Incanto

Incanto

Noe Valley, San Francisco

Chef: Chris Cosentino

This is Chris Cosentino's  (recently nominated for a James Beard Award for best chef in the Pacific region  and was also featured in an episode of Anthony Bourdain's Travel Channel series "The Layover.") edgy, must-try restaurant in the city!  With A and C visiting, it was a good excuse to pay a visit, even if it was a 10pm seating. 

It was full house when we got seated at 10:15pm with a very energetic crowd. 

Excellent bread service

The bread selection included breadsticks, foccacia and crusty bread accompanied with olive tapenade, a delightful departure of the usual bread and butter or olive oil.

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Mystery flight:

Taste three different Italian wine

The wine list is almost exclusively Italian, with a good selection available by the glass or even half-glass. 

Incanto attached this paper disc (face-down) to the base of the glass with the name of the wine printed for the three "mystery" wine that was selected. 

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Plate of Frantoio Olivestri DOP extra virgin olive oil

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Little gems, sea urchin & buttermilk

When I saw sea urchin on the menu, I thought that there would be chunks of sea urchin that we can indulge. To my disappointment, it was mostly buttermilk lettuce with sprinkles of sea urchin.  Regardless, it was a fresh leafy salad. 

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Chioggia, arugula, Cabernet & testun al Barolo

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Handkerchief pasta & rustic pork ragu 

Their pasta is made in house. 

This thin sheets of handkerchief pasta were delicate and serving it with the rich pork ragu was outstanding. 

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Spaghettoni, soft shell crab, Serrano, green garlic & orange

 The spaghettoni served with soft shell crab was pleasantly chewy and it brought out the aromatic flavor of the crab really well. 

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Paccheri, sausage, shellfish & rapini

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Chamomile tea

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Chocolate tart with buttered popcorn ice cream

The flavors were vivid with the buttered popcorn ice cream served with a salted caramel frosting popcorn, forming a twist of sweet and salty taste to our palette. 

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That night Chris Cosentino was in the house! 

A little shop at the front for any Boccalone products. A great marketing tool. 

Overall, Incanto is a casual meat chic restaurant with butcher block tables, faux flickering candles and nicely spaced out seating arrangement.  It was a solid well executed dinner, yet it was underplayed.  It was not too fancy nor too expensive.  All just good food, good service with decent pricing. A true mom and pop neighborhood gem. 

Food: ★★★★☆

Service: ★★★☆☆

Ambiance: ★★★☆☆

Presentation: ★★★☆☆