We’ve been meaning to eat here ever since they opened in 2009(!). When they first opened, there were no reservations and it was wait in line only so we never bothered. During the pandemic, we did have some of their food kits. We had also ordered on numerous occasions from the pasta shop and eaten at Penny Roma, but we still never dined at the restaurant until today.
We decided to go with the tasting menu with wine pairing as we are wont to do. First came an amuse which was basically a savory canneloni with Tsar Nicolau Osetra caviar pressed onto the ends. Not bad, but with such a small canneloni, I think the dough to filling ratio is a bit off so it was too much dough for me.
First two dishes were served together – the Amberjack Crudo and the Hayward kiwi & Stracciatella. The crudo was served with a pieces of satsuma mandarin and lemon drop chili. The mandarin and lemon drop gave a nice brightness to the dish. Often, we’ve been disappointed with crudo at restaurants because it tends to not compare favorably with a Japanese restaurant serving sashmit, sometimes because the fish is as high quality or flavorful, but I was pleasantly surprised I found the fish to be of decent quality. The stracciatella dish was similarly uplifted by the kiwi. It was good, although I don’t need much if the mozzarella is already good.
The next two dishes came together also – the Cacio e Pepe Arancini and the Black Truffle Sformato. We enjoyed the arancini and enjoyed the spice and mild heat provided by the pepper. The black truffle sformato wasn’t quite as big a hit for us because it used truffle honey because truffle honey seemed like a bit of cheat to get truffle flavor (and you know we like our truffles fresh) and the sweetness just felt misplaced at this point in the meal.
Our first pasta dish was the Saffron Corzetti. This came with trout, trout roe, and black sesame seeds. The corzetti was not a pasta we’ve ever had before – flat circles stamped, in this case, with what seemed to be concentric circle pattern. On the plate, this dish looks messy (at one point I was going to say it looked like a pile of vomit) and the you can see the trout roe and sesame seeds were very unevenly distributed, so Andrea found the presentation a bit offputting. I enjoyed the flavor plenty enough. Normally, I not big trout fan (probably because I always see it as an ersatz option alongside salmon in sushi places), but I did really enjoy the trout in this.
Next came the Sunchoke Cjarsons. Cjarsons is another pasta form we haven’t previously experienced. It’s a stuffed pasta, almost like a mini empanada and in this case with strong folds of pasta flaring out. I’m not sure if maybe that was supposed to be like rays of sun containing the sunchoke? These fringes did have the effect of making the dough thicker and a bit more toothsome than the main filling part of the pasta. Andrea didn’t like that, but I enjoyed the contrast in texture it provided (although not something I think I’ve really experienced with a pasta.
Next came the Tortellini en Brodo to which we were looking forward because, well, the broth! The tortellini had hedgehog mushroom and fontina and I assume the broth was also made from the same mushroom which had a nice medium rich umami flavor of mushroom.
The last two past dishes came out together, the Veal Ravioli and the Acorn Orecchiette.
Lastly, dessert was the Dark Chocolate Budino with an espresso-caramel crema which tasted as good as you would think it would.
The tasting menu was a moderate (for SF) $139/pp and $65/pp for the wine paring. I am glad we were able to finally dine here although I do have to admit it was a lot of pasta for one meal.
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