332914 Tue Oct 10 14:30:12 -0700 2006 13 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 1935115 Just came back from San Fran this morning and had a great lunching experience at Niebaum Coppola for lunch for two. The fact that we we had just landed and were STARVING helped, but I'm still thining about the food four days later. Ordered the spaghetti with meatballs and linguine vongole along with the house red and white. The meatballs were about the size of my head and pasta was cooked to perfection. The linguine vongole was tasty and the wine was good for its value. The service was also friendly and informative. Lunch came out to a little over $40 with tip (also ordered two espressos) and if I wasn't in the mood to try different types of food during our short stay in San Fran, I probably would have gone back for more. Also, being from nyc I can appreciate good Italian eats and this was worth it. Tue Oct 10 14:30:12 -0700 2006 19594 FoodFanNYC 1 1935795 Thanks for the heads up. The place changed its name to Cafe Zoetrope supposedly. Here's the menu on the website. http://www.cafecoppola.com/cafezoetrope/ Not sure if the name change meant a menu change. Hmmm, supposedly an authentic muffolesta sandwich. However, the reports on Chowhound are thumbs down. http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/42618#206926 Caesar salad in the buidling that was the home of the original Caesar salad and made with fresh egg yolk. They say they make a classic carbonara with egg, but it seems like they use pancetta and not guanciale. Ahem ... they say they make authentic NY pizza. The menu says "Our pizza is prepared to the standards of the first one I tasted at New York's Luigino's pizzaria in 1947" Other than Robert's one-liners that the pizza was good but not in the same class as A16, cant find any other mentions of Niebaum Coppola. Any other opinions? Tue Oct 10 18:27:26 -0700 2006 1935115 10264 rworange 2 1936039 Julia Child wrote a pretty credible piece tracing the original Caesar salad to Cesar Cardini in Tijuana. This is the first I've heard it attributed to Caesar's Grill. Tue Oct 10 19:45:19 -0700 2006 1935795 11369 Robert Lauriston 3 1936063 There you go. That's what I thought. CZ claims it on their menu. Tue Oct 10 19:51:43 -0700 2006 1936039 10264 rworange 3 1936705 Miriam Cunningham once told me she had the original recipe from Tijuana. I even got this question at a pub quiz. Tue Oct 10 23:41:14 -0700 2006 1936039 10896 chaddict 2 1936076 They're saying New York-style pizza now? They used to say Neapolitan-style, and the pizza cook had been certified in Naples. Wasn't as good as A16's, though. Tue Oct 10 19:54:19 -0700 2006 1935795 11369 Robert Lauriston 3 1936114 Myabe there's a chef changed with the name change. Tue Oct 10 20:04:48 -0700 2006 1936076 10264 rworange 2 1936429 I thought it was always known as Cafe Zoetrope (but featured Niebaum-Coppola wines, of course. According to its website, Niebaum-Coppola is the name of the Palo Alto venue. I went there early on, probably because FFC is mensch, and out of continuity (having eaten there when it was Zim's, then Jim's, then Wim's (for Wim Wenders) but not when it was Caesar's Grill. I don't recall much of the food, I think I had a decent calzone and a salad (not a Caesar). Tue Oct 10 21:48:41 -0700 2006 1935795 10255 Gary Soup 3 1936479 Some Googling proved me wrong (wouldn't be the first time). All the references to CZ are recent, probably after the other venue opened. Must have been the longstanding tenancy of American Zoetrope that stuck in my mind. Tue Oct 10 22:07:52 -0700 2006 1936429 10255 Gary Soup 1 1936155 I checked your link and the it's the same place. I also found a link from citysearch. http://sanfrancisco.citysearch.com/profile/917528/san_francisco_ca/cafe_niebaum_coppola.html The waiter recommended the spaghetti and meatballs or pizza. Since his spaghetti was good, I'm guessing it's safe to say the pizza would be decent. But coming from nyc, I'm very particular about my pizza. Tue Oct 10 20:13:45 -0700 2006 1935115 19594 FoodFanNYC 2 1936350 ...so I guess you'll need to try the pizza, and see whether it merits the "certification" ...NYS......new york style......and please report back! Tue Oct 10 21:21:43 -0700 2006 1936155 10485 ChowFun_derek 3 1937112 That won't be for a long time since I'm back in the city. But go and try the pasta dish if you can. Wed Oct 11 02:38:39 -0700 2006 1936350 19594 FoodFanNYC 4 1938223 I'm all about Lombardis for brick oven and I have a few spots that I like to go for a slice. I'm more about the sauce than cheese and crust. Of course you need a good balance, but the sauce makes or breaks the experience for me. But Franks on 23 St. between Lex and Park is the ish. You can get a damn good slice at Joes on Bleecker and 6 Ave, but I haven't been there since the whole "Spiderman 2" scene. Wed Oct 11 16:48:08 -0700 2006 1938009 19594 FoodFanNYC 1 2235059 We went to Cafe Zoetrope last night for drinks and dessert. I love that place. The desserts are awesome...but I would definitely veer toward the custardy rather than the chocolatey. We used to live in Paris and Cafe Zoetrope reminds us of being in a bistro there. The only annoying thing is that they asked us to sit at this bar thing in the window because we were only having dessert- though the restaurant was by no means full. We refused and settled on a cozy booth in the corner. After that, the food and the service was fab. We've never eaten here for dinner, but it looks great- and very reasonably priced for SF. The lady next to us had a $7 pannini served with arugula maybe? (not to be snooping!) It looked like a great option for a light dinner. Mmmm...we are going to try it out for dinner soon. The panne cotta with strawberry sauce as well as the tartufo were both amazing. And the after dinner drinks were pretty darn tasty as well! Sun Jan 28 08:36:43 -0800 2007 1935115 28004 bellarella