Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m not a bread person, often nibbling enough to check it out for the review, and then passing the basket to save room for the food to follow. On my first visit to Da Flora, I discovered what has got to be the best focaccia-style bread in the City – one bite of the fresh, olive oil soaked, sea salt sprinkled, light and airy concoction was enough to make me forget my last freshly baked obsession – the fluffy biscuits at Brenda’s French Soul Food.
 

Da Flora’s romantic, candle-lit            interior
	Spice-rubbed pork loin with fresh garbanzo beans; handwritten menu                                             photos: Tom Jones

Situated in a wedge-shaped corner building at Columbus and Filbert, Da Flora has been a well-respected, well-loved institution for over a decade. Owner Flora Gaspar, bread and pastry guru Mary Beth Marks, and chef Jen McMahon are a great example of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy – they have a winning formula that keeps people coming back.
   

The menu is Venetian-inspired  – ingredients including fish, duck, asparagus, and artichokes are the base for traditional dishes like gnocchi, baccalà and risotto – but distinctly Da Flora, in the lovingly deft hands of McMahon. If I have a criticism of McMahon’s nearly perfect execution it is that she is a tad light with the salt, not a complaint you’ll see often in a city where the salting of food in restaurant kitchens is often too liberal.
   

Seasoning was perfect, however, on the wonderful baccalà mantecato ($12) – salt cod whipped with olive oil, milk and garlic, its soft peaks glistening from atop crostini. If you avoid salt cod because you’ve had a lead-in-your-stomach-too-fishy version, this one will make you a fan.
   

The handwritten (or more appropriately, hand-scribbled) menu touts the sweet potato gnocchi ($10.50) as the signature dish, and it is definitely worthy – they are not as airy as some, but each little pillow, coated in sherry cream, melts in your mouth. The addition of crumbled, smoky bacon makes them even more addictive, but I also love that vegetarians can substitute sage, always a satisfying partner for gnocchi.
   

Carpaccio Vittore ($12.50) features paper-thin claret-colored raw beef tenderloin dressed with zesty horseradish sauce, capers, red onion, and arugula. The dish is named for the greatest early Renaissance narrative painter of the Venetian school. (Giuseppe Cipriani invented carpaccio in 1950 at Harry’s in Venice, and paid homage to Vittore because the artist was known for the prominence of red in his paintings.)
   

On one visit, my dining companion was hesitant to try the artichoke stuffed with blacked spiced olives and breadcrumbs ($12.50) because he doesn’t care for olives. To his surprise, the olives didn’t overpower, instead lending a lovely mineral tone that offset the tart lemon aioli and buttery speck (from the same cut of the leg as prosciutto, but smoked before being salted and aged).
   

Of all the delicious things I sampled at Da Flora, it is the roast asparagus with quail egg salad ($12.50) that I’m still dreaming of on a nightly basis. The name of the dish is deceiving – I expected some greens topped with a poached or hard-boiled quail egg. Instead, the egg is whipped into a decadent, almost deviled-egg mixture, spooned over the tender spears of asparagus, and finished with a restrained drizzle of white truffle vinaigrette. Flora informed us that several regulars come in just because they are craving the egg salad, and I can see why – I wanted to take home a gallon of the stuff and spread it over everything edible in my house.
   

Less successful was the risi e bisi (rice and peas; $21), a Venetian classic best described as a soupy risotto. Fresh peas are without a doubt my favorite things from spring’s culinary bounty; unfortunately the dish was dominated by the strong flavor of the spring onions.
   

I loved the delicate house-made strands of tagliatelle ($21) – tossed with chives and asparagus and coated in a light Meyer lemon cream; it exemplified what is glorious about Italian food: no prima donna takes the stage, just a few ingredients dancing together, shining equally.
   

On one visit with friend and Northside San Francisco columnist GraceAnn Walden, we tried the spice-rubbed pork tenderloin ($24), which GraceAnn said was one of the best pork dishes she’d ever had. I have to concur – the still-rosy slices were loamy and incredibly moist, and the fresh garbanzos, with their deep green color and slight crunch, were a perfect accompaniment.
   

Seared, still-pink duck livers sautéed with onions, sage and pancetta, and served over polenta ($23) were luscious, and brought me back to many a childhood Sunday.
   

Desserts ($8) are mouthwatering and worth saving room for. The lemon-almond pistachio cake with candied pistachios and house-made crème fraîche made this Sicilian girl’s heart sing; spongy, chocolate shortbread cookies filled with honey-sweetened marscapone were simple perfection; and the chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache, caramel cream and toasted almonds was a bit rich, but lovely.
   

The well-chosen, changing Italian wine list included some gems, like one of my favorite dinner wines, Nero D’Avola Di Giovanna, from Sicily.
   

The room at Da Flora is eclectically romantic with a pinch of Venetian Goth – deep red walls, a Murano glass chandelier as the ceiling’s focal point, a pillar dripping wax from a tall holder at the entry, cool variously shaped candle boxes on the walls with cutouts that allow dots of light to poke through the dark.
   

Someone once described the service at Da Flora as being like “meeting a cat for the first time” – curious but a little chilly. I prefer to think of it as dinner at Nonna’s: no need to kiss up when you’re among family. Set off the beaten path from North Beach’s tourist-soaked Spaghetti Row, tiny relaxed Da Flora is a refreshingly authentic eatery. Come for the wonderful food, the wonderful wine and the wonderfully unpretentious feel.
   

Da Flora: 701 Columbus Ave. (at Filbert); dinner Wed.-Sat. 6-9:30 p.m., reservations strongly recommended; cash preferred (though Visa and MasterCard are accepted); 415-981-4664

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