Scowl, Nu?

We decided to take Friday off to just have a day to chill (and so I could get a haircut in advance of a trip to Omaha later this week). Since the salon appointment was at 2pm, we decided to head into Hayes Valley a little early and catch lunch at Patxi’s Chicago Pizza. 

Chicago pizza, for the uninitiated, is very different from the normal thin-crust pizza. Instead of just a thin dough that, if rolled thin enough becomes almost crackerlike, a proper Chicago crust is more like a puff pastry – flaky and buttery. On top of that, layer your meats, cheeses and vegetables, and then cover with sauce.

We decided to go for their “Favorite”, a combination of pepperoni, mushrooms and black olives. Since it was just the two of us, we went with a small… but honestly, if they had an 8 inch pie, that would have worked, because after two slices we were stuffed.

The sauce was very good… nice and acidic, which might have been due to the black olives. The crust was flaky and buttery, reminiscent of the great Gino’s East… better than most, but not a life-changing sort of crust. Then again, I usually get my Chicago pies with sausage, which does lend alot of flavor to the crust as the fat fro mthe forcemeat starts to melt into the dough. Next time, we’ll do a classic sausage, pepper, mushroom and onion.

If you miss Chicago-style pizza and are in Hayes Valley, it’s worth stopping in. They do have slices available during lunch… if you like the combos available. This time it was cheese or pepperoni and artichoke hearts.

It’s not a fast lunch. Pies take up to 40 minutes to cook, but if you have a jonesing for a taste of Chicago and have the time, it’s worth checking out.

Last night, we snagged Larry and Jeremy and headed out to Incanto, hoping to reprise the dinner Janet and I had with my co-workers two weeks ago where the truffles (both black truffles and melted cheese as an ultra rich fondue and freshly shaved white truffles over linguine and mascarpone cheese).

Unfortunately, the white truffles were gone, and the fondue – a gift from the kitchen because the sister of the sous chef was at the table – was a one time sort of thing, though we were told that the staff would get the fondue over fresh maccheroni as quite possibly the best Mac ‘n’ Cheese in existance.

This week, the dinner focused on apples, pumpkin and fish.

We started with an amuse-bouche of tuna pate on a wafer thin cracker – a perfect interpretation of the tuna creme found in Vitello Tonno – the classic thin slice of veal in a tuna sauce. This pate featured a light citrus dressing that matched it perfectly.

After that, we moved to the appetizers. I went for the Handkerchief Pasta with Pork Ragu – an absolutely perfect handmade pasta with a spicy sauce bolognese. Janet went with a bread pudding with radiccio, and Larry and Jeremy each had a half-order of apple ravioli with black truffles.

The main courses were outstanding. Janet went with a fregola, a pasta that resembled israeli cous-cous, with picked dungeness crab. As we found out from the kitchen, 43 orders of crab went out – much to the chagrin of the prep cooks. I had a whole bass, stuffed with herbs and covered with cirtus and ginger – which is in the top fish dishes I have ever had, beaten only by meals at Tantris (Munich), Enoteca Pinchiori (Florence) and, surprisingly, an amazing Dorade from Incanto earlier this year. Larry had a close-to-perfect pork shoulder, and Jeremy had a creative pumpkin and amaretti risotto.

We finished with with the malted chocolate budino – the best chocolate dessert in recent memory – malted milk chocolate pudding and a cocoa nib biscotti and the bay leaf panna cotta.

The meal, fantastic, but the bar seemed to be a bit swamped, running out of glasses for the flights of wine we ordered – though they quickly recovered by using full size red wine glasses instead of the typical smaller white wine glasses. The Tuscan flight Janet and Larry both had was excellent for the price, but the mystery flight that Jeremy and I both had was a little weaker than usual – still great for the price, and the white selection was fantastic, but one of the reds (whose name escapes me) just fell apart too quickly, not able to stand up to the rich food. Still, that’s why it is a mystery flight – sometimes the wine is a perfect match (like the Primitivo we had at our last two dinners) and sometimes it isn’t.

If you haven’t been there, don’t go. It’s already too popular and it’s getting harder for us to get a reservation. But, if you promise not to go on any day when we want a reservation, then it’s OK.

Incanto Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar, Noe Valley, San Francisco 415-641-4500