Foodie Digest

I tend to be worthless when I go too many hours without food. If I get to the point where I’m hungry, I can contribute. I can come up with ideas of where to eat and what I might be craving. If I miss that point of awareness, though, I get stupid. Like today. Luckily I live with John who takes over. Like today. Today he said “let’s have crepes”. Off to Yelp I was to research what was nearby and we were directed to Soccer Cafe. In the easy to park area of the mission (16th and treat).

We’ve driven by this place tons of times while going to Poc Chuc. We’ve never noticed it before. A shame, since it has outdoor seats (dog friendly!) and good food.

Soccer Cafe is a pretty cavernous space. More like a school gymnasiums with TVs to broadcast soccer games. You order at the counter and pay; they deliver (and incredibly quickly) food.

Soccer Cafe has a pretty extensive breakfast/sandwich/crepe menu. Since we set out to get crepes we stuck to that. They have both sweet and savory crepes. We both opted for savory crepes.

John had a breakfast crepe — eggs, cheese and ham. I opted for the Amir crepe — spinach, mushrooms and cheese — and I added tomatoes. We both had a beverage and our total was less than $15. bargain bite!

But on to the crepes… They both arrived quickly, perfectly prepared and neatly folded.

Both crepes looked identical but they had delivered them appropriately.

The breakfast crepe:

The breakfast crepe had a great balance of cheese, ham and egg. The crepe itself was tender and eggy. The cheese could have melted a little bit more and the flavor was overwhelmingly of ham. You are given your choice of cheese; this one had cheddar. This was a good portion but I think it could have used some other flavors. Without the ham this would have been a pretty bland crepe.

Amir plus tomato crepe

The other crepe had an abundance of spinach (this is a very good thing). Again, the crepe itself was simple and eggy (compared to the buckwheat crepe of Butler and the Chef). The tomatoes added some much needed flavor but again I found myself wishing for more seasonings. Luckily there are bottles of tapatio on the table so it’s pretty easy to doctor the dishes yourself. As in the breakfast crepe, the cheese could have melted more. I found myself eating around chunks of not melted enough cheese.

I wouldn’t hesitate to come back here. The service was extremely friendly and quick. The food was quite decent and the atmosphere was pretty relaxing (though I wouldn’t advise coming here during a heated soccer match). I look forward to trying more of the menu.

Overall thumbs: Two thumbs up. The food was good, service was quick and friendly and it’s a total bargain.

Tastiness Rating: Fair. The food was good and quite edible.

Service Rating: Good. Service is friendly and super quick.

Dog friendliness factor: Outside seats make this an easy spot to hang with the dogs.

We were at a taste of San Francisco dinner party once and someone brought an Atomic sub from the Submarine Center. John took one bite and said “now THAT’S a sandwich”. Or something like that. I took a bite and said yeah, that’s like an east coast sub (to me).

Now I should add that one of our past times has been to search for the perfect sandwich. We’ve found the perfect reuben at Morty’s deli. Seriously, it was great. And the next time I feel up for the caloric splurge I’ll go back, take a picture, and write about it for you.

But today? Today is back to searching for the perfect sub. So off we went to the other side of town to Submarine Center in West Portal.

This place clearly has reached cult status. There’s a line out the door (on a Saturday post 1 p.m.). Still, we were able to order and grab a seat.

The nice thing about Submarine Center is they have 3 sizes in submarines: mini (your normal sandwich size, IMO), center, (the normal one for other people) and super. They also have regular sandwiches but this trip was all about the sub.

We order a regular size atomic (hot pastrami, roast turkey breast, corned beef brisket, cheese and hot peppers) and a mini Italiano (mortadella, capicola, salami, & provolone). Each sandwich comes with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and special sauce.

Atomic on the left, Italiano on the right

The good: the lettuce is shredded as you’d hope in a sub. The “special sauce” is the right italian-ish vinaigrette. The proportions are right on. The mini sandwich was perfect size.

