Nancy and I decided to explore North Beach and have dinner at Hook and Vine, of which we’d heard good things. It’s at 4117 7th Street, right next door to the charming Vaughan Cheese. There’s plenty of parking nearby despite being only a couple of blocks from the Bay. That block also boasts Plaza Mexico and, across the street, The Wheel House Beer Garden, neither of which we have visited (should we?), so it’s quite a magnet for hungry folks.
Inside Hook and Vine there’s a separate bar area and a dining room or two, while outside a row of tables runs the length of the building. There’s also a covered front porch, which is where Nancy and I chose to sit.
As you can see, the porch was shaded against the setting sun, while a plastic screen muted most of the street noise — except motorcycles. Our end of the porch was open to the breezes off the Bay.
We arrived early and chose to have a drink at their bar, a nice and mellow Old Soul Cabernet Sauvignon for Nancy and a Calvert Excellent Adventure, a good summer IPA, for me.
We were seated on the prorch when we finished our drinks, and I ordered the deviled eggs.
It was a good decision. The eggs were sprinkled with bacon and tomato, and sat on some good fresh arugula. The dusting of seasoning was a lovely touch, as the spice balanced a microscopic excess of mayonnaise. These were very good deviled eggs.
Nancy started with the house salad, which was nice and fresh, and which she’d chosen as a side to her entree. Meanwhile, I enjoyed a cup of cream of crab soup.
As you can see, the soup had plenty of crab. The dusting of seasoning and some sherry proved a good accent to the richness of the cream, while the crab flavor shone through. Well done.
There was no local “catch of the day” or other local fish except catfish on the menu, so Nancy ordered blackened salmon with green beans.
The salmon was cooked exactly as ordered, just through, and was a big hit with Nancy. So were the blanched and then sautéed green beans.
I ordered shrimp and grits. I’d been wavering between that and the jambalaya until our very helpful server, Brittany (which I may have misspelled), told me that the only difference between the two was that the jambalaya came with rice instead of grits. The main ingredients were the same — which makes sense.
I was pleased with the dish, including the quality of the grits themselves. The smoked sausage was flavorful and abundant, as were the shrimp, which tasted quite fresh. The sauce was spicy in the sense of being richly seasoned, but not too hot-spicy. It’s a very accessible dish. The raw spring onion bits freshened and lightened the dish, and I lapped it up. Not literally, but I did wish I had a spoon to get every bit of the sauce.
The serving sizes were refreshingly reasonable for those of us (me) who tend to over-serve ourselves at dinner. And breakfast and lunch. The setting on the porch was pleasant, and the service by the hard-working Brittany was informative, as I mentioned, and friendly. She was very gracious in explaining to another table how the separate checks they ordered handled multiple shared plates. Brittany is officially a gem.
You know by now that Nancy and I enjoyed the meal, and that I’m about to recommend that you go try Hook and Vine. Ready? You definitely should go to Hook and Vine.
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