Cotogna & Quince

The culinary power couple.

Before I had made my way to San Francisco there was but one recommendation I could not get out of my head.  Chef Floyd Cardoz told me I need to visit Cotogna.  From what I have realized from our own similar tastes in the past, when he recommends a restaurant, I must listen.

Cotogna is a small, rustic Italian restaurant owned and operated by Michael and Lindsay Tusk.  The two chefs first opened their fine-dining flagship Quince in 2003.  A hit right from the start, their passion lead them to move Quince into a more luxurious and grander space taking over Myth in San Francisco's Jackson Square in 2009.  The space included a small corner cafe, and after about a year and a half, and Lindsay Tusk doing much of the design work herself, transformed that cafe into Cotogna, which actually means "quince" in Italian.

Cotogna is centered around the pastas that Michael Tusk became famous for at Quince, having removed all of them from the now four-star establishment, making them more readily available in a more casual atmosphere.  There is not much to the decor of this 50-seat restaurant, with windows looking out to Jackson Square and wooden panels flowing throughout.  But what makes this space stand out is the small open kitchen showcasing a wood-fire pizza oven and a stand-alone grill with rotating spits.  Two cooks man these stations in the front while three more work behind the scenes.  The rest of the kitchen can be seen on a visit to the restrooms.

Getting a reservation here is hard.  Very hard actually.  I was trying for up to one month to see if I could make a reservation here before actually being in the Bay Area.  On a Tuesday night I decided to press my luck and visit the restaurant, and thankfully I got lucky.  I walked in and starting talking to the hostesses about my chances of dining that night.  They told me they accept walk-ins at the dining counters which were full at the moment.  They then took down my number and offered to call me if a space opened up.  Jumping at the chance I was put on the waitlist, and 20 minutes later received a call saying I could dine.  I thanked them profusely for the kindness.