Incanto

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.

Resto

Resto (French for "casual restaurant") opened its doors in the Spring of 2007.  Being a line cook at Tabla at the time, my coworkers and I used to visit this restaurant every other week for their amazing Belgium-style pub fare. The menu is nose-to-tail, the beer selection is amazing, and it's just a great place to hangout and enjoy yourself.

It has been just over three years since I have been to Resto, but after seeing it was participating in Summer Restaurant Week this year, I decided to make a reservation and come back.  Memories of the opening menu four years ago flooded my head.  Deviled eggs on pork toast were my favorite.  Pig's head sandwich served on toasted white bread and curried mayonnaise was a close second.  The house-made sausages, the beef cheeks, and the memories of the rest of the nose-to-tail menu excited me and I couldn't wait for lunch on Friday afternoon.

The restaurant has undergone some changes in the past few years.  The executive chef has changed to Bobby Hellen, and the menu is now a lot more developed.   However, everything else about the place is the same.  The decor is still boring.  Eighty seats spread around 26 tables in a large room, with six outside on the patio.  And if you visit the bathroom, the large, heavy sliding door will annoy the **** out of you.  Yup, that's really all there is to say about that.