Ambiance: Upon arrival I was immediately surprised by the how busy it was. Walking by I always thought it was going to be more of a quiet older crowd but apparently I was mistaken. At first I thought it was refreshing but as the evening progressed it began to feel more like I was at a Cheesecake Factory paying $$$$ than at a fine dining San Francisco tradition. Not to mention it was absolutely freezing in the place which reminded me of the way in which Starbucks keeps a lower AC temperture in order to ensure minimal lingering and increase turnaround on tables. So although refreshing I was somewhat chilled.
Service: The service was good...not great. It was prompt to the point of being overly attentive. If my menu is still open I haven't decided yet. If my fork and knife are not placed in the finished position I'm not done yet. I know to a large extent this loss of awareness cannot be blamed entirely on the server as Americans have by and large, lost all table manners. Given this, it's difficult to know when to clear a plate if no one ever gives you the obvious sign that they are finished, but I do think if a server raises their level of awareness a bit they will notice when you haven't taken a bite for 4 minutes. Unfortunately this awareness has also been diminshed by the impatience of most diners and their desire to have the plate gone as soon as they've taken their last bite regardless of whether their other party members are finished. Overall I think the service was prompt and friendly, although a bit over powering at times.
Food: Here I have have mostly good things to say. The abalone appetizer was the perfect mix of crispy and tender. I think the cornmeal crusted green tomato was an especially nice touch although I do think the tarter sauce brought the quality of the dish down a bit (it was a bit runny). I had the lamb as my main and it was delicious. Perfect portions accompanied the perfectly cooked lamb which had been stuffed with sundried tomatoes, feta cheese and kalamata olives. Dessert in my opinion was a home run and brought the entire meals score up a few points. We had the panacotta, peach sorbet, roasted peach & meringue (sorry I forgot the name). Perfect portions and perfect pairing and although I'm sure some might find it a little too sweet I have what I like to call an "advanced sweet tooth". We also got a chocolate ice cream cake which reminded me of my favorite childhood ice cream and thus was an automatic winner.
Boulevard may not deserve the "schmoulevard" I tagged on the end, but I do think my experience was not quite what yelpers chatted it up to be. Perhaps I will try it on a different night of the week with a date and see if it feels more like "fine dining" but given the amount of restaurants in this city, I highly doubt that will be anytime soon.
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