Pesce on Polk - Review
Hi Chowhounds. Sorry I've been off the SF board for so long. The weekly e-mail subscription is a great new feature, but it also encourages my natural laziness!
I checked the SF board a few weeks ago to check out what Chowhounds had to say about Pesce and a few other restaurants. (Wonkie, thanks for warning us off Ozumo.) I saw that Pesce had been discussed much, save for one lukewarm review that almost scared us off.
Last Saturday night, Amy and I dined at Pesce for the first time. Never having dined on Polk (between Green and Vallejo), we allotted the typical 15 minutes for finding street parking. This was a big mistake. We drove around for 20 minutes without any luck, after which I dropped Amy off at the door to hold our reservation. An hour later, I was still circling the 5 block radius surroung Polk and Green, dazed by hunger and bewildered by my bad luck. Finally, I pulled up to the curb of the restaurant to find Amy and see if we should give up and go someplace else. It was only then that I learned that Pesce had a $6 validated parking deal with the Video City parking lot two blocks south on Polk. (It would have been nice to put a sign up, don't ya think?)
After that kind of parking nightmare, I had every reason in the world to despise my meal at Pesce. To my complete surprise, it was the most oustanding dining experience in recent San Francisco memory.
Pesce is styled like a Venetian chichetteria. Chichetti are like the Venetian equivalenent of tapas -- small plates of seafood to sample and share over a leisurely meal paired with wines by the glass. Amy and I visited Venice last September and dined at several incredible chichetteria. (If you follow the Slow Food movement, it's possible to dine quite well in Italy -- Alle Testierre and Vini da Gigio are the spots to hit in Venice.) Pesce gets the feel of these restaurants just right, probably because Pesce is run by a big burly Venetian chef. The front room is long and narrow with a bar stretching across one wall and small tables for two and four lined up across the other. A small back room seats four more tables, one large enought to accomodate mayabe a party of six. For a detailed description of the decor (including the funky blue, yellow and green glass globe chandelier), check out the recent review in the Chronicle.
Speaking of the Chronicle... I'm usually wary of head food critic Michael Bauer. He gets caught up in the hype of just about any new restaurant (ahem, Redwood Park, R.I.P.). So naturally, when he stated that Pesce serves seafood that competes with the best in the city, I was skeptical. When I looked at the bargain prices on the menu, I was downright incredulous. But for a change, Mr. Bauer is right.
Amy and I began the meal with two small plates (chichetti): the swordfish rolls, which Bauer describes in his review, and the thinly sliced grilled octopus served over celery and sliced yukon gold potatoes with fresh herbs, sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. I have never enjoyed octopus of this quality in the Bay Area. In fact, I think we've dined on so much chewy, slightly fishy grilled octopus over the years that I forgot what this delicacy is supposed to taste like! Tender and firm (that's firm, not chewy!), with a hint of smoke in the flesh. And a revelation paired with the celery and creamy potatoes. You must try this dish.
For an entree, Amy and I shared the lobster spaghetti in a brandy cream sauce. One bite and we were transported back to Italy. But this time, to Rome, where I fell in love with a similar dish at Settimio all'Arancio. We learned from our server that this dish was featured for the first time on Valentine's Day, and the response was so overwhelming that it's been on the menu ever since. The thick spaghetti noodles and the half lobster served in its shell (no worries, you can pull it whole out of the shell with only a fork) were spot on. The brandy cream sauce was everything you'd hope it would be with none of the weight and just a hint of chili pepper. The basket of fresh breads will help you savor every last drop.
The wine list at Pesce includes wonderful Italian vintages at bargain prices (mostly $6-7 glasses and $20-30 bottles). We particularly enjoyed the processo, a sparling wine very popular with the Romans these days, a delicious Vermentino from Sardegna, and for dessert, the vin santo and a lemony sgroppino. The menu also features passito, a wonderful dessert wine which even K&L Wines has trouble getting in stock.
Desserts are stellar. I don't like tiramisu. I never order tiramisu. But Amy is a sucker for it. They may call this dish tiramisu at Pesce, but I think that's an insult. To Pesce. If you want the real deal (not the cakey joke they serve most places), you'll have to line up behind me. The biscotti were also something to brag about, served bite size and by the handful with a glass of vin santo ($7 for the pair!) and having a lot in common with Jewish kmish bread.
The service at Pesce is attentive but more importantly friendly. We happen to enjoy chatting it up with the staff, getting their takes on the food and whatnot. It was obvious that the staff at Pesce appreciate diners who are there for more than the pretty-people Polk St. scene. We were well taken care of, and treated to sgroppino on the house at the end of the meal. The staff remembered and acknowledged us when we returned last night for an encore performance.
That's right, Amy and I enjoyed Pesce so much that we made a reservation to return as soon as possible. My parents were visiting, and we knew this would be the perfect Sunday meal. Wish I had more time to go into the details, but suffice to say that they too were won over by Pesce. It's one thing to have a meal replete with good dishes and a few great dishes. But to have a meal where you want to shout from the tree tops (or lacking dexterity, post on Chowhound) about every dish -- that's just unfair. Pesce once again distinguished itself with a squid ink rissotto with calamari, and a linguine di mare with muscles, clams and shrimp. Since you're all Chowhounds on this board, I don't need to tell you what to look for in fresh, quality seafood. I only need say that when Michael Bauer says Pesce could compete with the best seafood restaurants in the city, he's not joking. Sample anything on the menu, even the lowly crab cake, and I'm confident you'll feel the same way.
Do you miss Venice? (For those of you who experienced some of the terrible restaurants I remember dining at a decade ago, probably not. But if you've caught on to the hidden gems like those we found last fall, I'm sure you do.) Do you want to sample the cuisine of Venice without the customary hour and a half long wait to settle the bill? Pesce is hopping, so it's not like it needs Chowhound support. But it deserves it.
