1550 Church Street
Noe Valley, SF
http://incanto.biz/
If I were still in college and had to write some perspective paper on modern American society, I'd look into why so many people are opposed to eating animal offals. I'm curious as to what the inherent disgust is with the non-flesh, non-muscle parts of an animal. I think in a lot of other cultures, eating things like pig's feet, beef intestines and chicken livers are typical dinner fare.
For my thesis, I'd probably go with something like how we're so far removed from where our food comes from, we tend to forget we're eating an actual animal. Our steaks come on Styrofoam plates sealed with plastic wrap. We eat "beef" not "cow", "pork" not "pig". Our fish is served to us in fillets, without the heads or tails attached.
With that being said, it's always nice to dine at a place that embraces the "other" parts of the animal, which is exactly what chef Chris Cosentino strives to do at his Bay Area flagship restaurant, Incanto.
Incanto is located in the Noe Valley area of San Francisco. The main dining area is an open space with a short dividing wall that separates the diners from the bar patrons. On the far wall opposite the bar are three large, over-sized pictures of curly-tailed piggies, what looked to be a field of dandelion-like flowers, and orange feathered-chicken thigh. The place is living and filled with larger dining parties. Seemed like dining couples were mainly seated at the bar area.
Noe Valley, SF
http://incanto.biz/
If I were still in college and had to write some perspective paper on modern American society, I'd look into why so many people are opposed to eating animal offals. I'm curious as to what the inherent disgust is with the non-flesh, non-muscle parts of an animal. I think in a lot of other cultures, eating things like pig's feet, beef intestines and chicken livers are typical dinner fare.
For my thesis, I'd probably go with something like how we're so far removed from where our food comes from, we tend to forget we're eating an actual animal. Our steaks come on Styrofoam plates sealed with plastic wrap. We eat "beef" not "cow", "pork" not "pig". Our fish is served to us in fillets, without the heads or tails attached.
With that being said, it's always nice to dine at a place that embraces the "other" parts of the animal, which is exactly what chef Chris Cosentino strives to do at his Bay Area flagship restaurant, Incanto.
Incanto is located in the Noe Valley area of San Francisco. The main dining area is an open space with a short dividing wall that separates the diners from the bar patrons. On the far wall opposite the bar are three large, over-sized pictures of curly-tailed piggies, what looked to be a field of dandelion-like flowers, and orange feathered-chicken thigh. The place is living and filled with larger dining parties. Seemed like dining couples were mainly seated at the bar area.
Oh, and they serve complimentary flat and sparkling water, which is made in-house. Kinda cool.
1. Boccalone Salumi Platter - Our first encounter with Chef Cosentino's creations was at Boccalone inside the Ferry Building. This was just a much larger version of the salumi cone we sampled prior. I can't recall all the meats on the plate, but they were accompanied by a Dijon mustard, roasted garlic cloves and sunchokes. The tangy, aromatic mustard and sweet garlic paired very well with all the meats. A very nice way to start the meal.
2. porchetta - Various parts of the pig skin, fat and flesh rolled and roasted. Didn't feel that this was as tasty as the salumi platter. Perhaps it was the missing mustard and garlic. This version was accompanied by some greens in a vinaigrette-like dressing. A bit chewy in texture. Nothing spectacular.
3. Paccheri, beef brasato & mint - "Paccheri" is the stubby, hollow-tubed pasta. The mint was barely noticeable in the wine-braised beef. Pasta was cooked well and provided enough heft to support the brasato. A lot of depth of flavor and one of the better pastas of the night.
4. Strozzapreti, shellfish & Meyer lemon - Kind of like a warped macaroni, it's name translates into "priest choker". Not quite sure it's a fitting description. The pasta was topped with some light olive oil and a bit of lemon. The pasta in this dish was a little more al dente than I prefer, but the varying shellfish that came with it were very tasty. In addition to clams, there were also a good bit of periwinkle mixed in. That such a cute word, "periwinkle". Overall, one of Danmy's favorite dishes of the night.
5. Handkerchief pasta & rustic pork ragù - This pasta doesn't really need much description. A very basic pork in tomato sauce. Nothing really stood out. Whenever we have a pork-based tomato sauce, we inevitably compare it to our bolognese. (We still think ours is better...shhhhhhhh).
6. Spaghettini, Sardinian cured tuna heart, egg yolk & parsley - Our server told us this was one of the more popular dishes. From the description, the dish sounded fantastic. Tuna heart and egg yolk? Yes, please! However, this dish failed to live up to those lofty expectations. Dry pasta with some crumby meat bits. It wasn't bad, just not the yummy tastiness we were expecting. The bit of yolk got lost in all the other components and was barely noticeable.
7. Pork cheeks, cippolini & polenta - There's something about cheeks that make them one of the tastier parts of the pig, and fish as well. The tender meat was braised and served atop polenta. Braising always lends itself to intense, bold flavors which is why some accompanying polenta is always a nice touch. Both the pork and the polenta were good, but they didn't quite have the synergy of flavor that we experienced with the same dish at Petrossian. Still the king of braised pork with polenta dishes.
