Beretta - Italian for the Grown and Sexy
Restaurant: Beretta
Address: 1199 Valencia St at 23rd Street, The Mission, SF
Phone Number: (415) 695-1199
Cuisine: Italian
Date Last Visited: February 20, 2009
Dining Partner: Star
It was about time to have a catch-up dinner with Star. She suggested dinner from one of the places listed on the Big Eat SF 100 list. I wanted to make sure I picked a place that was vegetarian-friendly. I skimmed my list, found the caponatina, and thought PERFECT, Beretta was where we were going. Beretta opened not too long ago and has already been a go-to spot for their innovative cocktails and Italian small plates and pizzas. It’s in the middle of Hipsterville (aka The Mission), so you know this place would be swarming on a Friday night.
With that said, let me tell you about Beretta’s reservation policy, or lack thereof. Beretta only accepts reservations of parties of 6 or more. You can call the restaurant within 45 minutes of your arrival and they will add your name to a list. Once you make that call, the wait is up to 45 minutes max. You do want that extra time because we all know that parking is a biz-natch in the Mission. Lucky for us, the parking goddess was on our side and we found parking right away. We got to hostess and we were seated immediately. Yes, our timing was awesome.
Beretta, which has taken over The Last Supper Club’s space, is not a very big restaurant. The bar seemed to be the main stage and where people were flocking. There is a long communal table down the center of the room, with stooled two-tops along the walls, and a banquette with lower tables lining the window. We were seated at a lower table and it was fun seeing people walk around the corner and watching them stare at our food with a glossed over sheen on their eyeballs. Yes, quite fun.
$9/$6 without the Buratta
So here it was. What came out of the kitchen and onto our table was completely different from what I had expected. Tell me why I was thinking of a more homogenized dish - maybe I was thinking Baba Ghanoush? I know Baba Ghanoush and caponatina are two different entities, but I really didn’t know what a caponatina was, quite honestly. Turns out, it is more of a salad. Let me tell you, I got scared when I saw all of those olives. I don’t do olives, but tell me why the dish was clean when it was taken away. What made this dish outstanding was that OOZING buratta cheese. Oh dear, it was so fresh and so creamy and incredibly delicious. The contrasting flavors from the briny olives to the milky cheese and varying textures from the crunchy celery to the tender chunks of eggplant was incredible. There were also pine nuts, tomatoes, and capers in there which made it truly a complex little salad. Awesome. That cheese. I can eat it all day. I dream of slathering it on a toasted, garlicky, olive-oiled piece of crusty bread. That’s the big O.
The couple on our right side had a great-looking pizza that looked like it had sausage (most likely the pizza with Spicy Italian Sausage, Panna & Spring Onions - $13), and I thought it looked divine with its thin-crust and beautifully arranged toppings. The pizzas are in the heart of the menu, so we knew it was a good idea to get one for ourselves. We decided on the one with grilled vegetables, tomatoes, pesto, and mozzarella. The veggies they used included eggplant and zucchini - what a wonderful medley. The toppings had the perfect balance of freshness and heartiness. Me being a meat-eater, I didn’t miss the meat. The crust was everything a Neapolitan pizza crust should be - thin, charred, and crispy. One mistake I made was trying to eat the pizza when it was still very warm. I picked a slice up and all the cheese and toppings slipped off the crust. So if you want to enjoy everything in on the crust, let it sit for a couple of minutes - long enough for the cheese to set up a little. That should solve that. Great pizza. Yes, me and Star finished the entire thing with us having three (huge) slices each. He-FAHS!
Something that we noticed was that there were absolutely no pasta dishes on the menu. Instead the main starch featured here is risotto. I ordered the saffron risotto with the osso buco because it’s one of those classic dishes that embodies the soul of Italian cooking. Now the texture of the risotto was something to get used to after a few bites. I am used to arroz caldo in which the rice is silky on the outside without the bite in the middle, as the risotto does. Once I got over the “bite,” I began to like it very much. I don’t remember seeing any strands of saffron in the rice, but it was very flavorful.
The osso buco itself was tender as can be. They made it very convenient for me because there was no bone to pick out. The chunks of meat were lip-smacking good - surrounded by that sticky collagen that melts when it is cooked for a long period of time. It was great taking some of the meat with a spoonful of the risotto and enjoying it in one bite. The osso buco had a great tomato-based sauce and was topped with a gremolata. The flavors really reminded me of some Filipino food - kinda like if adobo had a love child with kaldereta. Something like that. =) GOOOOD stuff. Incredibly flavorful.
Star ordered this and it was lovely as well. I had a bite and it was a little more flavorful than my saffron risotto. I guess because it didn’t have a stew on it like mine did, they had to pack more flavor in the rice itself. I liked the addition of the cheese a lot. They added the cold cheese to the middle of the hot risotto and upon contact, the cheese started to melt. When I had my bite, the cheese was still cool and the contrast of temperature was pleasing. Star enjoyed it very much - her dish was spotless at the end of the meal.
So it was dessert time and when the dessert menu was presented to us, Star and I sort of freaked out because we didn’t know what anything on it meant. A lot of it was in Italian and it had words we did not know. Finally we asked our waitress and she graciously explain everything to us. She’s awesome. One was a Japanese beer float and another was gelato with Italian bitters (vanilla affogato with amaro averna - $8). Come to think of it, all of the desserts had gelato with it. After thinking about it for a couple of minutes, here is what we ended up getting:
SO GOOD. I usually don’t even like raw pear, but having them cooked is exceptional. They get sweeter when cooked, and it paired (ha, no pun intended) well with the chocolate. A budino is a type of bread pudding. The bread was luscious and the pear added a nice fruity, juicy, tender texture. I was most surprised with the pear gelato. It was refreshing and had a slight tang to it. I liked how it cut through the richness of the whole dessert. It actually was like a breath of fresh air in an otherwise deep dessert. Great.
Now this dessert was the surprise of the night. Panna gelato is just a gelato with no flavorings. No vanilla, nothing. The sweetness of the cream is allowed to come through. It’s awesome. Vin cotto is a sweet wine reduction and it is TO DIE FOR. When wine is cooked down, it becomes this syrup with an incredible berry flavor to it. INCREDIBLE. I mean it’s just cream and wine. Doesn’t that sound like soft porn to you? The simplistic nature of this dessert is what makes it outstanding. This is a dessert for the grown and sexy. Take caution before eating. You will be making noises that will sound funny to the person next to you. I WILL order this if I am given a chance to come back. It is so good. One of the best desserts I have ever had, quite frankly.
You can probably tell that we really enjoyed ourselves here. The atmosphere was a bit loud, but it was Friday night and the evening was all about life, laughter, and liquor. Can’t get mad at that. Take my advice, the best time to come is around 6:30, but be sure to call in advance. While we were seated, a line grew out the door. People were hanging out right outside the window…spying on our food. You don’t want to be one of those people. Call beforehand! This is a place that I sincerely want to come back to. I say that all the time about other places and never go back, but I mean it this time. Everything about the place rocks. I didn’t have one of those cocktails everyone is talking about, but there will be a next time and I will have my chance then. Until then however, I want to express my complete joy in coming to this place. Bring a friend, eat some great Italian food, and enjoy the space. It’s dim, sexy, and full of life and wine. Overall, a winner in all aspects of the word. GO NOW.
1 tonguegasms:
Omg. That looked like a beautiful meal!!!
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