Zach
the other zach
Mar 10, 2003 12:31PM
Thanks for the mouthwatering review (and the parking tip!).
The biscotti you described sound more like cantucci (traditionally served with vin santo). Are they just using a term more familiar to Americans?
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A wonderfully evocative review..thanks, Pesce is now on my must go list!
One question ... I've never heard of kmish bread,...I have often heard biscotti likened to Jewish Mandelbrot (a twice baked cookie, with a similar shape and texture) could you describe it a little more?
Again thanks, and welcome back!!
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Nice report. I'm ready to go. By the way, how much was that lobster spaghetti? Sounded great.
I'm impressed by your parking perseverence (even though it was fruitless). One hour and twenty minutes. Must be some kind of record. I didn't realize that that area has become that hard to park. I'll keep it in mind when I go there. Until now I always thought that the top of Russian Hill held the record for worst parking (worse than Chinatown).
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Nice review, zach^2. I've been meaning to try Pesce for weeks, and your post finally tapped me out of my equilibrium, and sent me careening out of orbit towards the upper Polk.
The room surprised me; it is long and narrow, with a few tables near the street, and a few more in the back. I didnt count, but Id say there were almost as many seats at the bar, as there are at tables. Most of the folks at the bar were couples, which was refreshing. I took a seat down close to the cook stations so I could see what was going on.
Based on Chowhound read > Chowhound do, I ordered a glass of the Prosecco Drosian and got to work. I started with the Octopus Salad from the cold small plates menu. Since the waiter was busy when the dish came up, the cook looked at the ticket, and then looked at me, and the served the dish. This is a good sign of everyone in the place working together; plus the cook was also obviously proud of his work and wanting to show it off.
As has been reported previously, it arrives warm on an oval plate dusted with herbs. The dish consists of thinly sliced potatoes, octopus, and celery with olive oil, coarse-grained sea salt, and perhaps a drizzle of vinegar. When something is good (and this was good) I try to figure out what the secret is. First, was the texture; having everything sliced a similar thickness, but each having a different texture was really interesting it was like a taste exploration as you lifted up each fork full of food. The celery stood out in the dish providing a grassy counterpoint, and bringing to mind that celery is regarded as one of the basic aromatic vegetables in classic French cooking. And finally, the coarse salt hit the spot. Because there were big crystals, the occasional bite would release a pleasurable burst of saltiness that merged with the octopus, potato and celery just right.
Next came the Swordfish Rolls. These are thin fillets (palliards?) of swordfish rolled around a stuffing of seasoned breadcrumbs and red currants. It is easy to cook such things too long, but these were done to perfection, almost creamy in texture. I suspect they were poached, but that is just a guess. The dish was dressed with slices of spicy green olives a big handful of sautéed capers, olive oil and perhaps some shaved fennel. This was another good dish. The tartness of the olives and capers provided a nice contrast to the creamy fish. Two dishes, two winners.
I finished up with the Grilled Sardines (plus another glass of the prosecco: it was amazing how well the sparkling wine went with the bright flavors of the dishes). This dish was a lot more than just sardines. There were two savory grilled sardines in the middle of the plate (another oval one), but there were also Manila Clams, a small (lentil-sized) wheat ball pasta with a made up name which I forget, and a dressing of olive oil and tomato sauce. I thought this dish was a bit heavy on the salt, but it also provided a good assembly of textures and tastes. It wasnt my favorite of the trio, but I wouldnt steer anyone away from it, either.
All in all, a fine place. I love seafood, but I have never had a meal from the ocean so artfully and creatively prepared. Some people have said that Pesce is the seafood restaurant that San Francisco has been waiting for. Id say it is more than that. The dishes are delicious, plus they are creative. The food at Pesce delights the mind as well as the palate.
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I forgot to mention the price, $36 plus tip for two glasses of wine and three dishes. A bargain and a half, says me.
Oh, I didn't much care for the bread - it did not have a course texture, or moist crumb - but I shouldn't be eating bread anyway (diet).
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One further piece of info, I also had a cappuccino and several biscotti, which make the meal an even better deal.
The cappuccino was only adequate, which proves that you can have poor, mediocre, and great execution in almost all areas of food. However, the biscotti, which are imported from Italy, were truly outstanding.
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You should have told the restaurant to carry fresh baked daily Bay Area Biscotti from the Bay Area Biscotti Company and you would have tasted authentic biscoti from this side of the ocean.
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We live within walking distance, but I certainly admire your parking pursuits, since we used to drive over and parking IS a hassle. We had one great meal at Pesce that was a sort of last minute- "oh let's stop here"- type of thing, about a month ago that was surprisingly wonderful with great service...and one recently that was quite disappointing. For both meals the food was very good, from salads and small dishes to entrees, but the wines we chose were only so-so for our tastes. The bummer on the second meal was that it was really late at night but they sat us in the back, despite our wishes, and the fact that there were empty tables in the front. Reduced to leaning over our table whispering politely as to not disturb the two other couples seated back there, we cut our meal short after two appetizers. It was an absolutely stifling atmosphere which colored the whole experience so that food, wine, and service seemed completely over-rated.
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I can relate. The problem with the back area is that your experience is very dependent upon the other parties in that area -- it's almost more of communal eating with all the other tables than having an isolated meal to yourselves. If it's just the two of us, we have taken to sitting at the bar. To me, it's a much better experience.
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Thank you so much for appreciating our great little restaurant. Reading this article makes me crave Pesce food. I used to work there and have a love for evrything that restaurant is and stands for. I'm glad you enjoy it too.
cp.
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