8. calves' kidneys, foie gras, mushrooms - Incanto has a chalkboard that lists each day's specials. These specials are typical of the offal variety. For some reason, the calves' kidney caught my attention. Perhaps it was the limited supply, only three available for this day. I'm not sure how many others at the table were thrilled with having to try kidneys. As most everyone at that dinner table was a pharmacist and knew full well that the kidneys are where urine gets filtered, it wasn't necessarily something to dine on.
No one really hesitated to take a bite of the foie gras, which was tasty as always. But the kidney took some prodding to get it on everyone's plate. We were served a fairly large portion, the four pieces combined probably equivalent to two balled up fists. They were prepared in a thick mushroom sauce. The kidneys were firm and had that distinct metallic taste to them. Nobody thought it yummy enough to take a second bite. I probably ate half the serving myself. Although it wasn't the most delicious thing ever, it's nice to taste the other parts of the animal.
9. Dessert salumi platter - Fashioned after the salumi plate, this dessert version included homemade marshmallow, a chocolate salumi (incidently, I saw this same concept on squid ink), jellies and cookies. There was a piece of candided fennel as well - definitely not a winner. A very cute presentation, but nothing that was extremely yummy.
An enjoyable meal overall. We do appreciate the style and message of the place. Chef Cosentino preaches that using all parts of the animal shows more respect for the beast. Incanto is also big in sustainability and eating locally. Something we can all get behind. If another opportunity presented itself to return, we'd definitely some back again to see what else appears on that blackboard.
1. Boccalone Salumi Platter - Our first encounter with Chef Cosentino's creations was at Boccalone inside the Ferry Building. This was just a much larger version of the salumi cone we sampled prior. I can't recall all the meats on the plate, but they were accompanied by a Dijon mustard, roasted garlic cloves and sunchokes. The tangy, aromatic mustard and sweet garlic paired very well with all the meats. A very nice way to start the meal.
2. porchetta - Various parts of the pig skin, fat and flesh rolled and roasted. Didn't feel that this was as tasty as the salumi platter. Perhaps it was the missing mustard and garlic. This version was accompanied by some greens in a vinaigrette-like dressing. A bit chewy in texture. Nothing spectacular.
3. Paccheri, beef brasato & mint - "Paccheri" is the stubby, hollow-tubed pasta. The mint was barely noticeable in the wine-braised beef. Pasta was cooked well and provided enough heft to support the brasato. A lot of depth of flavor and one of the better pastas of the night.
4. Strozzapreti, shellfish & Meyer lemon - Kind of like a warped macaroni, it's name translates into "priest choker". Not quite sure it's a fitting description. The pasta was topped with some light olive oil and a bit of lemon. The pasta in this dish was a little more al dente than I prefer, but the varying shellfish that came with it were very tasty. In addition to clams, there were also a good bit of periwinkle mixed in. That such a cute word, "periwinkle". Overall, one of Danmy's favorite dishes of the night.
5. Handkerchief pasta & rustic pork ragù - This pasta doesn't really need much description. A very basic pork in tomato sauce. Nothing really stood out. Whenever we have a pork-based tomato sauce, we inevitably compare it to our bolognese. (We still think ours is better...shhhhhhhh).
6. Spaghettini, Sardinian cured tuna heart, egg yolk & parsley - Our server told us this was one of the more popular dishes. From the description, the dish sounded fantastic. Tuna heart and egg yolk? Yes, please! However, this dish failed to live up to those lofty expectations. Dry pasta with some crumby meat bits. It wasn't bad, just not the yummy tastiness we were expecting. The bit of yolk got lost in all the other components and was barely noticeable.
7. Pork cheeks, cippolini & polenta - There's something about cheeks that make them one of the tastier parts of the pig, and fish as well. The tender meat was braised and served atop polenta. Braising always lends itself to intense, bold flavors which is why some accompanying polenta is always a nice touch. Both the pork and the polenta were good, but they didn't quite have the synergy of flavor that we experienced with the same dish at Petrossian. Still the king of braised pork with polenta dishes.
8. calves' kidneys, foie gras, mushrooms - Incanto has a chalkboard that lists each day's specials. These specials are typical of the offal variety. For some reason, the calves' kidney caught my attention. Perhaps it was the limited supply, only three available for this day. I'm not sure how many others at the table were thrilled with having to try kidneys. As most everyone at that dinner table was a pharmacist and knew full well that the kidneys are where urine gets filtered, it wasn't necessarily something to dine on.
No one really hesitated to take a bite of the foie gras, which was tasty as always. But the kidney took some prodding to get it on everyone's plate. We were served a fairly large portion, the four pieces combined probably equivalent to two balled up fists. They were prepared in a thick mushroom sauce. The kidneys were firm and had that distinct metallic taste to them. Nobody thought it yummy enough to take a second bite. I probably ate half the serving myself. Although it wasn't the most delicious thing ever, it's nice to taste the other parts of the animal.
9. Dessert salumi platter - Fashioned after the salumi plate, this dessert version included homemade marshmallow, a chocolate salumi (incidently, I saw this same concept on squid ink), jellies and cookies. There was a piece of candided fennel as well - definitely not a winner. A very cute presentation, but nothing that was extremely yummy.
An enjoyable meal overall. We do appreciate the style and message of the place. Chef Cosentino preaches that using all parts of the animal shows more respect for the beast. Incanto is also big in sustainability and eating locally. Something we can all get behind. If another opportunity presented itself to return, we'd definitely some back again to see what else appears on that blackboard.