Thanksgiving weekend is always a great time for the missus and I to indulge in some grade-A restaurant haunting. We don’t need excuses to search out one or three places we’ve been meaning to get to – there are plenty of “real” reasons for us to hit the town. First of all, the day after Turkey Day is the day that we decided to call the anniversary of the beginning of our relationship. Technically it’s November 25th, but the T-Day Plus One works so well for us, more often than not it’s the day that we tend to actually do the celebrating. Second, we’re always in the Bay Area for the weekend, which means that the parents and others are in the mood to go out and have a good time to mark our brief time together. Plus I’m away from my kitchen. That usually means at least two dinners out, and sometimes more. And what better time to give thanks for the invention of the credit card? Am I right, or am I right?

Last year’s Thanksgiving weekend saw us at Chez Panisse and Brix. This year, we set our sights on Range, one of the most buzzy places in the City, as our anniversary joint.

Walking down Valencia towards the restaurant, the sidewalk was dotted with figures hunched under blankets or garbage bags. It was a pretty cold night, even for a San Francisco November, and it was hard not to feel like a preening jerk strolling past those who were fighting the cold as we made our way toward a couple meals that would cost a full week’s paycheck for someone working a minimum-wage job. Ah, guilt. Where would I be without you? Wait, guilt – don’t answer that.

Like a lot of young, “edgy” restaurants in the Mission, Range has a pretty low-key exterior, its one distinguishing feature being the streetlight imprinted with the word “Range” outside the door. Once inside, one immediately notices its stylish signatures – the medical refrigerator behind the bar, the metallic gleam of the smooth tabletops, the muted colors and elegantly subtle lighting. Nice place. The main dining room has a good feel to it, urban but comfortable. Kinda the opposite of the restaurant rooms I tend to favor, but hey, the place looked nice.

Shortly after being seated, we were presented with the menu and the bread. Bread was decent, but overshadowed by some sweet, creamy artisanal butter. The menu, which changes daily, was short but not surprisingly so; it listed seven appetizers and six entrees. The choices looked interesting and loosely strung together – a good mix of new Californian with some Asian and Mediterranean touches. The wine list had some good value choices – mencia from Jose Palacios, burgundy from Leroy – and some more standard higher-end stuff like Williams Selyem pinot and Dominus cabernet.

J opted for the raw hamachi with avocado, watermelon radish and meyer lemon vinaigrette to start, and I picked a mushroom-stuffed pasta with brown butter and almonds. Both starters were excellent. The hamachi was fused with the correct amount of vinaigrette to highlight its flavor without drawing attention to its rawness, rounded out by the creaminess of the avocado. The pasta had a woodsy filling that was really wonderful, and the butter-and-sage sauce was well done. Maybe I could have used a bit more sauce, but overall it was a neat little dish. We ordered a half-bottle of HirschGruner Veltliner on the waiter’s recommendation, and it turned out to be a great pick – smooth and elegant with floral notes and some grapefruit on the palate. Excellent.

Happily, the main courses stood up to the challenge of the appetizers. J’s short ribs were carefully cooked to the point of falling apart, but with enough texture to stay interesting in the mouth. The short ribs came with a side of barley and hen of the woods mushrooms that was really quite amazing; I’m not much of a barley man – the nutty taste can be a little overpowering and beat up on more subtle components – but this barley was restrained enough to let the other flavors stand up. Barley in harmony. Who’da thunk it?! I had a dish of braised lamb sirloin with beluga lentils, goat cheese, and broccoli rabe. It sounded simple enough on the menu, but on the plate it coalesced into something else. The lentils were the best I’ve had outside Cobras and Matadors, and the goat cheese was in a sauce that contrasted the spices of the lamb, the lentils, and therabe . I was beginning to get a sense of what made Range tick – they are really good at combining elements on the plate in a way that builds upon their individual strengths into something better. Like the Borg, only with dry grains and sauces. We drank another half bottle with the main courses, a 1995 Gigondas from E. Guigal, which Wine Spectator would have clucked at for being past its designated prime. This bottle, however, was still going strong, kicking out layers of red earth and pepper, and a buttery finish.

We finished the night with a glass of Paolo Saracco moscato d’asti that was very nice, albeit oddly overpriced. (You can find a bottle of the stuff for $15, yet they charge $7 for a half-pour? Eh?) All in all, a great meal out. There were no weak-link dishes, and everything felt just right – everything we were served seemed a natural extension of everything else. The service was spunky but knowledgeable and made good recommendations off the wine list and the menu. It’s a place with a good concept and great execution, and it’s not even that expensive – for a place that is a battle to get a weekend reservation for, it’s a lot cheaper than most other hot spots of its ilk. Highly recommended.

Tomorrow, Eccolo.