Restaurant Review - Perbacco

The scene: Financial District of San Francisco, a few blocks from Union Square. This place was packed on a Friday night, so if you want to go make sure you have a reservation. There is a bar at the front where you can have a drink while waiting for your table. The tables were comfortably spaced, the décor was both cozy and modern. There were exposed brick walls, which gave the place a lot of character.

The meal: Perbacco does Italian the way it should be done. Fresh ingredients, thick sauces, colorful combinations, and big, big flavors. We did a bit of family style ordering, so everyone at the table shared the starters. The restaurant actually offers family style pasta servings, which they will plate for you.

We started with a tomato salad, and a fritto misto. The tomato salad had a wonderful variety of colorful tomatoes. Red, yellow, green. Small, medium, large. It was drizzled with basalmic and olive oil, and lightly seasoned. The tomatoes were delicious. Flavorful and juicy. While I can’t be sure they were locally sourced, they had the taste of locally sourced and recently picked. (I’ve become a tomato snob. I can taste the difference between a homegrown tomato and a store bought one.) The fritto misto involved a number of “fried” items, the feature being “fried” rock shrimp. Why “fried” and not just fried, you ask? Because these were more tempura style than the type of frying you imagine when you think of fried seafood starters. The batter was thin and light, and really highlighted the flavor of the food. The plate also featured “fried” green beans and green olives. The olives were unbelievable. It was served with a lemon aioli, which was nice, but could have used just a touch more lemon, I thought.

So. That was the starters. Ready for dinner?

We did a trio of pastas. We went with the gnocchi, a tagliatelli, and a ravioli. It was a nice spectrum, and the plate was extremely colorful. The gnocchi was in a cream sauce with wild mushrooms. Delicious. I thought the gnocchi was a little softer than I usually prefer, but the flavors were right on. The tagliatelli was in a pesto suace, and had sautéed summer squash and haricot vert mixed in. It was much heartier than gnocchi, with deeper flavors. Finally, the ravioli was in a light cream sauce that had summer peas, which give it just a hint of green. Great color palate. The ravioli was delicate and delicious, stuffed with a lemon flavored ricotta. Not the clunky stuff you may be used to. We also ordered two sides. The roasted fingerling potatoes, which I would describe as unremarkable. And the brussel sprouts. Oh the brussel sprouts! Hands down my favorite part of this meal. They were roasted in brown butter and seasoned with a honey mustard of some sort. Absolutely delicious. I can’t possibly rave about these enough. Wowowow.

For dessert we had the doughnuts with the salted caramel sauce. The doughnuts had a great flavor, although I thought they were either a little heavy or baked slightly too long. The sauce was heavy on the salt. Don’t dunk your entire doughnut deep into it, or you will not enjoy that bite. But just a little sauce on the doughnut was nice. It was a bachelorette party, and so they brought out an interesting dessert. Mascarpone semifreddo. It was round, and looked a bit like cheesecake. But it was not. And it was not panna cotta. It was creamy. Not exactly ice cream, but served chilled. It was freaking delicious, with its diced nectarines and blueberries. They also served hazelnut cookies that were really light (main ingredient was air). It was a great way to end a dense and filling meal.

The service: Five stars. Impeccable. Our waitress was attentive, knowledgeable, friendly, and concerned about our experience. Umberto, the manager, stopped by our table to welcome us to his restaurant. The excellent service really made this a great experience.

The price: Reasonable. Don’t remember seeing anything over $30 on the menu. The Pasta tris was $18 per person, with fair portion sizes. They had heartier entrees which looked really delicious, too. Quail. I love quail.

The highlights: The brussel sprouts. Get them. Love them. Oh, and a comprehensive wine list, featuring lots of different prices and options. The sommelier made a wonderful recommendation for us, that was at a reasonable price.

Final thoughts: Best Italian food I’ve ever had. Trust me, you’ll never want to go to Olive Garden again.