San Francisco Blog

Meredith Brody

Chicken and dumplings

When we heard that Pícan, the upscale Southern place in Oakland's Uptown neighborhood, had started serving lunch, we happily showed up to check it out.

Though the buttermilk fried chicken, crispy pork belly, and "Southern foie gras" (pan-fried chicken livers with bacon and shallots) weren't on the menu as we'd hoped from an earlier sighting of the dinner menu, we did try a side of fried green tomatoes ($4), rendered extra salty by a heavy dusting (in addition to the already-seasoned batter).

The salt shaker had come down a trifle hard, too, on boneless chicken and dumplings ($14). We loved the texture of the tasty Low Country shrimp and grits ($15), which also benefited from a perfectly poached egg. Making vanilla wafers from scratch for the banana pudding ($8) was a sweet idea that backfired: they'd been baked so hard they never softened. A mini mint julep in a shot glass ($5) hit its mark.

Overall, a salty and uneven lunch. But there's something appealing enough about this high-ceilinged place with an open kitchen we vowed to give it another try.

Pícan 2295 Broadway (at 23rd), Oakland; (510) 834-1000