Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- There's nothing wrong with the restaurants in San Francisco except that so many of them serve pretty much the same Northern Cal-Mediterranean menu. It's hard to find a non-Asian restaurant in the city not serving beet salad with goat cheese, mussels in white wine and grilled salmon.

This year has seen a departure from that play-it-safe template, with several restaurants taking a chance that locals and visitors will be hungry for something beyond the grip of the city's ubiquitous bistro-trattoria-tapas-bar syndrome.

Certainly the best restaurant to open this year is Luce, in the Intercontinental Hotel near the Moscone convention center. It seems an unlikely venue for fine dining, though the designers have created a smart-looking, airy restaurant whose tall windows reflect light off black-and-gold mosaics and silver globes, giving the room a shimmer both day and night.

Yet the real sparkle here is chef Dominique Crenn. Like other great San Francisco woman chefs, she cooks with a finesse and a degree of precision you sure don't find in hyper-masculine grills like Tadich and Sam's.

Begin with ``surf and turf carpaccio,'' silk-thin slices of ham and salmon combined with a spicy black-olive gelato. Delicate yet richly flavorful white asparagus bisque is laced with hazelnuts and a sunny-side-up quail egg bobbing on top.

For something heartier, go with her succulent Colorado lamb chops and cheeks with a North African tagine of apricots and a tingling puree of peas and mint. For dessert, don't miss the chilled bavarois of mascarpone cream, with espresso custard, a kumquat puree, a gelee spiked with grappa and the scent of orange blossom.

The five-course menu at $65 is an amazing bargain; $95 for eight courses more so.

Industrial Epic

Luce's prices seem especially fair when you consider that a porterhouse at the new Epic Roasthouse sets you back $54 and a hamburger $25.

Epic is a vast place on the Embarcadero, and when I visited at twilight, the romantic view of the Bay Bridge played counterpoint to the dark, timbered, industrial ambience of the place. The dining room is dominated by a huge water pump and flywheel of a kind used to fight the devastating fire after the city's 1906 earthquake.

The long menu ranges from house-cured charcuterie and roasted marrow bones with tomato jam to seven cuts of beef, along with lamb and veal T-bones and pork porterhouse.

On the night I visited, the kitchen was having trouble getting the food out hot or cooked properly -- more than distressing in a steakhouse. Why any chef would encrust a New York strip with coriander, black peppercorns and coffee beans is beyond me, and the mediocre fried onion rings are in no need of the assertive anchovy-tomato ketchup.

Showy Horse

Silicon Valley has long been in need of a fine restaurant where the microchip execs can show off their wine expertise and worldliness. With the opening in woodsy Saratoga of the new Plumed Horse, wholly renovated from an antiquated continental place, the area has acquired one of the best new restaurants in Northern California. It's well worth the one-hour drive south from San Francisco.

This is a unique place, starting with its three-story wine cellar encased in thick glass, including the floor you walk on. The list itself, with more than 2,000 selections, is awesome, in a West Coast way.

The restaurant is a series of finely crafted rooms with more glass walls, an onyx bar and chandeliers that slowly change color throughout the meal. It all has a kind of swanky posh that nods toward Vegas yet retains its elegance.

Three Kinds of Caviar

The menu is all frills: Chef-partner Peter Armellino (most recently at Aqua in San Francisco) starts you off with three kinds of caviar, or perhaps a heart-stoppingly rich fondue of melted Camembert, into which you dip slices of potatoes cooked in duck fat and then dusted with black truffles. Wonderfully tender Monterey abalone shares a plate with sweet Sharlyn melon, acquiring a salty-smoky edge from bacon.

Armellino doesn't let up: There's a foie gras and onion souffle with prunes soaked in Armagnac. There's more foie gras married to the roast breast of duck, with ripe white peaches and walnuts. And for dessert, what the heck, go crazy with the ``2010'' banana split with chocolate, banana ice cream, candied almonds and a cherry gel.

Prices are high though not outrageous, with appetizers starting at $9 and going up to $25 for that abalone. Main courses are $32 to $44. The best way to appreciate Armellino's range is with the seven-course, $115 tasting menu ($80 for vegetarians).

The Bloomberg Questions

Luce, Intercontinental Hotel, 888 Howard St., San Francisco; +1-415-616-6566; http://www.lucewinerestaurant.com.

Sound level? Excellent for conversation.

Date place? Yes, with someone special.

Inside tip? Open for breakfast.

Special feature? An easy walk to Moscone Center.

Private room? Yes, for up to 14 people.

Will I be back? Absolutely.

Epic Roasthouse, 369 The Embarcadero, San Francisco; +1-415-369-9955; http://epicroasthousesf.com.

Sound level? Very high. Try for a table in the corner.

Date place? Maybe a double date.

Inside tip? The generous roasted rib-eye for two, at $84, would probably serve three people.

Special feature? Spectacular view of the Bay Bridge.

Private room? Yes, for up to 60 people.

Will I be back? Only if several friends assure me the service and consistency has improved.

The Plumed Horse, 14555 Big Basin Way, Saratoga; +1-408-867-4711; http://www.plumedhorse.com.

Sound level? Very civilized.

Date place? With someone who truly loves fine food and wines.

Special feature? A spectacular glass-enclosed wine cellar.

Private room? Several.

Will I be back? Yes, and the drive from anywhere within an hour's striking distance is well worth it.

(John Mariani writes on wine for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on this story: John Mariani at john@johnmariani.com.

Last Updated: September 8, 2008 00:01 EDT