Dining in San Francisco; Delfina Restaurant

Delfina
www.delfinasf.com
We had dinner at Delfina on a Tuesday night in early April.

We arrive at Delfina and are seated right away at a table in the main dining room. Like most restaurants we’ve been to in San Francisco, it’s packed. Where is evidence of the recession I ask? Our server takes us through the menu and mentions the daily specials. As with the other places we’ve been, we’re offered water in a carafe, and not asked if we want bottled. On the menu it states, “$1.25 per person will be added to each check to support the San Francisco Healthcare Security Ordinance.”

For an aperitif, we order a bottle of Prosecco di Valdobbiadene ($32) for the table. After that, the server lets us have a couple of tastes of different wines before ordering a bottle. We decide on a really unusual wine, Lacrima di Morro d’Alba Gavigliano ($44) from the Marche region of Italy. This has to be one of the strangest wines I’ve ever tasted; it smells like violets and tastes nothing like it smells. It’s good, but highly disconcerting.

We order our food, all to share for the five of us.
Appetizers:
Grilled Monterey Bay Sardines Scottaditto ($9.25)
Marinated Beets and Navel Oranges ($10)
Fresh-Cured Anchovies “Nostrano” ($8.50)
Snails with Herb Flan and Garlic Butter-verbal special, we order a second one after having the first they are so good.

Pastas:
Fazzoletti al Ragu ($17)-a spinach pasta which looks like a hankerchief
Mint Tagliatelle with artichokes and mascarpone ($17)
Cauliflower Soup with paprika oil and cumin croutons ($8)
The pastas are both excellent and everyone loves the soup.

 

Mains:
Roasted Liberty Duck with housemade sourkraut and kumquats ($24)
Duroc Pork Arista with Iacopi butter beans and spring onions agrodolce ($26)
Strawberry Mountain Ranch Hanger Steak and french fries ($26)

Sides:
Anson Mills Polenta with fontina Val d’Aosta ($7.75)
Chard sauteed with garlic and lemon ($7.75)
Snap Peas and Farm Carrots with butter and mint ($7.75)

Desserts:
Warm Scharffen Berger Chocolate Torta with Olive Oil Gelato and Maldon Sea Salt ($9)- (this is my favorite; the sweet/salty thing is so good!)
Sage-Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Fresh Oranges and Caramel ($9)
Profiteroles with Espresso gelato, Warm Chocolate sauce and Candied Almonds ($9)

Honestly, everything is excellent and we have no complaints. We devour everything. Of our three Italian meals here in SF, this one is the best in terms of consistency of food and service.

For more photos of the food at Delfina and more on that day’s trip in San Francisco, including the de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor Museum, see my travelogue at: http://www.wired2theworld.com/sanfrancisco2009Day4.html