San Francisco Restaurants Pt. 1: Perbacco

I wish I could have posted this earlier, but things have been a bit chaotic since I got back to Colorado from San Francisco. For my 21st birthday weekend (the 25th-28th), my mom, dad, two brothers, best friends and brother’s girlfriend spent the weekend eating, drinking and walking our way through San Francisco. I was surprised that the weather was only a high of 70 degrees! So much colder than in Colorado, I am currently sweating and slowly dying in the Boulder summer heat (almost 100 degrees last week!).

On Saturday, our first night there, we had a late reservation for an Italian restaurant called Perbacco, which was recently named the most authentic Italian restaurant outside of Italy by Birra Moretti . The restuarant name is said to be a reference to Bacchus, the God of Wine and “Good Times”. Let me tell you, that couldn’t be a better fit for this place. From whites to reds to delicious dessert wines, this place had everything you could ask for; but the wines were only the beginning (and end). More important was the food.

For appetizers, we ordered Salumi Piemontesta (cured salami and meats), Fritti Misti (battered, fried veggies and lemons), Burrata cheese (a soft Mozzarella with creamy Mozzarella inside) with zucchini, breadsticks with pesto and a fresh strawberry arugula salad with fresh Mozzarella. With the Salumi I had raw sausage for the first time and fell in love! It was delicious on top of a crispy crostini. I have been wondering how I can safely get my hands on some of that again.

After these delicious appetizers, I ate a sample of just about every person’s dinner, which may have been a mistake judging from how full I was afterward! I ordered the Liberty Farm duck breast, which came with fresh and dried stone fruits, arugula, Marcona almonds and a natural jus. This duck was extremely juicy, just like I like. The sweet fruits added a delicious touch to the duck. I think I picked the best thing on the menu.

My mom ordered the Cunij, which was a seared loin with a spring vegetable salad and stuffed Devil’s Gulch rabbit leg and arneis jus. I split my dish with my mom and had some of hers as well. The rabbit tasted similar to chicken. It was good, but I thought that my duck had much more flavor.

I also tasted the Raviora, ravoli filled with lemon and ricotta served with cherry tomatoes, basil and olive oil; and Pappardelle, which was a pasta dish with short rib ragu, roasted cipolline and grated horseradish.

For dessert, yes you heard correctly- I think I have hollow legs, I ordered the Caramelized White Chocolate Sformato with Vanilla Infused Cherries. This was a rich mousse with a vanilla cherry sauce and fresh cherrys. At this point I was in Heaven; I had just eaten one of the most delicious meals of my life and had raw sausage for the first time ever.

The restaurant was very nice to me as well, they gave me a birthday card and free Brutti Ma Buoni, “ugly but good” Piemontese hazelnut cookies with “Happy Birthday” written in chocolate sauce. I couldn’t have asked for a better kick-off to my birthday weekend.

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