The not as good: In our case, the bread was overly toasted. In my case I don’t actually like the bread toasted at all but I didn’t realize that was the default. My bad. Still, both are sandwiches were toasted a little bit too long. The quality of the meats was OK. I would have been better off with a roast beef or turkey. I think I’ve been too spoiled by incredible salami that I should get in a sub what rightfully should go in a sub.

Would I come back here? Sure, but I wouldn’t seek it out. Would John? Yeah, probably. But we’d both opt for our sandwiches not to be toasted.

Sure, yum may not be overly descriptive. Not only that, I’m falling into the “always start with dessert” mantra. To be fair, this dessert was AFTER lunch but the dessert was so memorable I’m starting with it.

I live with someone who loves sandwiches. While I could eat sushi or ramen or maybe even tacos for lunch every day, he could eat sandwiches. Especially submarine sandwiches. So we trekked to the Submarine Center (more on that later) and discovered the neighborhood of West Portal. It’s cute. With big houses. It looks nothing like the San Francisco we know and live in.

Anyway, after a satisfying lunch we decided to wander. A nice walk in the break in the SF winter storms. We stumbled on West Portal Bakery. They had tons of cookies. Muffins. Bread. Cornbread. But what caught our eye was this slice of chocolate cake:

fudgy, gooey chocolate cake.

What’s amazing about this is that neither of us are huge chocolate cake fans. I always opt for vanilla (with chocolate frosting). His choice is vanilla with vanilla frosting. But as you can see, there’s something about this one that’s just eye-catching. It glistened. It beckoned. So we ordered it.

Two forks and two bites later, we both said “wow”. This cake was rich without being too dense, moist without being gushy, fudgy without being sugary. Don’t get me wrong — this cake was sweet. But it had a smooth silky consistency that didn’t separate out the individual granules of sugar.

Two bites in we look up and the server was delivering us each a glass of water. She said we’d need it. She was right. This is the perfect cake to enjoy with a tall glass of milk.  I would drive back to West Portal (in case you’re wondering it’s the other side of town. 6 miles the other side of town) to get this cake for a special occasion.

We also picked up 2 cookies for later; a chocolate chip (no nuts!) and an oatmeal cranberry cookie. The chocolate chip was deemed “good”. (I can’t give you a better description. I had less than a bit of it and it tasted like a cookie). The oatmeal cranberry cookie had too much cinnamon and not enough oatmeal. It was a dense cookie that wasn’t all that enjoyable. I’d rather save my calories for the cake.

We noted they also served sandwiches, had a wide assortment of fresh baked breads (that looked great) and honey cornbread flowerettes (like muffins) that we almost bought.

Since this really is a counter and we only had a snack, I’ll take a break from the normal tastiness/service/overall ratings. Just add that I would highly recommend the chocolate cake.

I’m an east coast gal who lives with a Chicagoan. Needless to say, we have many differences of opinion on pizza — specifically thin crust pizza. He’s dragged me for thin crust pizza in Chicago (sure, it tastes fine. But if I’m in Chicago I’ll take Nancy’s stuffed pizza. I’ve dragged him to pizza in NY (John’s on Bleeker!). Neither of us were blown away by the other person’s idea of thin crust pizza perfection.

BUT we both love Tony’s.  Tony’s pizza has 4 different pizza ovens. FOUR. And four different types of pizza (so you can think of it as four different pizza restaurants). We’ve eaten here a number of times. We’ve had pizza from 3 out of 4 ovens, I think.

The 900 degree wood fired oven. This is the oven that made Tony famous. The story goes he won a competition in Italy for a margherita pizza. The specific combination is special to him and he only makes 73 of these daily. If you don’t get there in time for one of these 73, you’ll have to get the slightly different margherita extra. It’s still good. I don’t even know if I prefer one over the other. On today’s visit, we had one pie from the 900 degree oven. The Scarola con Pancetta pizza.

