Thursday, July 30, 2026 Chef Val Cantú of Californios at Frasca
This turned out to be even more special than we thought. We had made this reservation some time ago, and Californios just got their third Michelin star! So, this is our first dinner by a chef with three stars! Californios is also the first Mexican restaurant in the world to get three stars. This is Mexican like you’ve never imagined it could be and yet it was still definitely Mexican, a truly amazing feat!
Our coverage of the amazing wine pairings isn’t very good, because our wine vocabulary isn’t very good. Each wine was a perfect match for the dish!
These are some of Californios signature dishes and some just for this dinner. Just click on the image to enlarge it
This was the dish they photographed in this “With a historic 3 Michelin stars, a Mexican restaurant in San Francisco defies stereotypes”, so we’d say that TUNA & NOPAL TOSTADA is one of their signature dishes. It’s served on a small crispy tortilla, so its finger food.
The extremely thinly sliced Serrano chilis really worked well and weren’t actually all that hot so everything was just perfect. The tuna and the caviar together are simply an awesome combination. The wine paired with this dish was Ingrid Groiss 2023 Grüner Veltliner "Sauberg," Weinvertal, Austria and their description was right on:
Tasting notes: bright yellow-green, silver reflections. Discreet scent of honey blossom and ripe mango, a hint of pineapple,
candied clementine cest. Complex, elegant, integrated acidity, mineral, fine spice, delicate stone fruit, good ageing potential.
Enjoy with: Grüner Veltliner Sauberg Tradition is a perfect partner for white and red meat. Enjoy with spicy and hearty
food. Serve also with cheese and spicy dishes.
We found this wine to be a little sweet as a standalone, but it worked perfectly with the heat of the serrano chilis.
The DUNGENESS CRAB FLAUTA was the 2nd course. Martin’s best description is dungeness crab with a Mexican flare. The new potatoes took a bit of the edge off of the crab flavor which is a neat way to fill a flauta!
The wine was Moreau Naudet 2023 Chablis from the Burgandy region of France. We are amazed that these pairings are working so well. These Mexican dishes are very difficult to pair wines with.
Martin says this stole the show! This HAMACHI AGUACHILE BLANCO was the best presentation of hamachi Martin had ever experiencied. There are 4 different, perfectly ripe stone fruits, one for each slice of hamachi. These are California locals with exotic names that are rarely seen outside of California.
The sauce had just a touch of chili oil, the orangish dots. The bright green is the ice lettuce. Imagine a thickish potato chip made out of lettuce, it is that crispy! Everything worked together to bring the hamachi flavor to the front.
The wine was Edi Kante 2022 Malvasia Istriana, a light and lively wine that went well with the fruit and hamachi.
The bread course. The rolls are brushed in butter and you dip them in the whipped soft alpine butter that has some delicate herbs mixed in. The dip was light and completely addictive. You had to completely clean the plate! The flavor is almost indescrible, with hints of Crème fraîche and pepper.
The fourth course, "FIDEO" EN CALDO. When they bring it to table, its not complete, they add the tomato brodo at table. The brodo is beef broth and tomato juice, but balanced so the bright tomato is forward, supported by the rich beef broth. The guinea fowl are also very forward and the tortellini are the colors of the Mexican flag.
The wine was Contrada Salandra 2021 Falanghina, a nice acidity that complemented the tomato juice.
The fifth course, KIMMEDAI TATEMADO EN
ESTILO MATSUKASA, is the famous Kimmedai fish, also known as the Golden Eyed Snapper, an amazing deep sea fish. Here we have that at the bottom, then the pippian verde, some Colorado palisades peaches and a bit of chile salsa made with chilis from the Yahualica region of Mexico.
This is finger food like the first course. This is so complex that it is impossible to describe. Everything melds together into a truly amazing, rich delicious whole, just wow!
The Jade Gross 2024 is a truly amazing wine. Really, really fruity maybe even a touch of kumquat on the nose. This is a (W)ine (O)f the (W)eek - a WOW!
The sixth course, CORDERO ASADO, is Colorado lamb with a green chili verde that is added at table. As you can see, it is fairly rare, very tender and the salsa Verde chili sauce is light and delicate enough to work well with the Lamb. Again, quite a surprise and perfect. The fermented ramps were a really rich touch.
The dessert course, GRANIZADO, is compressed strawberries and Wow! that is strawberry and more strawberry Granito. We’re impressed. The very cold mascarpone cheese that it was on was also more flavorful than I expected. The plums are very concentrated and intense as well.
Then, one more surprise, the Château La Tour Blanche 2018 Sauternes, is one of the best sauternes we’ve ever had. The expected sweetness did not overwhelm the amazing fruit!