I wrote about my celebration weekend in San Francisco earlier this month and wanted to follow-up with my trip to Delfina. I’ve always had a special place in my heart for Delfina. I’ve been on dates there, had heart-to-hearts with friends, and celebrated many occasions. Each time it has always felt like I was coming home to a comfortable and warm place with the best meals. I think the last time I was at Delfina was in 2006 (I believe it’s been open since 1999!) and it was much as I remembered, crowded with good energy but this time around minus the tattoo heavy staff.
The food is clean and simple Italian served in a laid back atmosphere with excellent customer service. Our plane was two hours late erasing any time cushion we had to make our reservation. We called from the airport and they offered to hold the reservation an extra thirty minutes and we could come straight there and they would store our suitcases in the manager’s office. While catching up with everyone and enjoying my blood orange Bellini I didn’t even notice that our table wasn’t ready on time.
Once we were seated three appetizers promptly came out from the chef as an apology for seating us late. The Warm Castelvetrano Olives that were so fresh and light, I couldn’t stop eating them! The Gnoccho Fritto & Lardo (fried dough puffs with the Italian charcuterie salume) and the Rabbit Conserva Affumicato (smoked preserves), as you can imagine, was very rich.
The dish I wanted to order, spaghetti with plum tomatoes, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, peperoncini, was the choice of about half the table so I decided to order something else to mix it up. But I had a bite of the spaghetti and it was perfect. The sauce was hearty and had a nice punch of acid, the tomatoes tasted like they came out of the garden that day and the olive oil was top quality. I will be getting it next time.
Although originally my second choice I was not disappointed with the Rosemary Tagliatelle with wild boar ragu. It was rich enough to fill me up on a half serving (I split with someone else) and the pasta was cooked perfectly.
With full bellies and feeling fully satisfied we skipped dessert. It was good to be home!
If you can’t get a reservation at Delfina try next door for some great pizza at Pizzeria Delfina.
Alicia Tastes Life 