"Where-To-Wednesday" Adventures: June 2011

Bar Bambino. No, not a bar filled with little children as I suspiciously suspected and secretly hoped. Oh how I yearn to quote Ms. Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama, “there’s a baby….in a BAR.” But alas, the dream is squashed, and I’ll have to await another trip to the Marina to fulfill it. Snap. Packed with real-life adults, this quaint and cozy restaurant nestled tables both inside and out, with a small bar up front. Hello Ah-Ha! moment. Many thanks to Becky for planning our 7^th Where-To-Wednesday adventure on 6/15, and to our always-fabulous crew comprised this particular week of myself, Melissa, Amanda, Becky, Lindsay, Chelsea and Elizabeth. Check out our overall experience at Bar Bambino…and any other Eureka moments we dare to share. By now you know the drill – 0/10 scale with 10 notoriously rockin those charts. And if you don’t know, now you know.

Ambiance:10 I remember back to when I lived in Michigan, and took a trip one year to San Diego with my family. We walked about to a restaurant to have dinner and were greeted by a hostess who asked us three words I had never been asked at a restaurant: “shade or sun?” That’s an option?? I felt a pang of nostalgia as I entered Bar Bambino and was welcomed by a hostess who asked a question I only dream of: “inside or out?” Those of us who live in San Francisco know that dining outside for dinner is an option typically under only one of the following conditions: 1) it’s ironically also the one day of “Summer” San Francisco is granted per year and miraculously above 70 degrees at night 2) “we have outside seating if you don’t mind the fog rolling in behind you. Also our heat lamps are broken.” Welcome to the anomaly. Bar Bambino had *take notes other restaurants* covered outdoor seating. Eureka! (See…I told you you’d find one). Why is no one else doing this? It’s quite possibly the greatest idea since sliced bread. What a perfect way to dine. Several times throughout the evening we commented on how beautiful the ambiance was, and that we felt transported to a vacation destination. The outside area was comprised of smaller tables for an intimate setting, although our group and another group of girls had packed in upwards of 5-7 at our tables. Wood walls with soft lights embedded throughout enclosed the cozy outdoor area, and cast an inviting yet enlivening lighting across the tables. Inside, it was a similar set-up with larger table availability up front, along with one private room off to the side to accommodate a larger group amongst the smaller table majority. Overall, the ambiance is superb catering to an intimate yet festive environment.

Wine: 9 First of all, before we even get into the wines themselves, I have to comment on the ~~textbook~~ wine list. This is not just a list of their available wines as we have become so accustomed to seeing. No, very no. This booklet starts off defining various regions of Italy and the types of wines that have stemmed from that particular region and many times have influenced the cuisine. After you have a handle on the various regions, you can then read on through the true wine lists where each wine is color-coded by region so that you can easily select one to your liking. Genius! If you know what you’re doing…otherwise, I’ll admit, it looks like a paint-by-number and trust me, I’m ready to paint. We didn’t conquer every region, but we did hit two of them. I arrived first and started off with a glass of the Georg Prieler Pinot Blanc from Burgenland, Austria. In a word: delicious. It was similar to a Sauvignon Blanc, but much creamier, fruit forward and ended with a crisp refreshing finish. I would have been happy to stick with that for the rest of my life. Okay, maybe just throughout dinner. But alas, bottles win so we moved on to the DeForville Piemonte Chardonnay from Piemonte, Italy. Definitely not as good (in my eyes where Sauv Blanc can do no wrong) it had more of a nutty taste to it, much less fruit forward, but very smooth. After that we moved on to our own bottles – thank you Amanda! – which were smashingly delicious. Unfortunately, unless you have a reservation at Amanda’s apartment, you’re missing out.

Food: 7 In relationships, you learn to comprise. Give and take. Sometimes you forgo something you want, for the better of your other. Sometimes the compromise even involves food…yes I’m getting closer to the point, be patient. For example, 86’ing the pepperoni on a pizza that is most certainly calling for it, in order to please your vegetarian companion, perhaps. A companion who, I may add, outside of the fact that they have left you with an average cheese pizza, is providing you with everything else you could possibly need: happiness, comfort, laughs…maybe even a long hug? Yes, you’ve guessed it: our companion, this evening, was the food. I’ll be honest, the food was...okay. Not great, not mind-blowing, not really memorable…but good. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially when you look at everything else Bar Bambino gave us: impeccable service, great recos, and amazing ambiance. But alas, we have come to the food portion, and food, we will judge. Hold on to your seats..it’s gonna be a wild ride.

- Egg, Truffle Salt and Parmigiano-Reggiano Bruschetta: I don’t know what to say about this, I don’t. I actually forgot what it tasted like as soon as I ate it. I literally had to ask the others what it tasted like and the final comment of the dish went a little something like “I just like eggs.” Exactly. Dish Fail.

- Pea and Mint Bruschetta: a very refreshing, light dish of pureed pea and mint atop a garlic-rubbed Italian bread with shaved pecorino to top it off, which was surprisingly satisfying

- Grilled Prosciutto and Peach Salad: Ah, the taste of summer! This dish was delicious – the right mix of fresh peaches wrapped in grilled prosciutto, with the slightest hint of bbq, to transport you to a hot summer day. This one gets a gold star.

