Perbacco
Grissini with Olive and Cilantro
Warm Focaccia with Butter
Stracci – Spinach Rags, Devils Gulch Rabbit Ragu, Golden Chanterelles, Peas and Carrots
Coujette – Occitaine Potato Gnocchi, Liberty Farm Duck Ragu, Roasted Cherries
Bombolini – Candy Cap Donuts, Green Strawberry Compote, Douglas Fir Crema, Warm Summer Berries
Burnt Caramel Gelato with Pine Nut Cookies
Largely replicating the dining path of the day prior due to convenience, lunch amongst the power brokers on Tuesday saw me seated at a hightop near the front of Italian stalwart Perbacco. Ostensibly a modernized take on Piemontese and Ligurian cuisine from Nordic chef Staffan Terje the first thing that struck me upon walking in was the impressive size of the restaurant and the seemingly 1:2 ratio of servers to tables assuring that each and every diner is never for want, a particularly good thing for keeping the water and bread basket clean in such a busy space and all the more so when my server, Christopher, explained to me that most plates could be ordered in half portions thus opening up my options substantially. Clearly the sort of place where a lunch could be leisurely or fit within the typical lunch hour it would not be long after my focaccia arrived that the first of two pastas would come, in this case the rich and earthy stracci, and close on its heels three of my favorite things all on one plate; tender gnocchi, supple duck, and sweet cherries – a ‘best of’ dish on a trip with many and good enough that I actually requested a second demi-portion that arrived fifteen minutes later – a decision I’d regret only slightly when I realized there were at least four desserts I wanted to taste, instead limiting myself to the truly fascinating sweet mushroom donuts filled with green strawberry jam…plus a scoop of intense caramel gelato flecked with smoked sea salt rounding out a truly excellent lunch.
http://www.perbaccosf.com/