A good friend of mine recently visited me from New York. We had dinner at Barbacco Eno Trattoria, a casual Italian restaurant in San Francisco’s Financial District. The new restaurant, sister to the highly acclaimed but more expensive Perbacco a couple doors down, made it into San Francisco Chronicle’s Top 100 Restaurants this year. I’ve wanted to try it for a while, and it exceeded my expectations in many ways.
The restaurant doesn’t take reservations, which I prefer because it’s almost impossible to snag a last-minute table without a reservation at popular restaurants in San Francisco on a Saturday night. The maitre d’ suggested that I put down my name when I called and come early to wait.
When I arrived at the restaurant, I already saw several groups of people waiting. I took the time to survey the restaurant. The restaurant has a dark, modern decor – the type you’d associate with midtown New York. The clientele was a mix of old and young, dressy and informal. The vibe was upbeat and welcoming. The maitre d’ and greeter were busy working out how to seat the growing number of diners coming into the restaurant.
To my surprise, the maitre d’ seated us 15 minutes later when my friend and his partner arrived. We sat at the bar facing one of the food preparation areas, which was not ideal, but we were okay with it.
We started looking at the menu and the first thing that caught my attention was how affordable the dishes were. Entrees were in the $10-15 range; appetizers and desserts were in the mid- to high-single digits. Definitely a bargain at a fine-dining restaurant.
The food turned out to be delicious too. I was excited that there were many vegetarian options. For my appetizer, I followed our server’s recommendation and got a radicchio and arugula salad topped with parmigiano reggiano. The salad was light and fresh. Far too often salad greens are tasteless, but the greens’ bitterness stood out in this salad.
My main course was a rotolo, rolled pasta filled with asparagus and ricotta, lightly baked in a lemon-flavored and brown butter sauce. The dish was exquisitely prepared so the different ingredients retained their own character but complemented each other well. The portion size was relatively small (hence the low price), but I liked it because I’d still have room for dessert.
I asked our server again for recommendations on what dessert to get, and he suggested the citrus curd tart with whipped cream and blood orange sauce. The tart had a strong citrus flavor so it probably was not for everyone. But with a unique flavor and not cloyingly sweet, this is my kind of desserts.
My friend and his partner had non-vegetarian dishes and their feedback was overwhelmingly positive. They ordered drinks and the final bill came to a little more than $90, including tips.When we left around 9:30 pm, there were still people waiting.
Overall, Barbacco offered excellent Italian food at good value in a sophisticated setting. Service was efficient, but don’t expect a lot of pampering. I’d love to return with friends or out-of-town visitors.
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