Baume - Palo Alto

Excellent food, excellent presentation, excellent service , excellent quiet ambiance and atmosphere. It is a smaller sized restaurant that focuses on your experience so there is a very limited number of tables and positioned for very good privacy and separation. The food was very good, and the presentation even better. The combination of fish, squab and other delights was awesome. The reservation protocol is rather unorthodox and not very obvious, but once you get over that hurdle, it's a great experience. The owners split with one being the chef and one providing the service. She was very warm and charming and their son helped in the back too. You might think this would lead to a mom and pop kind of restaurant, and technically it is, but the service, experience and professionalism is excellent. Just look at the picture attached. Awesome to look at and awesome to taste. It is rather pricey, as compared to other high end dining experiences. From a cost perspective, it is a relatively much higher premium for this category of restaurant.

Baume is an experience and while the tastes discovered may not always delight, it is a positive experience for anyone looking to hit the sharpest points in their taste buds. Came for the 8-course dinner, left with mixed feelings of highs and flats. Started high with the amuse-bouche; fresh and zesty, like running down the hill and tasting the wind of a breezy spring day. I was hoping for the standard foie gras, but it was pâté. Rich and creamy over their baguette, but it did leave a longing for the normal serving. Caviar over white asparagus followed; this was a hit or miss for me. Sometimes I'd get it right, where it started with a fresh crunch from the asparagus, followed by a burst of caviar that unleashed the flavors of the ocean in your mouth. Other times, I'd burst the caviar too early and when mixed immediately with the asparagus, left a somewhat bland flavor. Next was the jidori egg; note, you have to break the egg and enjoy the runny yolk over the (pearl? barley. Taste was savory, but mellow, with occasional sharp bitterness from the veggies; I liked it, but my companion mentioned it was a bit too chewy from the barley. I have no idea what the next dish was, but it was interesting. I believe it was scallops, but the texture was closer to tofu. It was served with roasted cucumbers that broke down without any effort. The fish was the only dish that was notably unappetizing. The flesh itself was cooked perfectly and the candied seaweed was great. The plating was beautiful and it looked amazing and set a high expectations. Unfortunately, the taste didn't match the looks. The veggies on the bottom had a strong bitterness and the sauce below the fish did not impart any strong and pleasant flavors. The squab was far the best dish I had that night; great sear, cooked beautifully red, coupled greatly with the bed of sauce, and tasted amazingly savory. Just cutting cleanly through the flesh piqued my appetite. The cheese course was flat. It was basically three bites of a honeyed cheese. The underlying flavor was very pungent and personally, may have needed a bit more honey. Dessert was absolutely amazing and was the perfect end to the squab and cheese. Presentation was lovely and starts disintegrating the moment it's brought out. Sherbet and meringue with distinct and refined fruitiness. Left me with a satisfying zesty and slightly tart aftertaste. Personally, it should've ended there, but there is one little extra treat after the dessert. No need to ruin the surprise, but do be prepared for a sweet ending to the night. A couple of notes: there's definitely a lot of efforts to bring an authentic French experience to you. The plating seems to all have French-origins and have a refined feel to them. The baguette is half baked daily by a baker trained in France and finished once patrons are seated. The butter seems to be imported from France (as explained from the hostess and seems to have impressed my companion, who could not help but vehemently praise it in comparison to standard butter. Overall, it's a pricey experience, but that's the point. It's meant to be an experience, not just dinner. The chef really does try to paint a palette of flavors, and it's not necessarily going to always wow you, but it will awaken taste buds and flavors that seemed so dull or nonexistent before. I can't say you should come to be full, but rather come to test your culinary boundaries.

My very beautiful and delicious special ocasion dinner before being plated. Just part of it got into photo...baguette and caviar I ate before taking a picture of the rest of dishes...yummm

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING This was my best restaurant dining experience ever !!! The restaurant is unlike any that I’ve been to ... I’d call it the “anti restaurant” : Why ? First of all, it has only 4 tables (round tables in 2 adjacent rooms. There is lots of privacy, with each table partially hidden from the others. Second, the Zen like interior reminded me more of a high end museum than a restaurant. Third, there was only one server and she was fabulous. She was super friendly, had a great sense of humor and enhanced the dining experience .The 8 item tasting menu, which I believe is standard, was super (I won't list the items here because I don't want to ruin your experience . Every item's presentation and appearance was immaculate. Everything about the restaurant deserves a WOW !!!!!! This is a great place to take a friend special or not … I had a great time. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this restaurant to anyone who wants to take someone to a fantastic dining experience I will be back

I ordered 2 meals to go for my husband birthday. Each dish was well packed for take out. Everything was delicious. Ribeye was on the menu; delicious meat, cook to perfection and very big portion! I highly recommend Baumé for a great diner experience at home, during COVID!