When a friend of mine asked to go to Laiola for dinner, without an hesitation I said yes with a lot of excitement. I have been wanting to go there for a while but never find the time to. Laiola is one of the rare Tapas place in San Francisco and since it open about a year and a half ago, the reviews have been amazing!

In the minutes that followed the reservation, I was already on their website studying the menu, like a student about to take her SAT.

We arrived with around 7 pm. The place was slowly starting its evening. The Host/server was very professional and gave an overall very satisfying service. I asked to be sat at the counter right in front of the kitchen, my favorite spot, and already I had my eyes on what was happening in the kitchen. Three very young women were running the entire kitchen from appetizers to desserts. It felt sadly slow in that kitchen and I hoped for more customers to see what those gals could do.

It was a long day of work for me and I needed to settle a bit before I got into a food mood. My friend and I decided to order a cocktail and some Manzanillo olives as an Aperitif!

Though wonderfully entertain by my friend’s conversation, my eye couldn’t stop wondering in the kitchen. I was seeing plates coming out that didn’t trigger any food desire in me.

After a while, I finally took a look at that menu I had drooled over the day before sit at my computer, and here was the first disappointment. It was not the same menu! I told myself that a good chef uses seasonal ingredients and not everything can’t be available. But what happened to the morcilla, the lamb meatball, the grilled octopus, the slow roasted piglet, the roasted lamb... The menu was much smaller but I still did find it interesting.

I ordered right away the tortilla with nettles. I see one of the young cook, pulling a Tupperware type cointainer from above the stove, taking a slice of what looked like burnt piece of cake and put it on the plate. I am waiting for the other the crack the fresh eggs, make a nice omelette to pour over some patatas and nettles, but I see the sad piece of cake coming to us. And as the picture shows (second picture from the top) it was totally burnt. I took a bite and was very sorry. I would have never served this. And for the 3 hours we stayed there, you can’t imagine how many of those came out of the kitchen. I guess people liked the burnt flavors! A tortilla should be made to order, not to sit while the egg transform in that elastic-dry texture. That was a miss!

We followed with the grilled artichokes with homemade cheese. The cheese is good, but I look at the plate wondering That’s it?

Next was the chicharrones with honey. Again not bad but nothing really wanting to make me eat more of it.

At that points our plates are coming out one after the other and we don’t have time to take a bite of the first one that already we had three on the table. Things are getting cold, I ask our waitress to slow down. By the time I got the the mussel and clam dish, it was drowning in a pool of barely warm oil. Again, it didn’t taste bad, but the oily surface killed it for me.

Then, we had the chickpea with fried egg. The egg was well executed, but I only took one bite of the chickpeas, it felt like biting in a full spoon of flour. Next!

I have to say the next dish was so far the best. Grilled pork belly on greens. It was nice, the texture, the flavor, that was a good dish!

The restaurant is full now and in the kitchen the speed hasn’t changed, I see the same gesture of opening containers, putting something on a plate and drizzling. It’s the first time I sit near a kitchen were I found it so uninspiring. The chef is not there.

Ron Pei executive Chef of Laiola took over the kitchen from his position of sous-chef after Mark Denham left. I now wonder, was the food different then?

We finally finished our painful dinner with the Pan con chocolate, a thick spoon of chocolate ganache drizzled with olive oil and sea salt, served with toasted bread. It might sound weird but it does taste good, even if like me you don’t like sweets, maybe that’s why I liked!

They have the wonderful local ingredients, they have a great menu and a great concept, but to me the food didn’t pull it thru. I think it was lacking of a heart in this kitchen and soul in the food. I felt bad for those three young girl that felt like there were just out of cooking school, a kitchen without a chef is always a sad thing...

I think the best part of the meal was the conversation I had with my friend!

Summary: Laiola had a lot of promises, the menu, the venue, the ambiance, the service that I found pleasant, but the food was a big turn down. Maybe it was a bad day in the kitchen? But I would not recommend this place, unless you just go for a drink and dessert. Bill for 2: $87.34 (not including the tip)