313888 Mon Jul 31 23:18:28 -0700 2006 10 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 1779072 I spent most of the weekend north of the Golden Gate Bridge. On Saturday, we stopped by Della Fattoria in Petaluma for their famed Meyer lemon and rosemary bread ($5). Definitely lived up to its reputation. I noticed it on the shelves at Whole Foods in San Rafael for $6.50. Anyone know if Whole Foods in the city stocks it? Then yesterday, dudesinMexico and I took the ferry to Sausalito to meet up with Melanie Wong and a few other friends. Our first stop was Northpoint Coffee for gelato. Unfortunately they were out--the tubs were empty. We then headed over to Cork, an enoteca on Bridgeway. We proceeded to spend the next several hours in the garden nibbling on crostini, panini, and nuts, and sampling from their interesting well-priced list. Highlights included a garden pea puree crostini, goat cheese, honey, and lavender crostini, menage a trois panini (three kinds of meat, expertly grilled), a cucumber finger sandwich, and a delectable nectarine crostini with mascarpone and bits of basil. The only dish that wasn't up to the same standard was the antipasti platter, which included excellent olives and almonds but a rather half-hearted lump of prosciutto and bits of ordinary salami. Oddly, bread was never offered, despite having several quite good offerings. As to the wines: how often do you get to enjoy an aromatic Hungarian white, a bubbly Riesling, and a brachetto on the same table? We shared a bottle of Lagrein, and a lovely Sardinian (?) dessert wine. The Robert Sinskey pinot blanc was also excellent. I'll let someone with a better memory fill in the details. Cork is open from 4 until late and doesn't take reservations. Service was capable but low key. Details on the menu but not the wines on their website. http://www.corksf.com/corksf.swf Not to be deterred on the dessert front, four of us gamely headed up to Pizzeria Picco in Larkspur for ice cream. But we had pizza and another bottle of wine first. This was my first time at Picco, and it was a perfect night to spend outside. We shared the margharita and seven (mushrooms, no tomatoes) pizzas. The crust is thin and chewy, quite delicious. Perhaps not enough oil for me. We then shared three of the swirled ice creams made from Strauss Creamery milk, topped with olive oil and salt, caramel, and an El Rey Chocolate dip. I much preferred the vanilla to the chocolate. And my ideal sundae would have included caramel, salt, and maybe a dash of olive oil. The main thing we discovered is to order this in a cup for a larger portion. Total at Picco came to $21 each, and well worth it. We spent less than twice that each at Cork on eight glasses, two bottles, and a table full of food. Mon Jul 31 23:18:28 -0700 2006 10966 Windy 1 1779530 WF in the city does carry Della Fattoria ... both WF locations. It's not cheap, but a delicious treat. Tue Aug 01 03:48:45 -0700 2006 1779072 10922 Fig Newton 2 1783370 Which other breads of theirs do you recommend? Wed Aug 02 19:36:23 -0700 2006 1779530 10966 Windy 1 1779631 The Lagrein was actually from Trentino Alto Adige. The wine from Marche was the desert wine, a delicious Passito made from Lacrima di Morro d'Alba. I enjoyed the wines and food, however I would like to see more "beefy" and "lamby" items on the menu... I love drinking Lagrein with grilled skirt steak! Tue Aug 01 05:34:21 -0700 2006 1779072 11742 dudesinmexico 2 1779690 I had a good time with the wine list at Cork. As I mentioned, initially I was wondering what kind of enoteca would post a food menu and music on its website but no wine list. Gerhard and I agreed that after cherry-picking the wines we ordered, there were still many interesting selections yet to try. I'll post some notes to the Wine board when I get a chance. Here's a photograph of the wine-by-the-glass list for July 30. http://static.flickr.com/67/203636438_94f77cc1ff_o.jpg Tue Aug 01 07:12:22 -0700 2006 1779631 10039 Melanie Wong 3 1780238 One of the things we commented on was the earthiness of the red wines: dark purple food wines, unmistakably the product of grapes. Is it fair to complain about wines that have lost their relationship to the fruit they come from? A rare steak or lamb would have been wonderful, especially with the Lagrein, although not sure where they'd make it. There doesn't appear to be a real kitchen at Cork, only a prep area behind the bar. Maybe a grill out on the patio? Looks like the pizza wine was a 2002 Rosso Conero from the Leopard Count :) Also curious if anyone's had the pepperoni pizza at Picco. Tue Aug 01 16:25:05 -0700 2006 1779690 10966 Windy 4 1781927 That's a fair question. I've posted about the Rosso Conero on the Wine Board to continue the discussion. 