L'Osteria del Forno: Sweet Food Served by a Sour Staff
Written: Aug 27 '02 (Updated Aug 27 '02)
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Pros: Preparations highlight the restaurant's use of very fresh ingredients
Cons: Small room, indifferent wait staff
The Bottom Line: L'Osteria is a nice alternative to the trendier, not quite as good, large restaurants in North Beach.
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| Mr.Eyore's Full Review: L'Osteria del Forno |
ambiance
The first thing you’ll notice upon arriving at L’Osteria del Forno, on the north-west edge of San Francisco’s North Beach, is that you are standing outside, and you’re not sure if you’re supposed to wait there or go in to put your name on a list. The restaurant houses perhaps 10 small tables, mostly two-tops, in a tiny fish-bowl of a space. So you may feel that entering before you’ve been invited will require you to invade the personal space of the diners.
The first thing you’ll notice when you finally get through the door is the truly sublime scent of freshly baking bread, simmering cream, veal and rosemary. The smell is unique and inviting, and it’s likely, all by itself, to make you glad you decided to eat there.
the food
Once you’re seated, and served some of their small servings of hearty fare, you’ll be even happier. L’Osteria specializes in simple, high quality dishes, prepared with spartan perfection.
Twice I have had their “Roast of the Day” and I’d be hard pressed to come up with a good reason for departing from that choice on any future visit. On my last visit, the choices were roast beef or roast pork, served with rough-diced potatoes and carrots. I had the beef, which was thinly sliced, medium rare, and cold, garnished with lemon, olive oil and crushed black pepper. When I first ate at L’Osteria, about 5 years ago, their daily roasts were an incredible bargain at $7.95ish. At nearly $11.00 now, they are still reasonable. And I don’t think anything else on the menu costs more than 12 or 13 bucks, with most under 10.
I’d be hard pressed to explain how the roast beef dish that I had differed from the beef carpaccio (one of to carpaccio’s offered by L’Osteria) my friend ordered last time I was there. But it differed plenty. The carpaccio was a higher grade of meat, served much thinner and raw, and while it was dressed with the same olive oil, black pepper and lemon as my roast, the salty shavings of parmesian on top made a word of difference
I have seen a number of fantastic looking pizzas brought to neighboring tables: Thin crusted oblong creations piled liberally with artichoke hearts, ripe cheeses, arugula and gorgeous heirloom tomatoes.
Likewise their pastas: Rich looking, stock-coated curly noodles laced with fresh aromatic vegetables and herbs, or light tomato, basil and garlic dressings topped with just-melting pecorino.
They also have about seven sandwiches, all served on their house-made foccacia , which is buttery, and infused with sprinkles of rosemary, and liberally topped with granules of sea salt. These range from prosciutto, pancetta and whatever their roast of the day is, to vegetarian delights piled thick with mozzarella, fresh tomatoes and greens.
service
The women who run L’Osteria are about as warm and cheerful as John Ashcroft. Their apparent default presumption is that you will be disappointed with anything they offer, from the food to the wait to the wine, which is odd because it really is such a wonderful place. But seeing a smile on a member of the wait staff’s face is about as likely to happen as Dubya getting an invitation from Mensa. They’re a dour lot, but deal with it, their food kicks butt. And besides, their behavior falls short of affirmatively offensive. They’re not mean, by any stretch. They just seem a tad annoyed that you’re there, and would appreciate your kindly leaving so they can act a bit peeved with a new group.
deserts
On my last visit I tried the creme caramel, which, you know, is basically flan. And as we all know, flan pretty much sucks. But the desert wasn’t my choice, and truth be told, for something that by definition sucks, the flan caramel wasn’t really all that bad. Sure, it had that semi-viscous gelatin coating on top and bottom, and that sort of not quite creamy, not quite flaky ... thing, that all flans seem to have. But it was flavorful enough, and light, and it didn’t do anything overtly mean to the fantastic, rich cup of coffee it sat next to.
In conclusion, if you have reason to be in North Beach, it’s worth taking a stroll down Columbus, past the numerous, more expensive, and generally less satisfying, Italian restaurants, to see what the wait is like at L’Osteria. You will be pleased, and not overstuffed.
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: No
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Best Suited For: Friends
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Mr.Eyore
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