Gather | San Francisco, CA

{This is an excerpt from a larger post. To read my entire post on San Francisco, click here.}

Gather is a few steps from the college, just off the main strip on Oxford Street. The space is open, airy, comfortable and not at all pretentious. I give them major props for clearly labeling their menu with which items were gluten-free and vegan.

We sat down and poured over the menu, finally deciding on the vegan charcuterie (a must!), roasted chicken (for moi) & egg, onion and pancetta pizza (for Mr. misterbelly). The vegan charcuterie was a masterful presentation not only for the eyes, but your taste buds as well. I was floored at the incredible flavor and depth that they coaxed out of those veggies. I was convinced they were hiding secret meat and/or dairy in there somewhere to make it taste that good. That charcuterie plate was one of the best things I have ever eaten, and that’s saying a lot coming from a cynical pork eater.  

The rest of the meal was good, with solid flavor combinations and simple preparations that let the ingredients shine. I found myself longingly gazing at Mr. misterbelly’s pizza on more than one occasion as it looked and smelled incredible. They would do well to expand their menu to include gluten-free pizza. Maybe one day! 

I’m pretty sure if Gather opened an East coast outpost, they would clean up. There is a dearth of restaurants with similar concepts here and I love that they are so GF friendly.