Tom Douglas

My Italian Night in San Francisco, by Brian Cunningham, Corporate Expediter

After spending a night in San Francisco, my time in Italy was re-lived.  Having the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time in Florence, my favorite memories are of my friends and me spending the majority of an evening eating and drinking at La Spada; a place where I cooked, and my friend knew the owners.  Most nights were a 3 hour or so affair of antipasti, primi, secondi, and dolce– all accompanied by one too many carafes of the house wine, the ubiquitous doppio espresso, and maybe a few fingers of grappa or vin santo to round out the evening.  We would all walk out with  a little too much food in our bellies, and a little too much wine on the brain, and while none of us really smoked, a cigarette just seemed a fitting way to end the meal as we wandered on to the nearest pub for a nightcap.

The other weekend may not have been in Florence, but those nights seemed to have been re-lived as my girlfriend, Jess, and I hit up three of San Francisco’s best Italian joints.  Our first stop was at A16, a bustling Southern Italian inspired  place in the Marina district.  We sat at the bar, sharing a great dish of tuna conserva, roasted peppers, and fava bean puree.  The local peppers were a wonderful counterpoint to the rich tuna, and the half carafe of California Barbera was great as well.  From there we continued on to Incanto in the Noe Valley where the chef, Chris Cosentino, is known for his salumi and his use of off-cuts. There we had an amazing chicken liver pate with a little salad of dates, tarragon, celery, and celery leaves (in my opinion an underused and often trashed ingredient), a great local sardine and potato salad, and an eye opening clams with tripe and chilies.  The tripe was tender and had just enough funkiness to remind you of what it was.  We would have liked to have stayed and tried some more, but our reservation at our next place was beckoning so we headed out for our “secondi.”

We arrived at Delfina around 10pm and the place and its neighbor/sister restaurant, Delfina Pizzeria, were both packed and alive.  Delfina had the energy of  a big city restaurant, but the coziness of a neighborhood establishment.  Our server was great, the soundtrack was perfect, and the food was spot on. Perfectly cooked local squid, tender and sweet, wiht great flavored beans and a nice parsley sauce was followed up by a wood roasted and sliced pork shoulder, farro, agrodolce onions, and a wonderful pan sauce.  I must say this was the best of the three places, and while we passed on dessert, I did find room for a doppio espresso.  Leaving, we asked our server where to get a nightcap as we walked out a little too full, a little too much wine, and me really wanting that smoke to end the night as we walked the streets of the Mission District.  But, alas, this is San Francisco, not Florence, and Jess would have certainly not approved of that cigarette.  Nonetheless, it was a fantastic evening and brought me back to my days abroad.

November 30th, 2009