The devoted bored know I dine out most nights. This, of course, means I see a good number of new restaurants. I hear about them from my foodie friends, like JK, or from those in the know, like C (who always seems to beat me to the new places and is kind enough not to gloat). There have been a lot of recent openings (Tablespoon, Spork, Cav) but none of them have really done much for me...at least until last night when JK and I ate at Bar Bambino.
I'd actually been there a couple of week ago with my good buddy GP when his fam went out of town and he was a 5-day bachelor. We went in and had a couple of glasses of good Italian vino, ran into a gal I know, chatted a bit and then headed to Spork for dinner. (I wont get into the Spork meal other than to say it was OK and I absconded with a cheap metal spork.) I'd wanted to have dinner there but reservations (via email) were tough to get. I tried again early this week and the manager again turned me away. I replied that I'd struck out three times but he had no response...but then I got an email from one Fiona who said she could squeeze me in. (Fiona, you are a rock star.)
Tonight I was driving so I stopped by JK's office to pick him up - and to remind myself what a start-up office looks like. I told him to take pictures soon because he'd be moving into much bigger offices soon given what I'd seen of his product. The future for his company (Xoopit) looks bright. We soon headed off to Bar Bambino and a glass of Prosecco.
We found easy parking, walked in and asked for Fiona. "I am Fiona", she said. (When you visit, spot the short, cute gal with short hair. That'll be Fiona. With service like that she has a future in the restaurant business.) She had a table ready for us...just like that. The place was packed and had that "hip and happening SF spot" vibe going. The waiter came by and suggested a prosecco (how did he know?) that was not on the menu. Fuck yeah! Although the place was packed the service was good. JK and I split a bunch of things starting with the antipasta, Tuna with cannellini beans and red onions. Strange combo and it took me a full two bites to really enjoy it. The waiter came by with a half bottle of chianti (the name of which I unfortunately neglected to get). We soon followed up with Bruschetta with fresh ricotta and roasted tomato. The ricotta was light and fluffy and the tomatoes were sweet. The next plate was the pasta course, a Tagliatelle with rabbit. This was the killer dish. The rabbit was tender and savory...perfectly cooked. the fourth course, a meat course was Maiale al latte (pork shoulder slow braised in milk with sage and lemon). Cooked to perfection, the meat fell apart as we forked it to the plate. For dessert we had an off-menu olive oil cake with a small dish of vanilla gelato on the side.
I liked pretty much everything about this place. The ambiance, service and food were all top notch. The wine list - pretty much all Italians - looks great. Parking was easy and Fiona took care of us. I handed her a twenty as we headed out. I gotta get C over here for dinner. She'll love it.
g.
I know there are certain topics that are now off limits but please don't turn the blog entirely into restaurant reviews.
Posted by: GNP | June 08, 2007 at 08:30 PM