Incanto Restaurant & Wine Bar

»Sustainable pig

I admire Constantino's effort to use parts of an animal typically discarded, but perfectly good eating. Had the Salumi, excellent, Grilled beets, excellent, Grilled sweatbreads could've used some seasoning, or maybe a spritz of citrus, it was a bit bland. Lamb (3-ways) excellent, dessert of Berry & lemon verbena panzanella a MISS. Tasted like croutons sprinkled with creme anglais with fruit....+READ I admire Constantino's effort to use parts of an animal typically discarded, but perfectly good eating. Had the Salumi, excellent, Grilled beets, excellent, Grilled sweatbreads could've used some seasoning, or maybe a spritz of citrus, it was a bit bland. Lamb (3-ways) excellent, dessert of Berry & lemon verbena panzanella a MISS. Tasted like croutons sprinkled with creme anglais with fruit. Texture was all wrong. Service is unhurried and good.. Highly recommend it!-COLLAPSE (by rodrigoparis, created July 26, 2010)

»Incanto's Head to tail Dinner 2010

To add to Robert Lauriston's write up in another post, here is my take on the Head to Tail dinner:

The first two dishes were definitely the stars. Venison pluck is the heart, liver and kidneys (no lungs anymore--it is illegal to sell lungs). Heart is really one of the best organs, probably my favorite, with kidney being a close second (especially after Sarah and my successful first attempt at...+READ To add to Robert Lauriston's write up in another post, here is my take on the Head to Tail dinner:

The first two dishes were definitely the stars. Venison pluck is the heart, liver and kidneys (no lungs anymore--it is illegal to sell lungs). Heart is really one of the best organs, probably my favorite, with kidney being a close second (especially after Sarah and my successful first attempt at deviled lamb kidneys a few weeks ago). The sauce was quite spicy with some delicious onions and a bunch of fresh mint. The onion ash was literally onion ash, and added a nice bitter counterpoint to the dish. Mint is really a great herb to go with strong flavored meats, and is quite traditional in Asian cuisines. Sarah and I had some great Yak sauteed with mint leaves in Yunnan province in China and we are both excited to try the lamb with mint at Little Yangon (Burmese restaurant in Daly City). I wonder why it's such a successful pairing.

I wish I could eat the next dish for breakfast a few times a week. The server said it was an Italian take on congee, and I buy it. A porridge of day old foccacia crumbs cooked in pork stock was topped with a blood mousse, a slow cooked egg ad shavings of the pork liver. Sounds weird, but the combo worked. The pork liver was really amazing as it had this deep smokiness, almost like shavings of bonito flakes. Perhaps Namu should start topping their Okonomiyaki with this. The blood added a mineraliness as well as richness, and is thee any dish that a soft cooked egg doesn't improve?

The terrine was a delicious meaty terrine. Thin sliced on a salad, great flavor, a nice break from the richness of the previous two dishes. I was a bit disappointed that the beef lips didn't add texture to the terrine the way pig ears do to a head cheese (I can't believe I just wrote that sentence). I wanted something with bit of bite or chew.

The final savory dish was a delicious. light fish broth (though a tad over salted) with cod milt (it is the opposite of cod roe), cod tongue (actually more like jowl), and cod stomach. This was my least favorite dish. I liked the milt and the tongue. The milt has a texture like sweetbreads and a nice flavor. The tongue was chewy and meaty. The stomach wasn't to my liking. A bit too gelatinous. It even made me a bit squeamish.

Dessert was a real mincemeat pie--actual lamb meat with raisins and other fruits in a heavily spiced mixture. Think fruitcake with meat. A delicious crust (had to be made with suet) was on top along with a nice scoop of ice cream. A fitting end to a great meal.

The only downside of this meal was how they ordered the dishes. Chris wanted go heavier to lighter, and while changing it up that way was interesting, I think mixing the heavier and lighter dishes would have been better, though perhaps that is just because I liked the first 2 dishes the best. Regardless, a fabulous meal and great company! Looking forward to next year's.-COLLAPSE / REPLY (1 Reply) (by Kmanlove, created March 25, 2010)

Incanto was amazing. I called to let them know we were running about 10 minutes late, and they were very gracious. We didn't all arrive at the same time, but they sat us as we arrived. The Dante room was a great setting. I thought we went a little overboard with our starters, but I was wrong because they were all completely consumed. We had the house marinated olives, foie gras with tatsoi (one...+READ Incanto was amazing. I called to let them know we were running about 10 minutes late, and they were very gracious. We didn't all arrive at the same time, but they sat us as we arrived. The Dante room was a great setting. I thought we went a little overboard with our starters, but I was wrong because they were all completely consumed. We had the house marinated olives, foie gras with tatsoi (one of the best foie gras preparations I've had), antipasto platter (the salumi was my personal favorite), cod milt (surprisingly flavorful) and marrow ravioli (to make sure everyone got their marrow fix), the handkerchief pasta & pork ragu - which was inhaled. Service by Richard was pitch-perfect, which for me is a rarity. We never felt rushed and ended up spending over 3 hours there, but he was always there before we could turn around and request something we needed. The Leg of Beast was falling off the bone tender, and we appreciated the shave-it-yourself horseradish. Who would have known that nervetti and cannellini beans could taste so good? We each got a portion of bone marrow and toast, so there were no fights. Since there were 7 of us, and 7 desserts on the menu, we ordered one of each and shared. It was a great way to try everything. My favorite of them all was the chocolate-blood panna cotta, a close second was the ginger cake with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream. A highlight of the night was getting to meet the chef, who came out of the kitchen as we left. Chris Cosentino is awesome. It was our wedding anniversary and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Our 5 guests were pleased as punch, so I don't know how I'm going to top this next year...-COLLAPSE / REPLY (10 Replies) (by SanJoseHound, created November 22, 2009)

»Service rocks, food is awesome - great pig, best salumi, lovely setting.

(by bkaneshiro, created February 23, 2011)

(by ditchpudding, created June 21, 2010)