What can I say? This is what happen when you put 4 chefs around a table. You end up with a dinner that lasted 3 hours and about 15 dishes came to our table.

I was invited to tag along to A16 on this Tuesday night. I have heard about A16 for a long time but never made the room in my busy restaurant schedule to visit. Finally this time I finally went and was more than happy I did so.

You have to know that, my deep Italian roots forbidden  me from eating in an Italian restaurant for a long time. Why? First because no one can make better Italian food than my grandmother and second why would I pay $15 for pasta when I could make a better pasta myself for $3? Then, I came to America, the land of restaurants serving fried mozzarella sticks and 3 inch thick pizza calling themselves Italian restaurants. Mama Mia, che pena!

Since then, I have given it a try but it has always been a disappointment.

When I pushed the door of the hip marina joint, I obviously wasn’t aware of what would be waiting for me. First, I am informed that today, the wonderful Anselma Taddei was here all day making fresh pasta. She had her own separate tasting menu. Second I noticed that there’s pig in pretty much every dishes in one form or the other and that got me excited.

What we order that night (in picture order):

Sardines al beccafico

Trippa napoletana

Roasted sunchokes and cipolline

Salumi plater (Quercia, Lonza, Coppa di testa and paté)

Roasted Lardo with Canelli beans

Margherita pizza

Cappelletti in brodo

Passatelli with manila clams

Maccaronara with tomato ragu

Side dishes of swiss chard and roasted potatoes

Pork sausage and beans gratinata

Roasted chicken meat balls

Desserts

First of all, I’d like to say that I was very impressed with the food, this earthy Italian tone was just what I had been looking for. No fancy food and frou-frou presentation, it’s all about the flavors: intense, clean, bold and amazing. The quality of the ingredients is translate through the different dishes. There is not a dish I didn’t like.

My top four dishes and I will go back just for that:

1. -The Trippa. Ok, I love tripe but still, this was amazing, perfectly cooked, melt in your mouth tripe. Two thumbs up for this dish!
   

2. -The lardo. Paper thin slice of lard wrapped around a thin slice of toasted bread, served with creamy canelli beans. I had a foodgasm right there!! SO simple but so tasty!
   

3. -Anselma’s cappelletti in brodo. I haven’t had in years, pasta so well done and cooked. The texture was out of this world and this reminded me why pasta can be as superb as any other food!
   

4. -Margherita pizza. Again I grew up with the thin pizza, not the American style having 5 pounds of ingredients on it. A16’s pizza is what I remember a pizza taste like, a thin crispy crust, a very simple but so flavorful tomato sauce, fresh basil and mozzarella, that’s it! The pizza could have used a bit more crispiness to my taste but it was still one of the best pizza I had in San Francisco!
   

I loved also Anselma’s Passatelli. A pasta made with bread crumbs and served with calamari and clams. Again eating this, made me feel like seating back at my grandma’s table after smelling all day the wonderful vapors that came out of her kitchen and when you take the fist bite you feel that your body is levitating, it’s so good.

The sardines were great and the sauce for the Maccaronara pasta was Italy on a spoon. I found the pasta itself a bit too thick for my taste.

The plate of in-house cured Salumi was impressive.

I was lucky to meet Nate Appleman, Executive Chef and Co-owner with his very talented Chef de cuisine, Lisa Shaw. They are both very passionate about their food and it translates in the flavors they will bring to your table. I can only hope that this passion for Italian cuisine becomes contagious!

Chapeau! to the front of the house staff, that I found them very knowledgeable of the wine and the food they serve.

Summary: I will highly recommend this restaurant if you want to grasp the flavors of Italy. The food is amazing and the service outstanding. I would though recommend to ask for a table in the back of the restaurant if you plan on having a longer dinner, as the bar-stool-like chairs in the front aren’t that comfortable. Bill for 4: $315.50 but please, this was a feast drowned into a lot of wine (about $100). Most appetizers are around $10, pizza $11 to $15, entrées around $23. No need for me to take an too expensive ticket to Rome since I found my way to A16.