the breast steamed and the leg confit. It was not as good as the previous dishes; the breast meat was as bland as turkey. My main dish was rabbit loin on top of a toasted risotto and hazelnut cake. The rabbit was good, but the risotto cake was outstanding. The outside was crispy and the hazelnuts gave it (what else) a nutty flavor. We both had a raspberry rhubarb tart with creme fraiche ice cream for dessert. It was good, but nothing special. On a previous, I had a chocolate souffle with chocolate and vanilla cream sauces poured in as it was served. It was delicious, but this time I wanted something not as rich. On a previous visit, I had the squab in Moroccan spices as a main course. The squab was cooked properly (not overdone) but the spices were a little overwhelming. The service is extremely smooth, and the servers are knowledgeable about the menu and are friendly without being overly familiar. This is a fine restaurant for a special occasion. Reservations, especially on weekends and at "prime" times are difficult to get. There are 11 seats at the bar, held for people who arrive without reservations.