Poggio: has anyone been (Sausalito)?
Has anyone already been? This seems to be worth keeping on the radar! The photos of the food and the menu looks amazing, as do the views.
The restaurant appears to have its own vegetable garden (I noticed photos of a lettuce and kale garden), and advertises Italian wines for under $25 a bottle.
The owners/chefs have impressive credentials. Collectively, it seems like they've run/worked at Oliveto, Il Fornaio, Masa's, Fifth Floor, and other notable SF restaurants.
I wish all restaurants had websites like this. So many photos of the food and setting, great bios of the people in charge, user friendly interface, and up to date menu. Let's hope they keep it updated, and that the food measures up to the presentation.
By nooodles
on Jun 30, 2005 01:14 PM
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Search the board - we talked about this place a few months back. My experience was that it was well-marketed mediocrity and I vowed never again to spend 2 hours and a lot of money for mediocre food.
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Hm, could you be more specific about when you posted? I did a Google, Classic, and Google.com main page search and came up with little. Most of the short comments from 2004 said that Poggio was quite nice.
I apologize for not researching before posting. I was misinformed, thought it was a new restaurant, and hopped right on that bandwagon.
I would love to see some more recent, or lengthier, opinions. Perhaps I'll have to hop across the Bay myself.
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Here's a link to the thread LPC may be referring to.
Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...
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I guess I don't frequent tourist trap chains, I usually feel I get decent food at worst, wonderful at best, but Poggio was awful food and not inexpensive. What a waste of time and money. Life's too short to eat this (unless you live somewhere in the country where it would pass for acceptable).
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Poggio has the goal to attract huge numbers of tourists as well as to keep the locals coming, and I believe their being pulled in two directions is what is leading to such mediocrity. The room is attractive and the menu reads pretty well, but the food just isnt very good. Because I live in Marin I have been there 3 times since they opened. After my first two visits I gave them reprieves, mainly beacuse of Chris Fernandez's reputation, but after the third, when soup was practically unseasoned altogether, pasta was bland, other dishes were missing components that were listed on the menu, and food seemed overall uninspired. It seems more and more they are catering to the tourist palate, and it has helped my understanding of why there is typically poor food in heavily touristed seaside locations, i.e. Fisherman's Wharf.
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We have been to Poggio four different times, and we are at a loss for the negative reviews. The food was good, competent Tuscan Italian. We sent friends who love Italian food, and they too liked it.
If what you want is typical smothered in tomato sauce California "Italian," you probably will not like it. If, on the other hand, you wish to have something unique, you will probably like it.
I don't know where the "chain restaurant" mention comes from. The restauarant is not part of a chain, although the owner was the founder of Il Fornario. Vegetables are organic and come from the owner's garden. Sparkling water is made on site
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Dinner at Poggio early August. What a pleasant surprise. Very inrtiguing combinations of herbs. We had the scallops and ahi for appetizer, followed by the evening special, bass with pesto sauce. The veggies were cooked perfectly. Our server was on top of her game and did it all, in the middle of the evening rush hour, with a smile on her face and a sense of humor. Best of all, we made a reservation earlier that day and the table was ready with a few minutes of our arrival
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