This pizza has Crushed Red Pepper, Mozzarella, Pancetta, Peppered Goat Cheese, Escarole, Sweet Piquante Peppers. The peppers here are truly the star; they are both sweet and spicy. In my opinion this pizza could be improved by substituting arugula for the escarole (a little more of a peppery bite) but I really enjoy this pizza. I can also heartily recommend the Truffle pizza, but at market price this can get as costly as $80!.  The quail egg and speck pizza, also from this wood burning oven, is also delightful. The crust is crispy and chewy and perfectly prepared.

Classic Italian oven We didn’t have any pizzas this time from this domed, gas brick oven. In the past I’ve enjoyed the Cal Italia pie (Asiago, Mozzarella, Imported Italian Gorgonzola, Sweet Fig preserve from Croatia, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano, Balsamic). It may be a little sweet for some, but it’s a fantastic leftover for breakfast pizza.

Classic American We almost always get a pie from this NY Flat Top Gas Brick Oven. If we remember, we ask for the crust extra thin. The pepperoni is a favorite (and a bargain still at $13 - it used to be $10). This time around we got the NY Sausage and Pepper.

This (and the others from the Classic American oven) come with the perfect mix of sauce and cheese. The one pictured here is not extra thin (oops, we forgot). Still tasty.

Italian brick oven is used for the sicilian style pizza. We’ve never had one so I can’t tell you too much about it.

We’ve also had salads (huge!) and a side of meatballs (tasty). One weekend nights we get takeout from here, but the outside seating has made this a great trek with the dogs place.

Overall thumbs: Two thumbs up. Service is friendly and the pizzas are easily the best in San Francisco. Pizzas to go are easily to pick up with 2 people (one to hover with the car in North Beach, one to run in and grab the pies).

Tastiness rating: Very high. Every pizza we’ve had here has been fantastic.

Service: Good. We’ve only sat at the outside tables (when we’ve dined there we’ve had dogs with us) but they’ve always been friendly and attentive. Because we’re on foot they even wrap up our leftovers in foil instead of a box (easier for fitting in a backpack). We’ve only had to wait for a table one time and they called our cell phone when it was ready.

Dog friendliness: Very good. We’ve been here before with our two big (one extra large, one large) dogs. They have several dog bowls and heat lamps so it’s pleasant outside.

(or checking your calorie counter at the door). I’ve been meaning to check this place out for a while and used the holiday exodus from San Francisco as a good excuse (that and mid-day tickets to a show nearby).

We showed up around noon on a Saturday expecting a wait. There were several people waiting outside so we put our name on the list and hoped for the best. Minutes later a server came out and called our name for the counter. Score! for being the first party of 2 on the list.

The menu is relatively small with daily options. We opted to split an appetizer and taste the gumbo, then had our own entrees. We started with:

beignet sampler. Yup, a sampler.

this was a sampler of 4 beignets (from left to right) crawfish, chocolate, apple and plain. Nice combo of sweet and savory. We started with the savory (crawfish) and saved the chocolate for dessert. These were not your normal light as a feather full of air beignet. These were more like puff donut-goodness surrounding a tasty filling. I particularly loved the crawfish one. Great seasonings and nice flavor.

cup of gumbo this was pleasant. Worth having again but I wouldn’t go there just for the gumbo. Didn’t need to, because my entree was fabulous. I’d go back again to eat this (after running a marathon to burn off the calories).

shrimp and grits this was one of the daily specials. It included a very generous portion of shrimp, great N’awlins spiciness, tomato yumminess, creamy grits and oodles of cheese. I didn’t want to keep eating it, but I did. I did save room for the chocolate beignet, though. It was GOOD.

egg and bacon tartine basically an egg sandwich with an outstanding tomato-bacon relish.

I also had the house sweet watermelon tea. It tasted like the perfect combo of an iced tea and a watermelon agua fresca. Refills on the house.

