SF Critic Michael Bauer Stops by Tavern on the Green, Finds 'Tourist' Level Fare

While most of New York's critics seem to be holding off visiting Tavern on the Green, SF Chronicle critic Michael Bauer was in town and decided to pop by for a visit. After all, the restaurant's newly minted chef, Jeremiah Tower was a big presence in the Bay Area restaurant scene — back in the 1980's — and came out of retirement in Mexico to take the gig. Of his meal, Bauer says:

The chicken looks like a regiment lining up for inspection with three lines of food: a knob of salad on one side, the chicken propped in the center and roasted root vegetables and the gratin on the other side...[And] Desserts made no statement beyond boring.

Bauer says he's rooting for Tower (who wasn't in the kitchen), but even he is slightly confused here: "I wondered why he would choose such a large, touristy spot for his comeback, unless he's into the irony of two warhorses finding renewed relevance on a national stage." Bauer says the meal was "good enough when judged against other tourist restaurants." Yikes.