Half marathon

7 Adams, Lower Pacific Heights

RESTAURANTS • First Person

7 Adams, which celebrates its first birthday this week, might have produced San Francisco’s solution to the tasting menu conundrum. Prix-fixe formats are often a Goldilocks affair — too short feels like a glorified à la carte order, too long and/or too expensive often translates to a marathon of tweezered food. But at five courses ($87 per), this contemporary Californian spot from chef couple Serena Chow-Fisher and David Fisher seems to have found the sweet spot.

Everyone starts with Chow-Fisher’s buzzed-about milk bread and the same two openers, which on a mid-summer visit were the most intricate and thrilling of the savory options — a delicate scallop crudo with a gazpacho-evoking green strawberry vinaigrette dotted with homemade koji-dusted sunflower seeds, and an equally delightful chilled corn velouté with burnt avocado and serpent cucumbers.

For the remaining trio of dishes, guests select their own pasta, main course, and dessert from a list of two to three choices. When the chefs were at their prior stop, Bernal Heights’ Marlena, pastas were the star. They’re great here, too. (See: A playful dish of cocoa pappardelle and braised lamb with smoked cotija and lime crema.)

Desserts also stand out, especially Chow-Fisher’s signature semifreddos — which on this visit brought me chocolate with ripe strawberries.

In addition to the five-course prix fixe, there’s a more traditional six-seat chef’s counter experience, which runs eight to 10 courses and two and a half hours ($157 per). On a recent chef’s counter visit, dishes included a terrific Buffalo-style deboned chicken wing stuffed with homemade chicken sausage as an ode to Fisher’s native Western New York, and a brilliant summery tart with oolong bavarois, two kinds of melon, and blackberry lemon verbena jam.

While those 8 to 10 courses are full of thrills and a touch more culinary innovation, the heart of 7 Adams is worth considering as a special occasion tasting menu restaurant — without the commitment.  –Trevor Felch

→ 7 Adams (Lower Pacific Heights) • 1963 Sutter St • Mon-Thurs 530-9p, Fri-Sat 5010p, Sun 5-9p • Reserve.