Overall thumbs: Up. We were concerned about the wait but were pleasantly surprised. All the food was well prepared.

Tastiness rating: High. There aren’t a lot of places in SF to get shrimp and grits or gumbo. These were nice renditions.

Service rating: Moderately High. We were seated quickly and our drinks orders were taken right away. It took a while to put in our meal order, though. Service was nice and friendly (which seemed all the more important because this place is tiny).

I’m sure everyone has their favorite special spot. The place where you forget about, then remember, and always recommend wholeheartedly. Canteen is that spot for me. It’s teeny, so you need reservations, and it’s just a far enough walk that we don’t go too much. Instead, it’s a nice surprise each time we go. We were looking for a last minute celebratory spot and remembered (at 6:30) to try Canteen. Luckily for us they had seatings available at 9:15.

Things to know: Canteen is tiny and only does 2 seatings nightly. The largest booth they have seats 4. A larger group would need to be seated at the counter. You need reservations for dinner because they are small. Tuesday night is prix fixe night; they have one set menu for the evening, although they’ll make substitutions (vegetarian, for example) as necessary. Other nights there tend to be 4 appetizers, 4 entrees, and 4 desserts to choose from.

What we ate (and didn’t):

• amuse bouche of scallop, roasted cauliflower and oil (I can’t remember the oil). Scallop was incredibly sweet and well prepared. I liked it but the cauliflower could overwhelm the scallop.
• crab and cardoon soup in case you didn’t know, a cardoon is a member of the artichoke family but has the texture and flavor of celery. This soup was rich and buttery with large chunks of crab. Pretty tasty. We shared this and:
• seared foie gras with quince and duck confit this was actually a substitute for a chicken liver and foie gras terrine. Fine by me The foie gras was prepared perfectly. I didn’t have any of the duck confit (much to the pleasure of my dining companion). He loved it (but duck and I do not get along..) We didn’t get the other 2 options: shrimp poached in butter and one that I don’t remember (oops). We were also served:
• Dennis Leary’s legendary rolls. They are served with butter. I’m not sure why; they are oozing with butter when you eat them (but really, what could make butter taste better? besides bacon, just more butter). The entrees we had:
• Polenta and goat cheese clafouti with mushrooms: This was my dish and was fantastic. Think of an uber light corn pancake. The richness of the polenta was matched by the lightness of a clafouti, but still had the crispy edges. Topped with goat cheese and earthy wild mushrooms. I shared this dish, but I loved it and ate most of it. Would order it again in a heart beat.
• Pork schnitzel topped with red cabbage. Again, he achieved a lightness one doesn’t normally expect with schnitzel. This was John’s dish; he loved it as much as I love the clafouti (in a here you should try this I’m happy to share it while secretly hoping the other person didn’t love it as much as you did). We didn’t get:
• Tenderloin topped with truffle and a fish dish. They both sounded good but neither as intriguing or appealing as the two we selected. For dessert we had:
• Vanilla bean souffle which we shared. This comes out perfectly risen to the table, then is cut and topped with creme anglaise tableside. This is the one constant that’s always on the menu at Canteen (except or Tuesday nights, that is). It’s a phenomenal dessert so we have a hard time not getting it. We split this (and we were pretty stuffed when it arrived so it was a good choice). We didn’t get the gingerbread with caramelized pineapples (though clearly I thought about it since I remember the description) or either of the two other choices.

This post should really be titled How unsuspecting Chinatown restaurants deal with us XMas eve. We have an annual tradition going on 7 or 8 years (at least). Every year we gather a group of people (ranges between a dozen or two) and walk (a couple miles) to Chinatown. As you can imagine, even in San Francisco the weather Christmas eve can be suspect. So we need to carry warming liquids (bourbon and tequila in flasks). And we usually start with pre-walk sustenance. We’ve started sending two (relatively sober) scouts ahead to restaurants to ask if they have seating for us. Our Chinatown trek used to have 2 rules:

1. We cannot return to a place we’ve been before. This is a kindness to the restaurant and it adds to the sense of adventure.
2. Everyone has veto rights (one veto).

