Locanda is the one place that is difficult to eat at the bar since it’s always packed 2-3 people deep. I felt like we won the lottery when there was a 7:15 pm same-day reservation available, so it was a no-brainer to grab it.

It’s no wonder that the bar is always packed: they make excellent cocktails. As usual, we whetted our appetites over a couple of stiff drinks: a perfectly balanced Business Thyme (gin, thyme, honey, lime) and La Bella Confusione (Bartender’s Choice) which in this case was a spirituous Panama Bonal (Beefeater, St. George Rye Gin, Bonal, Cocchi Americano):

The Fried Castelveltrano Olives breaded and stuffed with Roman Cacio cheese is a perfect salty bar snack to pair with the cocktails:

Their bread service offers a few slices of Roman Pizza Bianca, a baked slab made with flour, water, yeast and brushed with olive oil and salt:

The Trippa alla Romana is comfort food at its best. Topped with melted pecorino cheese, the honeycomb tripe was very soft and tender. It was a perfect canvas to pick up the flavors of the tomato and mint sauce:

Venturing north of Rome, San Remo is located on the Italian Riviera about 27 miles (or 44 km) on the other side of the border from Nice, France. So, Salad San Remo was appropriately named since it was a great Italian version of the Salad Nicoise. It included albacore tuna confit bits, fagioli string beans, boiled potato, perfectly soft-boiled egg, lettuce and gaeta olives:

Our wine choice headed further north to the Piemonte region of Italy where we selected this aged 2006 Barolo to go with our meal:

We chose the Crescenza Tortelli that was stuffed with cheese made in the Piemonte region, so we had selected the right wine to pair it with. Served with piopinni mushrooms, mint and pinenuts in the sauce, we used the pizza bianca to sop up every last bit:

The Lamb Leg was served over black eyed peas. Charred Jimmy Nardello peppers adorned the lamb bathed in an anchovy-laced sauce:

The lamb was served very rare, and we are now hooked on the Nardello peppers. Life would be great if bell peppers could all be replaced by the Nardellos:

Opened by the Delfina team, Chef Anthony Strong creates excellent Roman-inspired fare in the heart of the Mission at Locanda. It just may have overtaken it’s older sister in terms of popularity – maybe it has something to do with their excellent cocktail program.

http://www.locandasf.com/