519 Columbus Ave, San Francisco CA 94133
(415) 982-1124
Parking: street parking
Hours: Sun to Mon and Wed to Thurs: 11:30am to 10pm, Fri to Sat: 11:30am to 11pm
http://www.losteriadelforno.com/
Last Visited: August 27, 2005
Food: 3 to 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 2 stars
Price: $$ to $$$
Edwin suggested trying L'Osteria del forno after a friend strongly recommended the Pancetta pizza.
L'Osteria has been noted in local tourist guides for a restaurant in North Beach. It's a small cafe type of setting seating less than 50 people. The restaurant is fairly dark with rustic colors - dark woods for the tables and chairs, an earthy yellow on the walls, and art that borders modern. There is a shelf with multi-colored bottles all along the shelf. There is a glass case filled with keys in it on display, black and white photos of the cafe, and other items around the room. A wine rack sits in the rear, and behind the counter is an open kitchen. The bathroom is tiny with a very small sink, and an interesting poster of what seems to be Italian ice cream.
Above the counter are the specials. Fortunately, Pancetta and Red Onion Pizza was one of them.
- Pancetta and Red Onion Pizza - A very thin crust pizza is topped with cheese, sliced red onions, and slices of pancetta. Depending on the bite and the distribution at that location, the pizza can be just right or in some cases, very salty. If you love savory flavors, this is excellent. It was so hot that it nearly burned my mouth during the first two bites. Excellent. This is the way pizza should be. The sauce is light, and the cheese marries all the flavors together and it's quite yummy. 12 inches $14, 17 inches $18
- Arrosto Sandwich - The roast of the day offered a choice of either pork or beef. I selected beef. The sandwich came on focaccia bread sliced into two triangles. Between the focaccia were thin slices of roast beef, still red. The menu lists the sandwich meat as lightly salted. The sandwich contains a leaf of butter lettuce and is accompanied with a large green olive. The meat was tender, but there were still small pieces of tendon captured within the slice. The outside of the focaccia gave a hint of saltiness to the sandwich. The bread was soft and since I got to it a bit later in the meal, I'm not sure if the sandwich was hot or room temperature to start. After eating the pizza, the meat seemed rather flavorless, but still nicely presented on a piece of parchment on top of a straw plateholder. Nicely presented, but eating the pizza first made this rather difficult to judge, so it may have been better to start with the sandwich instead. The olive is quite salty, so it definitely provides contrast. Okay - probably 2 to 3 stars with opportunity for improvement (maybe if I had eaten it first the rating would improve). $7
Overall, I found the experience okay. Service was quite unfriendly. They're not rude, but certainly, they didn't crack a smile much if at all. When asking for plates, I felt I got ignored, but apparently, she heard me after all. She seemed a bit perturbed that I would bother asking for them a second time. The staff is not exactly rude, but certainly not friendly, and rather indifferent.
The pizza was very good, so I would be willing to go back and try it again if not for anything else. There are a variety of starters and salads, so there is certainly more to try, but disregard the service first to reduce any disappointment.
No comments:
Post a Comment