I love food. I also love Italian Food. So, when it was suggested that a group of us go out for dinner at a new restaurant in San Francisco called Poesia, I was ready.
I’d never been in this space before, although I’d walked past it many times. It had previously been a Middle Eastern Restaurant, which never quite caught on with the Castro Crowd, apparently. The space itself is not large … at the height of the crush of people, I quickly counted about 55 people seated for dinner. There’s an additional waiting area behind the bar, and the bar has setaing for around 10 people.
Old Italian movies are projected onto the wall – not screen – above one set of tables. All the staff I met, including the owner, were raised in Italy or spent some significant time there (based on the accents). Everything is nicely appointed, and not garish.
This evening we had a room that had 5 deuces, and 6 tables of parties of 5 or more. We recognized some of the groups. The was an older group of individuals who only go to “The Best Places(tm)” in the city next to us. Opposite us, was a group of 8-9 people from the media industry. To my left, a table of Real Estate agents and friends. The restaurant was clearly pulling in the right crowd, and was turning people away.
For probably the first time in my life, I ordered three courses. The first two courses – fritto misto and followed by zuppo del giono - were outstanding. The oiled fennel was incredible, and the fried mozzarella was something you just wanted to roll around in. The soup was almost more like a bisque of heirloom tomatoes and small bits of parmegiano regiano.
There was a white wine with dinner. I’m no longer a huge white wine fan, so I’m not necessarily the best judge on this, but I’ll say it was okay. Everyone else at the table seemed to like it.
Problems with 3 of the 5 main dishes stopped me from giving this place a 5 out of 5 star rating. My swordfish was overly salty, and I usually ADD salt to my fish when I’m being a bad vegetarian boy. Another person’s cut of meat was tough. Finally, an order that was requested medium rare (lamb) came back well done.
The well done meal got replaced, and we were comp’d three delicious desserts. A chocolate gelato type thing with rock salt … deadly. Delicious. Tiramisu done in a way I’d never had before. Then the stuffed canoli. That was another dish I wanted to bathe in for about an hour …
I’m told that they have an exquisite bay-leaf infused grappa. Sadly, they were out, and what they served – and clearly the owner didn’t *want* to serve it – was more powerful than the strongest homemade raki I’ve ever had on Crete. We all took a sip, and melted the tablecloth on the exhale.
I hope the restaurant does well. I liked the people and the food. Friends and funny conversation added to that of course.
4.5 Stars out of 5.