I say used to because we’ve bent rule 1 one time. And we have switched to the scout method and don’t give folks a chance to veto (otherwise we’d never eat). Last year’s outing was Szechuan at Z&Y (highly recommended). This year we went to another new favorite, Bund.

We had a dozen people and just managed to squeeze into a big round table. Perfect for throwing things at each other (it happened) and for passing beer with the lazy susan in the middle. The proprietors at Bund were incredibly kind, forgiving, and even maintained a great sense of humor. Luckily, the only table seated near us were relatives who seemed entertained by us. The star at this restaurant, besides the owner’s holiday plaid coat, was the food. We had:

• xia ling bao (soup dumplings). These are always a favorite of mine and this was no exception. Really well made. Would go back for just these and the next dish.
• pan fried pork dumplings the description of these does this dish no justice. These were small, juicy and incredibly tasty. We started with a single order and requested 2 more orders. And we had 3 non-meat-eaters in the group who weren’t eating these.
• veggie dumplings I didn’t have these, but they disappeared quickly. Non-meat-eaters seemed to enjoy them a bit.
• veggie soup very rich tasting.
• spinach & tofu soup w/ pork This was supposed to be the vegetarian soup until we noticed bits of pork in it. The restaurant apologized, said this one was a mistake and on them and promptly brought out the vegetarian soup. Bonus for the meat eaters, this soup was also very rich tasting and hearty.
• chicken wonton soup another great soup version. This one had plump wontons (pork filled), chunks of chicken and rustic mushrooms. Could easily have been a meal in itself.
• salt and pepper crab December is dungeness crab season in San Francisco so we always try to get crab in Chinatown. Salt and pepper is my favorite preparation. Basically fried whole crab (shell and all) and dusted with salt and pepper (and likely other seasonings). The crab this season is particularly sweet; this was a great dish and really showcased the crab.
• general tsao’s chicken sure, it’s on almost every Chinese restaurant menu. Doesn’t mean it isn’t good and this one was a winner. Deep fried chunks of chicken in a tasty and not overly sweet sauce.
• shangai duck I didn’t try this but everyone who did liked it. The skin is different than on a peking duck preparation. Still comes with the yummy Chinese “bread”.
• garlic eggplant Another crowd pleaser at the table. Folks clamored for a second order (we didn’t place it).
• pea shoots This was a great balance to all the hearty dishes. Really delicately seasoned and perfectly prepared.
• shrimp with egg and chives This dish really resembled a shrimp omelette. Very light dish and not overly saucy. This went FAST.
• braised pork shoulder Think a Chinese version of a slow cooked southern style pork shoulder. Slow braised meat with really rich flavors. This arrived closer to the end of the meal and was probably too rich a dish to end with. Was quite substantial and filling.
• sea bass with salty cabbage They tried to steer us away from this dish thinking we wouldn’t like the salty cabbage. We stuck with the order, tho, and were well rewarded. The dish was delicate and flavorful though not a substantial portion. We could have easily had more of this.
• dan dan noodles oooh. Spicy shanghai noodles. These were really good. Noodle in a flavorful broth that were a bit hard to eat as a shared dish, but very satisfying.
• shrimp fried rice tasted like shrimp fried rice. Nothing exciting. Nothing wrong with it. Not my thing but others liked it.

I would happily go back here. The dumplings were outstanding and worth a return visit; the other dishes were all quite tasty and well prepared. Still, next year the rules stand: we can’t return for XMas eve.

So it’s been a LONG LONG time since I’ve written anything. Which means I’ll write a bunch of stuff out of order as I try to catch up, and I probably won’t have any pictures

Let’s start with Tin. Tin Vietnamese just took over the Pho Ha Tien II location in my hood. Pho Ha Tien delivered (big bonus!) but so far Tin’s food is better.

