At Quince, San Francisco’s highly regarded and Michelin triple-starred restaurant, $220 buys you a stunning fixed-price supper including caviar, cold-water lobster, venison and “A Dog in Search of Gold.”

The latter dish, crispy white truffle croquettes, is served atop an iPad. The screen runs video of a dog hunting for truffles in a forest.

“Living in San Francisco for over 20 years, I have witnessed the tech boom and I wanted to combine a little bit of gastronomy with technology and a little bit of education,” said Quince chef Michael Tusk. “The idea was simply about taking the guest on a voyage to being out truffle hunting and then having a moment when the truffle is dug from the ground.

“Truffles and where they come from is always a question that the guest asks about. Guests are curious, and it allows a dialogue to begin and start the meal in a relaxed manner.”

The education about truffles addresses a particular knowledge gap: Many people remain unaware that dogs are now often used to find the prized subterranean fungus.

“A lot of my staff still have visions of large pigs hunting for truffles in photos from decades past, not small and nimble dogs,” Tusk said.

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The iPad platters, decorated with moss and other vegetation, end up looking like forest scenes, with tasty morsels scattered throughout. This year’s version of the dish features white truffle with salt-roasted celeriac (celery root) and roasted porcini mushrooms, dusted with dehydrated porcini powder “since porcini and truffles are around at the same time and eat well together,” Tusk said.

Tusk unveiled the dish two years ago, with white truffles, then with the black Perigord version of the fungi. “We made an edible soil the first year with Jerusalem artichokes, and since we have a farm collaboration with Peter Martinelli at Fresh Run Farm, which supplies a majority of our vegetables … we added some other garnishes per the season and were off to the races.”

The restaurant has more than 20 iPads to use for the dish, Tusk said. The devices slip into custom-made boxes designed by Tusk and San Francisco woodworker Luke Bartels. “The more that I can support local artisans and have service pieces made for the restaurant and support the community, the better,” Tusk said.

The food sits on a screen atop the iPad, and the screen is sterilized after every use, he said. “The food does not directly sit on top of the iPad,” he said.

Of course, San Francisco’s world-renowned restaurant scene is closely scrutinized.

“In a sign that even the most prestigious restaurants are struggling to maintain their cutting edge we learn today that (Quince’s) chefs have cooked up a bold new plan to grab the Instagram-ready eyes of customers: Dishes served on iPads,” wrote Jack Morse on the website SFist.

Tusk said he decided to plate the dish on an iPad not to attract younger diners, but mostly so he could work on a fun collaboration and add a whimsical start to the meal. “If you dine out at restaurants around the world, the days of eating on a certain style of plate are over with,” Tusk said. “Plus, during a meal at Quince you will have plates … from Spain, France and as far away as Kyoto. Throwing in a local touch was very appealing to me.”

As Quince’s culinary star has risen, so have its prices. San Francisco Chronicle food critic Michael Bauer noted in 2015 that the restaurant charged $85 for a five-course tasting menu when it opened in 2003. By the time of Bauer’s article in March 2015, the restaurant’s prix fixe dinner price had risen to $195.

For 2017’s Michelin guide, Quince received another bump up, bringing its star count to three from two. That puts it in the company of triple-starred San Francisco establishments Benu and Saison, Manresa in Los Gatos and The French Laundry and The Restaurant at Meadowood in wine country.