Regional Italian cuisine

[hyperbowler]

A few months back, Mark Bittman wrote about SF's abundance of regional Italian restaurants ( http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/travel/30choice-san-francisco.html ) . He reviewed restaurants specializing in 4 of Italy's 20 regions. Do y'all have suggestions regarding the other 16 regions? Excluding restaurants that showcase regional specialties from various places in Italy, below is what I've come up with.

*Indicates that they have broadened beyond their initial regional focus or are notable for showcasing foods of one region not found elsewhere in SF

Piedmont
http://www.yelp.com/biz/perbacco-san-francisco

Liguria (e.g., Genoa)
*http://www.yelp.com/biz/farina-focaccia-and-cucina-italiana-san-francisco

Veneto (e.g., Venice)
http://www.yelp.com/biz/pesce-san-francisco
http://www.yelp.com/biz/da-flora-a-venetian-ostaria-san-francisco

Friuli (e.g., Trieste)
*http://www.barbambino.com/ see also http://sanfrancisco.grubstreet.com/2011/02/bar_bambinos_owner_and_chef_wa.html

Istrian (territory formerly part of Italy)
http://www.albonarestaurant.com/

Tuscany (e.g., Florence)
http://www.trattoriacorso.com/
http://www.caffebaonecci.com/caffebaonecci/Menu.html

Umbria
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ristorante-umbria-san-francisco

Lazio (e.g., Rome)
*http://www.yelp.com/biz/spqr-san-francisco

Campania (e.g., Naples), see also various Neapolitan pizza places...
*http://www.yelp.com/biz/a-16-san-francisco has become more general to Southern Italy
http://www.pizzeriadelfina.com/

Calabria
http://www.vicolettosf.com/about/dinner/index.html
http://www.poesiasf.com/

Sardinia
http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-ciccia-san...

Regions lacking representation:
Sicilian
Emilia-Romagna
Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol
Lombardy
Valle d'Aosta
Marche
Abruzzo
Molise
Puglia
Basilicata

[Robert Lauriston]

Perbacco does Piemontese and Ligurian dishes.

The owners of L'Osteria del Forno are from Emilia.

Farina reportedly changed and is now not so focused on Ligurian.

Ludwig's has some Trentino dishes.

A16 and Una Pizza Napoletana (pizza only) do very traditional Neapolitan.

La Ciccia is Sardinian.

Ideale is Roman. Locanda's menu reads very Roman but I haven't been yet. SPQR was, sort of, but no longer.

Pesce is Venetian.

Poesia's chef is Calabrian and they sometimes have a few regional dishes.

Oliveto sometimes does Pugliese dinners.

Caffe Sport's chef is from Sicily, but the food's not very traditional Sicilian.

Quince, Acquerello, and SPQR are sort of Frenchified Italian.

Bar Bambino and Pizzeria Delfina don't strike me as having a particular regional focus.

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La Ciccia
291 30th Street, San Francisco, CA 94131

Perbacco
230 California St, San Francisco, CA 94111

A16
2355 Chestnut St., San Francisco, CA 94123

Pesce
2227 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109

Ideale
1315 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA 94133

Acquerello Restaurant
1722 Sacramento St., San Francisco, CA 94109

SPQR
1911 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115

Poesia
4072 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114

Una Pizza Napoletana
200 11th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Locanda
557 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94110

[lrealml]

Great topic...
At a quick glance however, I think most of these restaurants are fusion and are not really featuring the region that they claim to be featuring... for example, the Venetian restaurants have no polenta and as far as I can tell not too many Venetian dishes... Just because they have a few dishes of the region, IMO does not make them a restaurant of that region.

So, what restaurants are actually staying true to the region they are featuring (I would say at least 50% of the menu has to be authentic) and more importantly which ones are good?

[Robert Lauriston]

The only places mentioned I might call fusion are Quince, Acquerello, and SPQR. If you consider Cal-Italian fusion, then Pizzeria Delfina, but I wouldn't call it that, it's more pan-regional adapted for California ingredients.

Pesce is a cicchetti (tapas) bar with a focus on seafood. Venetians eat more rice than polenta, which is not something you see on every menu in the region, particularly at seafood places.

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Pesce
2227 Polk St, San Francisco, CA 94109

[hyperbowler]

Restaurants devoted toward a certain region seem to broaden their menu after a while. Get 'em while they're hot!

Given the general influence of Sicilian food on Italian-American food, I'm somewhat surprised to know of no strict Sicilian places.

Albona is pretty good, and based on what I could find about Istrian food on their site and elsewhere, they surpass the 50% mark. I highly recommend their croquette-like signature appetizer, pan-fried potato gnocchi in a cumin flavored sirloin sauce. They also have a mean sauerkraut.

[Robert Lauriston]

SF got a different mix of Italian immigrants than the East Coast. Not so many from southern provinces, more from the north, especially Liguria.

[whiner]

I KEEP on wanting to try Albona... for years. I've never gotten around to it. I live walking distance (at least down the hill). I shall go!