A preview of coming attractions: still life at A16. In the foreground you can see my carafina of the ’03 Mastroberardino Taurasi Aglianico; in the background there is a glass of the ’04 Emmanuel Scammaca Murgo Brut (it’s Sicilian!)
I knew the lunch at A16 was going to be fabulous. Luck was on my side that day: no traffic coming into the city, I was able to avoid the Marina District hills (manual transmission, Dear Reader), and I found a great parking spot right away.
Since I had been praying to the Porcine God earlier, I planned on ordering the pork liver terrina but it wasn’t on the menu that day. So to start, I ordered the wonderfully subtle ciccioli:
Next up was the burrata with prosciutto. Yes, burrata is excellent on its own but slathered in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt it becomes amazing:
Both of these apps paired really well with the sparkling white. The Aglianico, which was HUGE, didn’t work as well (although it tasted fine with the burrata alone). I was originally going to order a bottle of Aglianico but once I put on my reading glasses the bottle that I wanted ended up being priced at $228. I had to implement Plan B.
Mumsy’s choice was the scarola pizza since she’s old school Italian and loves her sautéed escarole.
This was not my favorite dish (although it tasted pretty good the next morning with a fried egg on it.) I noticed that most people ordered pizza at lunch and the pizza of choice at A16 is the Margherita supplemented with prosciutto and arugula. I will definitely try that next time that I am there.
Two views of the utterly famous meatballs:
These were so lovely - they were almost as good as mine (nota bene: every Italian cook thinks that they make the best meatballs). The meatballs were the perfect match with the Aglianico – the meat and the sauce just brought that wine to life. When I put a spoonful of the sauce in my mouth for the first time, I tasted this wonderfully rich pork flavor; I’m wondering if the sauce is simmered with other pieces of pork along with the meatballs?
As we learned from our burrata appetizer “what doesn’t taste better slathered in olive oil and sea salt?” How about a chocolate budino tart? This was insanely good. We all know that salt goes great with chocolate but olive oil? Yes, Dear Reader, the olive oil added a new level of unctuousness to the creamy chocolate tart.
I’m looking forward to trying the expanded dinner menu.
A16
2355 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA
www.a16sf.com
I knew the lunch at A16 was going to be fabulous. Luck was on my side that day: no traffic coming into the city, I was able to avoid the Marina District hills (manual transmission, Dear Reader), and I found a great parking spot right away.
Since I had been praying to the Porcine God earlier, I planned on ordering the pork liver terrina but it wasn’t on the menu that day. So to start, I ordered the wonderfully subtle ciccioli:
Next up was the burrata with prosciutto. Yes, burrata is excellent on its own but slathered in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt it becomes amazing:
Both of these apps paired really well with the sparkling white. The Aglianico, which was HUGE, didn’t work as well (although it tasted fine with the burrata alone). I was originally going to order a bottle of Aglianico but once I put on my reading glasses the bottle that I wanted ended up being priced at $228. I had to implement Plan B.
Mumsy’s choice was the scarola pizza since she’s old school Italian and loves her sautéed escarole.
This was not my favorite dish (although it tasted pretty good the next morning with a fried egg on it.) I noticed that most people ordered pizza at lunch and the pizza of choice at A16 is the Margherita supplemented with prosciutto and arugula. I will definitely try that next time that I am there.
Two views of the utterly famous meatballs:
These were so lovely - they were almost as good as mine (nota bene: every Italian cook thinks that they make the best meatballs). The meatballs were the perfect match with the Aglianico – the meat and the sauce just brought that wine to life. When I put a spoonful of the sauce in my mouth for the first time, I tasted this wonderfully rich pork flavor; I’m wondering if the sauce is simmered with other pieces of pork along with the meatballs?
As we learned from our burrata appetizer “what doesn’t taste better slathered in olive oil and sea salt?” How about a chocolate budino tart? This was insanely good. We all know that salt goes great with chocolate but olive oil? Yes, Dear Reader, the olive oil added a new level of unctuousness to the creamy chocolate tart.
I’m looking forward to trying the expanded dinner menu.
A16
2355 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA
www.a16sf.com