2002 Conti Leopardi Dittajuti Rosso Conero Vigneti del Coppo- http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/314248 Both rworange and Morton have posted about the pepperoni pizza. Wed Aug 02 05:13:07 -0700 2006 1780238 10039 Melanie Wong 1 1779698 I'll apologize again for being an hour late. Who could have predicted four accidents on a 50-mile stretch? But it sounds like I didn't miss anything with that first antipasti plate. I loved the crostini, so simple yet impeccably balanced and elegant in concept. Often I don't care for crostini because there's too much bread. These were thin toasted bread shavings topped with such thoughtful toppings: the faintest suggestion of tarragon in the springy pea puree, the batons of lusciously ripe nectarine drizzled with honey on marscapone. The panini were awfully good, such expert grilling to make the most of the bread and meld the delicious flavors. The spark of mustard on the ham and cave-aged gruyere, the combination of three meats in the Menage a Trois were masterful. http://static.flickr.com/65/203636439_5c6909fb01_o.jpg It was so pleasant to sit outside with such delicious things to eat and drink on a low-key Sunday evening. We wondered if this place gets much traffic. It certainly deserves to. The pizzas at Picco were a huge improvement over my visit a year ago. Like you, I felt they needed some olive oil and also salt. The Seven was especially underseasoned and tasted watery to me. I thought the crust on the Seven was done to a tee, while I found the margherita's crust significantly thicker and chewy rather than tender. Here's the trio of softserve ice creams - http://static.flickr.com/64/203630500_a3dd0ecdef_o.jpg The serving size for the sit-down bowls is significantly larger than the styro cups I saw walk out, and even bigger yet than the cone servings. Taking a sidewalk seat for your ice cream in a real dish is definitely the way to go. I loved the caramel sauce, though I know you and Julie would like a bit more salt on it. I also feel the vanilla flavor is superior to the chocolate. I liked the olive oil/Maldon salt better this time, probably because it was on a choco/vanilla swirl instead of chocolate alone, and I'd probably like it even more on straight vanilla. Julie's favorite eating chocolate is El Rey, so it was fun to share the chocolate dip with her. It had a nice shatter on the thin dipped surfaces, but the true beauty of it only came through in the solid puddle on the bottome of the bowl that we chipped off. Another reason to get a bowl, more El Rey chocolate! Tue Aug 01 07:29:02 -0700 2006 1779072 10039 Melanie Wong 1 1780313 I've been thinking about the olive oil. I did some tap dancing on my Picco report because the olive oil on my sausage-pepperoni pizza was apparent. It was just the correct amount though and I just couldn't figure out how to say that without making the pizza sound greasy ... which it wasn't. I was dealing with salty ingrediants so the lack of salt wasn't a problem, even so ... can't salt just be added? It always bothers me that so many restaurants have too much salt. I don't know if this works for the olive oil too. I had a friend who liked to ask for a bottle of olive oil with pizza and add extra ... and that was on a Gaspare's pizza ... sheesh. Since they give grated cheese if asked, I'm sure they would bring out some olive oil. With that thin crust it seems that too much oil might turn it soggy. You would think you'd get the better pizza going at prime time on the week-end. I went on a Monday night where restaurants usually have the B-team, but I really enjoyed the pizza. I do agree that that crust has really improved. Tue Aug 01 16:49:08 -0700 2006 1779072 10264 rworange 2 1780349 The crust didn't seem to have any oil on it, or salt for that matter. A little would have enhanced both flavor and texture. Sure, you can add condiments, but there is a difference between cooking them in and adorning the top. Putting salted butter on bread isn't the same as using salt in the dough. Suspect you didn't miss salt and oil because of the pepperoni. Whereas our tomato sauce, made from fresh tomatoes rather than paste, was more watery, with less concentrated flavor. Tue Aug 01 17:04:31 -0700 2006 1780313 10966 Windy 3 1780712 I did add salt to both my slices, but it's not the same as having it cooked in. I don't think that was a fresh tomato sauce, probably canned San Marzano tomatoes. Tue Aug 01 19:06:50 -0700 2006 1780349 10039 Melanie Wong