Incanto Restaurant (SF) Review

Although I normally write about my experiences in Paris and in particular Europe, I will occasionally write about my food experiences in the US as well.  Taste is subjective, and this is my personal review of this restaurant.

Incanto
1550 Church Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
(415) 641-4100
www.Incanto.biz

Reviewed 6/17/10
1-3 scoring
Food:  2.5
Restaurant: 2.5
Service: 3
$55 for dinner with wine

Comments: When you walk into the restaurant, it reminds you of a very, very large French bistro. The restaurant was spacious and has very tall ceilings. The restaurant’s Chef Constantino, is known for his no-nonsense use of parts of an animal normally thrown away (e.g., trotters). His meals are heavy on the meat and pasta, but strong on flavors.  First we were given an array of breads with one of the most delicious tapenades I have ever tasted, albeit a bit salty.

For our first course I had the piglet salumi, a cornucopia of various sausages from the pig, plus a slow roasted garlic for the copious amounts of bread you get.  The variety was great, but I’m not use to such large portions. The other appetizer we had was the baby beets, hazelnuts, mustard greens and ricotta salata. This too was very good. The beets were delightfully paired with hazelnuts. The contrast  was excellent.

Onto our main course. I had the Lamb, Lamb, Lamb. It was lamb served 3-different ways: lamb sausage, lamb shoulder, and a lamb cutlet. It was very good. The lamb shoulder reminded me of “pulled pork”, all-in-all it was a hit. 

My companion had the grilled sweetbreads, faro, carrots nasturtium. This could’ve been a great dish if the sweetbreads would’ve had a little more taste.  It was lacking a zing factor, maybe a spritz of citrus or some herbs tossed in last minute. It just didn’t have much flavor, but it was good.

And, finally we shared a dessert, berry & lemon verbena panzanella. I’ve had panzanella as a bread salad with basil, but not as a dessert so I was looking forward to it. It looked beautiful, but it was definitely a miss. It tasted like very dry croutons with a sprinkle of crème anglais on fruit.  The texture was all wrong. It was very gritty.

The service is excellent, not hurried, and although it was noisy, it didn’t seem as noisy because of the tall ceilings. The wines were excellent. I’m a sucker for Rosato (Rosés), and they had a wonderful selection.

Overall it was a great experience. I would definitely go back and try the pasta dishes…