- Fresh Cece Beans: Don’t be fooled by the rocks that I got, I’m still edamame from the block. (Yes, this is happening). These individual edamame are deep fried and seasoned heavily on the outside with salt and spice, hiding our old friend edamame on the inside. Delicious. Gold star number 2.

- Olives All’ Ascolana: Translation? The heaviest olive you will ever eat. This puppy is stuffed with pork. And then..prosciutto. And then…pecorino. And then…breaded. And then…fried. And then…no more and then. You’ve now officially eaten the heaviest olive. Congratulations.

- Squash Blossoms: A slight crisp of tempura covered a rather flimsy squash blossom, which was filled with ricotta and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Unfortunately, the taste of the cheese was not very distinct at all, and blended right into the overall taste of the squash.

If you notice nothing else from these adventures, I’m sure you see that when we order pasta, we really “order pasta.” Typically, all we can get. Pasta’s good, end of story. I should stop to note a few things here about the pastas at Bar Bambino – overall the pastas are very small dishes. If you’re planning on sharing, I hope you like to compromise. If not, you may need to re-read the section above. Focus on the pizza.

- Pappardelle with Sugo Di Coniglio: This was an egg pasta tossed with rabbit, porcini, pancetta and sage. Oh, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Because when I bit into the meat, it was filled – I mean – FILLED, with bones. Obviously, not a favorite.

- Agnolotti with Veal and Ricotta: These were small veal-filled pieces of pasta tossed with a creamy butter-based sauce. The sauce had warm, rich satisfying zest to it, but the veal inside lacked a little in taste.

- Black and White Risotto: mildly creamy consistency of pulled pork risotto – flavor was a little to subdued, and can have definitely packed a little more punch.

- Long-Rolled Gnocchi: don’t judge a book by it’s cover. First of all, the name may imply a larger of gnocchi. Negative, these are actually much smaller. So small in fact that they lead me to my next point – when the dish arrives, it won’t look very appealing. Tsk, tsk. The book is good. These crispy buttery bites of goodness are delicious.

- Goat’s Cheese and Semolina Dumplings with Kale and Walnut: the lightly salted kale was the perfect companion against the rich goat cheese baked inside the dumplings.

- Grilled Asparagus: carried a refreshing zing and hint of bacon.

- Paprika-Infused Pork and Veal Cabbage Rolls: delicious cabbage leaves stuffed with savory pork and veal, with warm bacon draped across the top melted into the rolls - delic!

- Grappa Roasted Duck: had a beautiful presentation as the duck is glazed in a savory blueberry thyme. The taste, however, was a little dry and a little bland.

- Goat’s Milk Cheesecake with Beet Granita and Sambuca: moist and rich with a toasted almond crust. Heads up, read the name of the dish carefully because yes, you can taste the beets. If you’re not a fan, read on chocolate lovers…you’re haven is below.

- Napoleon of Apricot and Chamomile: a sweet yet light dish of honey roasted apricots and vanilla cream layered between delicate phyllo and caramel.

- Schwarzwalder with Liquored Cherries: Yes, I saved the best for last. This rich, velvety chocolate cake topped with liquored cherries will send you to heaven and back. Skip the pastas and order two of these, trust me.

Price: 8 Pretty reasonable for all that we ordered. Unless you only count the dishes that we liked. In that case, I’m awaiting my refund little bar.

Noise Level: 7.5 Let’s put it this way, if you’re on the edge of your seat, it’s not in anticipation of the food. The acoustics are pretty bad, but I must say that I’m pretty positive our group and one other seated close to us, maaaay have been the cause of this noise invasion. For an otherwise two-topped majority of a restaurant, we were the outliers. The ruckus-makers. The “kids these days.” Regardless, it’s a restaurant, plan ahead to accommodate laughter.

Service: 9.5 Had I had one more glass of wine, I may have believed I was the Queen of Sheba. We had not one, not two, but three amazing, wonderful waitresses helping us throughout the night. Not only were they extremely friendly and always readily available, but right-on with recommendations, especially with the wine. Multiple times. And I must say, I should have known as soon as I walked in the door. Normally, when you walk into a restaurant without a “fixed” hostess stand, if you’re like me, you wander around aimlessly looking for someone wearing something, anything, resembling a uniform that can tell me just exactly how long I’m about to wait for my table. I never find them quickly. I never find easily. And sometimes, I never find them, period. But Bar Bambino..you blew me away. You did. As I walked through the door and stared at the wall ahead, sure it would begin talking before a human did – I was instead, not only acknowledged, but greeted by the bartender, who welcomed me to the restaurant and seamlessly introduced me to the hostess who was across the room. No mindless wandering. No guesswork. Bravo Bar Bambino, Bravo.

All About The Area: Yes, let’s talk about this. Pepper spray? Check. Karate lessons? Check. Ability to avoid staring at the man who has fallen asleep standing up whilst holding an upright beer can in his hand? Still working on it. You’re tricky Mission, you are. I want to like you. I want to frequent your plethora of amazing restaurants and eclectic bars. I do. But, I also hate stepping in urine. And the sound of a homeless man catcalling me and my friends has yet to thrill me. But alas, try and try again, we will. ‘Til next time Mission. I’ll be stronger.

Overall Grade: 8.5