Pros: All the food I’ve had so far is fresh, really tasty and the service is friendly. They’ve redone the interior to be clean and well-lit. The hours are clearly posted (closed weekends). Oh, and I really really really like their pho bo. The star anise flavor comes through in a delicate and warming way. The beef is super high quality and the rare beef is actually rare. The first time I went I tried the fresh spring rolls but requested vegetarian. They arrived full of mushrooms and tofu; very filling, fresh, and clean tasting.

Cons: The menus is somewhat limited, especially following Pho Ha Tien’s expansive listings. Still, the things that are on their menu they do well. Sure I’d love a good banh mi, but that’s what Saigon Sandwich is for. They also don’t deliver (and I’m lazy).

Overall thumbs: Up. Very glad to have a great place to get pho near the house and appreciate the super high quality of the ingredients.

Tastiness rating: High. Really great flavors. Sure, it’s just a Vietnamese noodle shop. But if that’s what you’re in the mood for this is a great bet.

Service rating: Good. Service was friendly and the guy (owner) seems to really be trying to do the right thing.

We’ve had some of best meals in Chicago along with some of our worst for us meals (cheesy beef anyone? tater tots with squeeze cheese?). This past weekend was no exception.

Dinner at Mexique We startled our local friends with a request for dinner for 7 people on a Friday night. We were heading from bluesfest so requested casual with good food. They delivered with Mexique.

With our large group we had the opportunity to try many things on the menu. For appetizers at our table we had:

Appetizers

• French onion soup with roasted poblano this was a rich and hearty soup with amazing flavor and not overly oniony. I got to taste and I went back for more.
• TRIO OF SOPES which was: Escargots & Chimichurri Butter, Shrimp Provencal with Avocado Mousse, and and Sweet Plantains, Young Coconut, Xico Mole. These were three separate sopes, or little boats with things in them. the escargot was overly garlicky and passed along to another diner, but the shrimp was tasty and the plantain one my favorite. I loved this dish for the variety.
• Beef tartare which was quite good. Strong mustard flavor but very flavorful.
• Ceviche of the night, which was ahi tuna. I didn’t get to try this but those who ordered it seemed happy.

Entrees

• Asada served with a goat cheese souffle. My friend who ordered this asked for rare but his steak came between medium rare and medium. This was one of the dishes recommended by the server but it was one of the weaker dishes of the evening (to be fair, it was weaker because the rest of the competition was so fierce. The food was quite good overall).
• Puerco Alcaparrado roasted pork with a bunch of interesting sides. Two people at our table ordered this and both were pleased. I tasted it and thought it was good but I preferred my dish and one other to this.
• Pato al Tamarindo duck breast — served rare — and duck confit. I didn’t try this but those who did raved about it and listed it as one of the stronger meals on the menu.
• Cordero herb crusted rack of lamb — also served rare — and slow roasted coffee braised lamb shoulder. I loved the lamb chops but wasn’t blown away by the lamb shoulder. Other people really enjoyed this, tho, so I do believe it was prepared well. I loved the eggplant that came with this dish and overall thought it was one of the better and more hearty plates.
• Costillas ahh, the best, most memorable for last. Braised short ribs with a slaw and truffle fries. I loved this dish and kept stealing bites from it. If I went back to Mexique I would order this one.

We were too full for dessert and and we were in Chicago so we had other friends to meet up with.

Overall thumbs: Up. They were great at accommodating our large group, the food was great and the chef came out to meet our table.

Tastiness rating: High. Their food is really good. Would go back if there weren’t so many restaurants in Chicago I want to try.

Service rating: Very good. Our server greeted us from the minute we walked in and sat at our bar and continued once we were seated. The chef came out to meet us and talk about the meal.

Even though you’d think I’d have learned not to go to restaurants the first week they are open, I still do. And sometimes I am treated to a very pleasant surprise.

