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Get Outta Town...

Written by Susan Dyer Reynolds, Northside Editor

Tuesday, 31 May 2005

Boca Superstar chef George Morrone (Fifth Floor, Aqua, Tartare) has opened a large, stunning Argentine-inspired steakhouse in Novato that he based on the cooking traditions of his family’s heritage. Everything at Boca, from the house-made sausages to prime cuts of grass-fed and grain-fed beef, is cooked over oak and almond wood. For starters, we went with the basket of four empanadas – Betty’s beef, raisin and olive (his mother’s recipe), spicy potato and chorizo, mild zucchini, tomato and manchego, and my personal favorite, chicken mol&eacute. We also loved the house-made chorizo, morcilla and chicken sausages. Cutting into the traditional morcilla releases the wonderful aroma of spices and it’s not a bit dry, as some blood sausages tend to be. Morrone’s trademark soups are fabulous as always. On our visit, the chilled avocado served with two head-on shrimp was delightful, as was the squash blossom, a puree of zucchini with small chunks of salted zucchini and strips of pasilla chile, finished with a touch of cream. For steak, we had to go with the rarely seen bone-in filet, which arrives in dramatic fashion, standing on end with the bone pointed at the sky. The dark, sizzling crust sears in the juices of the meat, which is more flavorful than the boneless variety of this cut. The poussin (young chicken) is one of the best I’ve had – stuffed with garlic and lemon, it is roasted whole until the skin is golden and the luscious meat takes on the subtle, smoky flavor of the wood. Boca: 340 Ignacio Boulevard, Novato. For more information, call (415) 883-0901 or visit www.bocasteak.com. You can email Susan at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Last Updated ( Tuesday, 31 May 2005 )