Darwin's Albacore Tuna Salad

John Birdsall

House-poached albacore tuna, heirloom tomato, cucumber, hard-boiled egg, tonnato sauce ($9.50).

​Tuesday, August 31, 2010

John Birdsall

​Sorry, evolutionists: Darwin doesn't take its name from Charles, but from the BMW bike shop that used to inhabit this tiny space on Ritch Street, behind the Wired offices. The building's owner used the site for poker nights with his buds, including the chef Vincent Schofield, who split from Mission seafood restaurant Ebb and Flow in May, after only two months.

Schofield ― a veteran of Boulevard ― works the teensy open kitchen like a man set free, singing along in Spanish to the café's soundtrack as he assembles plates composed with a meticulousness rare for places this casual. There's coffee (De La Paz), breakfast pastries from Acme (the place opens weekdays at 8 a.m.), and, at lunch yesterday, four baguette sandwiches, four pressed sandwiches, and as many salads.

Schofield's poached albacore tuna salad soared on wings of produce, fat slices of Marvel Stripe and Purple Cherokee tomatoes, romaine cut down in adolescence, and cucumbers that actually tasted sweet. The tuna wasn't quite as spectacular ― it had been poached a bit beyond tender, a risk with fish as lean as albacore ― but its tonnato sauce (mayonnaise blended with the tuna's oilier cuts) made a good-faith effort at unctuousness.

Darwin: 212 Ritch (at Brannan), 800-8668; open Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m.-8 p.m.