54 Mint  is one of those surprises. It’s a great cute space with exposed brick and a long dining bar. There are a few small tables that often turn into a community table (a table that would seat 6 would turn into tables for two groups, for example). And there’s some frenetic energy going on there (more on that later).

oh? and the NY part? The chefs/owners bring a great pedigree from a variety of New York restaurants. I first read about this place in my faithfully subscribed to and read Tablehopper newsletter. And now when I re-read it I wonder if it was dry cured beef or pork and if my meat sauce was beef or pork. Things to discover on my next trip to 54 Mint.

We definitely experienced some new restaurant dysfunction, but the proof is in the food and the quality of the meal here was fabulous. Here’s a rundown of the meal (and experience).

We walk into the restaurant and think ooh, this space is cool. We get smiles from the staff and I wander over to the host area. The server/host/everything person seems a bit crazed and says to me — several times over the next 10 minutes or so — I see you there I’m not ignoring you really, I see you. Eventually I someone else jumps in and we’re given 2 seats around the corner of the bar. Perfect for conversation but close enough for us to see into the kitchen. Still, -1 for the greeting/seating experience.

Lucky for me, I am sitting below huge blocks of smoked and cured meats. Which of course encourages me to order them. As soon as we sit we are welcomed and offered drinks while olives are delivered to our area. We order a glass of wine (for me) and a beer (for him). Again, there’s a small lapse in time before one of the owners (I think) jokes with us about our server/bartender/food preparer not being attentive enough to us, and then takes our order. Which is:

salumeria plate Really, like I could sit below this and not order it? It was tempting to get the aged pecorino or parmigiana, but we stuck with meat over cheese. This plate had (I think) 3 slices each of:

• proscuitto (really, what can be said. It was shaved thin, tasty, and would make a great sandwich).
• salami something or other (dry aged, tasty, thin round with a thick slice)
• spiced chorizo like salami (smoky, my favorite, thin round with a thick slice)
• cured beef (his favorite. again, shaved thin.

ratatoulle sicilian style. This was incredibly tender and sweet with roasted peppers, pine nuts and raisins. Served with toasts and eventually with a basket of bread. The bread was generous and rustic and served warm.

gnocchi house made with a meat sauce. The sauce in this dish remained piping hot for the night. The gnocchi were delicate and light; the sauce a hearty complement. 

porchetta or pork belly goodness. This came with mashed potatoes laced with cheese? crack? something addictive. One of the best preparations of this dish I’d ever had.

Service to this point was friendly and attentive. Our plates and silverware were exchanged between courses but I had to request a water refill.

And then. The reminder that this restaurant was only 3 days old. We waited. and waited. and waited. and waited. and waited. We thought about dessert. Then thought against dessert after an hour. Eventually we asked about dessert. For the evening they had panna cotta, peach crostada and chocolate cake. Our owner/server person raved about the chocolate cake. Said if we ordered it and didn’t like it he (Claudio I believe) would pay for it. We smiled and ordered the peach crostada.

Out came our crostada with a slice of chocolate cake. So we tried it. It was good. If you were a rich chocolate cake person you might think it was the best chocolate cake you’d ever had. I don’t know — go try it and tell me.

Of course we wait again to get our check (and wait. and wait. and wait. and then remind them) and eventually pay.

Given that we were sitting at the bar and got our food quickly, it’d be surprising to have this meal last over an hour. We were there at least 2 and much of the time was spent waiting.

But.. would I go back again? In a heart beat. This is clearly the best prepared italian food in our neighborhood, and some of the best I’ve had in the city. They don’t take reservations so I’d expect to wait, tho hopefully some of the extra waiting around will get better over time. I will say the staff was charming and friendly and seemed to truly enjoy being there.

Overall thumbs: Up. The location, food and attitude will bring me back.

Tastiness rating: High. House made pastas and expertly prepared pork belly will bring me back.

Service rating: Mixed. Very friendly, professional and competent but highly distracted.