Description
At Hibiscus, Sarah Kirnon incorporates traditional Caribeean dishes and flavors with the timeliest of Bay Area ingredients - ox tongue for the explorers, say, and "farm eggs" for the urban homesteaders. Made with Kirnon's penchant for clear flavors and farmers market ingredients, her crab and grits recalls Zuni's polenta as much as it does a Bahamian breakfast. Her strongest dishes are the ones with the most vivid flavors: nubbly split-pea fritters called pholourie; salt fish and ackee with ripe plantains; an aromatic, sweet pepperpot with oxtail and beef cheeks. And Miss Ollie's fried chicken is a dish with its own gravity, so extraordinary that your gaze will orbit its listing on the menu, pretending to consider other dishes, up until the moment the waiter comes to the table.
