PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 63 {food coloring} cept as “casual” several times. “Refined, elegant, but still casual and comfortable,” he elaborates. “Without all the hoopla.” At Protégé, the intention isn’t to treat food like an abstract. It’s about familiar dishes done divinely. “Most things you should recognize and have an idea of, ‘Am I going to like that?’” Take the familiar pear and goat cheese salad. “We’re creating dishes that people have a reference to and they’re comfortable with, but maybe there’s some sort of element in there that either surprises or sets the new standard for what that pear and goat cheese salad should be,” says Anthony. “So when you go and see it on another menu, you ultimately think of Protégé.” In this particular instance, Anthony and his chef de cuisine Jeremy Wayne came up with a pear tartlet: shingled fruit atop a pressed layer of Cambozola blue cheese on a buttery shell with walnut praline filling. “There’s no smoke and mirrors,” Anthony says. “It’s all based on product, a balancing of flavors and techniques.” When Anthony and co-owner Dennis Kelly originally sat down to brainstorm the concept for Protégé, their goal was building it to last. “There’s a lot of flash-in-the-pans,” Anthony reflects. “There are restaurants you go to that people rave about the service, or the food, or the ambiance, but you rarely get all three … We tried to create Protégé where all three of those things were very even-keeled, where none of them outshined each other.” Dennis also ensures a standout beverage program, lending his expertise as the 191st person in the world to earn a master sommelier diploma. As for ambiance, the two settled on a woodsy and warm interior with rich walnut accents and a patio bordered with planters of young redwood trees. The a la carte lounge is anchored by a backlit bar for that neighborly feel, while the prix fixe dining room displays a large image of a foggy forest. “It’s a timeless affair,” Anthony says. The staff is equally inviting and knowledgeable on any detail you care to ask about—from the artist behind the knotted rope installation that separates the lounge from the tasting room (San Francisco local Windy Chien) to that one ingredient you can’t quite pinpoint in a sauce. “No egos. It’s very collaborative,” Anthony asserts. If Anthony wanted to boast, he certainly could. He’s honed his craft in a series of prestigious three-star kitchens. In Spain, he worked at Akelaré (“very formuladriven, almost like chemistry”
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