Le FANTASTIQUE
French restaurant · 6th Arr. ·
Raw fish, French wine, and aged opah with smoked vinegar
Raw fish, French wine, and aged opah with smoked vinegar
"Described as a lavish raw fish and French wine project in Hayes Valley, Le Fantastique presents a high-end, seafood-focused take on French dining." - Flora Tsapovsky
"In Hayes Valley, Le Fantastique is a new fish‑and‑wine bar from the Bird Dog team where chef Robbie Wilson treats raw fish as his preferred method and has expanded that single course into a full experience. The menu runs seven or eight Pacific fishes from the lightest fluke to the fattiest salmon, and the kitchen uses a temperature‑controlled room where fish hang tail‑up until they reach a “toothsome” texture. Techniques include dipping trout in beeswax and folding it into a tart sorrel leaf, and encasing opah in animal fat to age for two months into a ham‑like product finished with smoked vinegar; knife work is finer and citrus arrives as droplets or atomizers. Diners often order every plate, and those who start with a few frequently come back for more." - Becky Duffett
"After pandemic delays, the Hayes Valley wine and seafood bar finally prepared to open (October 22) with luxe bubbles, caviar eclairs, and a spinning‑vinyl music program." - Becky Duffett
"A longtime dream of owners Emily and Robbie Wilson, Le Fantastique feels to me like a vinyl‑centric seafood and wine hangout and a tribute to their late friend Chris Robles — born from nights drinking Champagne and chablis and listening to records. The core of the menu is raw fish that the team ages and cures (their fabrication room will hang and dry fish for seven days and even flavor them with elements like grilled ribeye bones), though it’s explicitly not a sushi bar; there are also grilled and fried items such as delicately battered shishito peppers and aged wagyu, plus caviar. One signature is a miniature eclair topped with smoked onion creme fraiche, a banana maple glaze, and caviar. Bread is a mainstay — a loaf described as the “marriage of sourdough and shokupan,” served with cultured butter whipped with spicy crab fat and espelette pepper and Marin seaweed — and Joe Hou (Angler) is leading the bread and pastry program, which will include fluffy mountains of kakigori for dessert. The wine list is almost exclusively white (much of it French) with an aggressive by‑the‑glass selection, plus Champagne and beers from the Savoie, focused on clean, aromatic, not overly expensive bottles rather than rare Burgundy. Inside, Studio Ren’s midcentury‑inspired design features a 1970s turntable, a hand‑built McIntosh sound system with oversized speakers and tube amps, leather banquettes, marble‑topped tables, and a graffiti mural along the bar, plus a private listening lounge called “the Record Shop” — all tuned so you can hear the crackle of the needle. After pandemic delays the restaurant opened on October 22, 2021, and is scheduled Tuesday–Saturday, 5:30–10 p.m.; above all, it’s meant to be about enjoying life: raw fish, bread and butter, a glass of wine, and great tunes." - Ellen Fort
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