A Cote

»Sunday night at A Cote

I was feeling frazzled from a very busy couple of weeks and wanted a quiet dinner with my wife where we'd be pampered, which without reservations or the energy to drive into SF meant À Côté. The host was apologetic that they had room only in the back covered patio, but that's where we like to sit anyway, in fact we'd probably have gone elsewhere if the only seats were in the front.

Fritto misto...+READ I was feeling frazzled from a very busy couple of weeks and wanted a quiet dinner with my wife where we'd be pampered, which without reservations or the energy to drive into SF meant À Côté. The host was apologetic that they had room only in the back covered patio, but that's where we like to sit anyway, in fact we'd probably have gone elsewhere if the only seats were in the front.

Fritto misto of Gulf prawns and fennel with Calabrian chile and olive aioli ($12): this was really a nice combination, nice spicy burn in the aioli.

Mussels with Pernod from the wood oven ($12): excellent as always, mopped up all the delicious sauce.

Fries with aioli ($6): have to get these with the mussels. Man, that serving is huge, about the right size for six. I sent them away after a while so we'd stop eating them.

Buckwheat pappardelle with house-cured bacon, Savoy cabbage and Emmenthaler ($15): this is lightened-up variation of the classic preparation of pizzoccheri, without the usual potatoes and with considerably less of a more flavorful cheese. Really delicious. The bacon doesn't stick to the pasta, I should have paid more attention and gotten more in each bite instead of ending up with a lot at the end.

We were feeling full and were going to stop there, but the desserts sounded appealing.

Warm persimmon sticky toffee cake with whipped vanilla yogurt, spiced pears & candied walnuts ($9) made me feel like we'd set the clock back a month. One of the best persimmon desserts I've had in a while.

Bellwether Farms ricotta fritters with huckleberry sauce, vanilla sauce, & cocoa fudge sauce ($9): one of the best desserts I've had in the last few years. Compared with regular beignets, the ricotta makes these lighter in the sense of less filling, but heavier in the sense of weight, due to the moisture in the cheese. They're basically fried balls of aromatic canolli filling. They don't need anything, but a dab of the huckleberry is nice. The vanilla is gilding the lily and the fudge is overkill.

Great and interesting wines as always. I'm not sure I've had Debit (a grape from northern Dalmatia) before, and I know I haven't had Roter Elbling (a grape used to make rosé in the Mosel). A flight of four refoscos was fun, particularly the Trosset 2007 Mondeuse, which I liked much better than the far more expensive 2005 Zidarich Terrano (maybe we didn't pair that with the right food).-COLLAPSE / REPLY (3 Replies) (by Robert Lauriston, created January 18, 2010)