364126 Thu Jan 25 12:47:26 -0800 2007 2 1 San Francisco Bay Area 0 2226456 I've had a number of excellent meals lately. I finally made it to NoPa Monday with a friend, and the experience clarified both the fine reviews and why I had been hesitant to go. NoPa is an immaculately run operation. Service at every point from the door to the bar to the table to the kitchen was capable, friendly, and knowledgeable. Most San Francisco restaurants could take a few lessons in execution here. Pacing was ideal; we never felt rushed or hungry. We asked questions about ingredients and got useful answers; we asked for recommendations and were rewarded with enthusiasm (esp about the coffee martini). We shared the sardine appetizer with shaved fennel; grilled escarole; grilled pork chop and black cod; and a side of roasted winter vegetables. We were disappointed the famous lamb riblets were gone from the menu. We also had two glasses of unmemorable wine and for dessert, cinnamon donut holes with caramel, Meyer lemon ice box cake, and two coffee martinis (Blue Bottle with vodka). Entrees were excellent. The pork chop was huge, juicy and crisp on the outside. There were a few too many beans on the plates for me. Black cod was tender and flaky. The side of roasted vegetables in sage butter was scrumptious--everything a carrot should be. We also loved the grilled escarole and ate nearly every bite. That said, the portions were enormous, and the plates too large for the small table. And I couldn't help feeling that the menu wasn't that exciting. Maybe it's just too American for my taste. The pork chop--perfectly prepared--needed a better glaze. Desserts were beautiful and tasted good but not great. Our bill came to $115 before tip, not counting a third glass of wine my friend had before I arrived. While I'd certainly return (especially if they make the appetizers more intriguing) or meet hard to please, less adventurous friends there, $70 each felt kind of steep--not even a great chair or an elegant piece of china. By contrast, we had a typical experience at Incanto last night. We ordered all over the menu, had some hit and miss, but the hits were enough to make me rush back before they rotate off the menu. And even the misses were interesting. Incanto is nothing if not ambitious. We shared: a flight of wines from Val de Prete, a salad made of leaves from rapini with anchovies and Meyer lemon, tripe in tomato sauce, two half portions of pasta, one with duck sugo, the other with trout roe and minutina (grass like greens), and then a leg of lamb with celery root. We had one more glass of wine (roero superiore) to complement the lamb and then shared ginger cake with caramel and Meyer lemon tart for dessert (forgoing the bacon peanut brittle), and a flight of dessert wines. The standouts were the duck sugo and the leg of lamb. The lamb fell off the bone, red but perfectly cooked inside, the outside crisp and in a pungent mysterious sauce. Tripe was tender enough, but the tomato sauce was too watery; I much prefer Delfina's version, which is baked. I liked the pasta with the roe and was glad we tried it, although it was lacking something--variation in texture, a sauce, maybe a more interesting noodle?--to pull it together. The lemon tart wasn't bad, just disappointing--the only thing on the table we didn't finish. The caramel sauce on the ginger cake had the complexity and texture the caramel at NoPa lacked. Wines were uniformly delicious and interesting except the first white in the flight. This was the first time I'd tried Barolo Chinato, which I'm still not sure about. Service was excellent. I've have mixed experiences at Incanto, but this was ideal. Total came to $130 with tip; slightly more than our dinner Monday at NoPA but entirely in a different league. Thu Jan 25 12:47:26 -0800 2007 10966 Windy 1 2226476 I really like Incanto and I love Bar Tartine. After hearing about Nopa and Perbacco, I was itching to try the two until I looked at the menu. The menu at Nopa looks really similar to Bar Tartine's and the menu at Perbacco reminds me of Inacanto's. In fact, Nopa's wines by the glass looks less diverse than Bar Tartine's and while I like the look of Perbacco's Piedmont flight, it looks suspiciously like Incanto's. Is there anything about Nopa or Perbacco that sets them apart or should I just stick with tried and true? Thu Jan 25 12:53:31 -0800 2007 2226456 13289 Porthos 2 2226613 To my taste Incanto's better, and I prefer the smaller scale. But it's worth a visit to Nopa for the lamb riblets, and to Perbacco for the braised beef and pork. Those are definitely among the most memorable dishes I ate last year. Thu Jan 25 13:24:48 -0800 2007 2226476 11369 Robert Lauriston