Anyone who loves offal as much as I do knows the name Chris Cosentino. He is considered to be at the forefront of nose-to-tail dining in North America. His restaurant, Incanto, has been named by some as the most adventurous restaurant in the United States. He runs the website, Offal Good, educating people on how to buy, handle, and cook offal. He opened a small shop called Boccalone in the Ferry Building, selling San Francisco's famous "meat cone". For someone with so much passion for what they do, it is no surprise that I made Incanto my first dinner stop during my trip to San Francisco. I was psyched.
The restaurant is gorgeous, and very well put together. Large wall-size windows overlook the sidewalks of Noe Valley, pictures of pigs grazing, figurines of pig heads on the walls, colors of light brown and white stretching from the front of the restaurant to the back, an open kitchen, and humorously, a bookshelf in the bathrooms containing cookbooks that would make any avid collector smile.
A friend and I decided to go big. Heck, I flew 3000 miles to come here. When talking with our server we asked if we had ordered enough, and when she said yes, we ordered some more. The restaurant started us off with a bread platter containing house-made tapenade, breads, and breadsticks.
 |
| Incanto's Bread and Breadsticks with House-Made Black Olive Tapenade |
Like many restaurants, I tend to skip on bread platters, as they serve no more purpose than to just get your palate going, while filling you up in a few bites. Incanto was no different, serving bread which was passable, but not exceptional. The olive tapenade didn't do wonders for me. This was pushed off to the side. Now bring on the offal.
