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FoodNotes: Mothers Day Restaurant Roundup

Written by Susan Dyer Reynolds, Northside Editor

Saturday, 30 April 2005

Around May I start getting requests for the perfect spot to take mom, and I always tell people that it really depends on what your mom likes. Does she appreciate an ocean view? An upscale dinner where the wait staff caters to her like a queen? Or perhaps she’d prefer a low-key gem in the heart of North Beach? Here are a few of my dining recommendations for this Mother’s Day: Uptown Moms: One of the Bay Area’s finest restaurants, Gary Danko, will open at 1 p.m. serving three-, four- and five-course meals. There will also be a chef’s tasting menu with a wine program focused on champagne including the 1995 Laurent-Perrier Brut. Guests will receive a small gift at the conclusion of their meal. The final seating of the evening will be at 9:30 p.m. Call (415) 749-2060, extension 4, for reservations. Restaurant Gary Danko: 800 North Point at Hyde. Piscean Point of View: My mom loved seafood and the ocean, so every Mother’s Day I tried to take her to a restaurant surrounded by water. Her favorites included the Cliff House and the Shadowbrook in Capitola. While dining with a friend a couple of weeks ago at McCormick & Kuleto’s, I thought how much she would have loved it there. The dark wood-trimmed interior features dining on multiple levels and wall-to-wall windows for sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay. The menu includes over 40 types of fresh seafood as well as steaks, sandwiches and chicken. The night we visited, the six varieties of oysters on the half shell were some of the freshest in recent memory. McCormick & Kuleto’s is located in historic Ghirardelli Square. (415) 929-1730. I left my heart in North Beach: I grew up with a Sicilian grandfather and an appreciation for simple, home-cooked Italian food, but it can be hard to find in North Beach these days amongst the generic pasta joints serving platters of limp linguine drowning in canned sauce. When you ask a local for recommendations, Rose Pistola is likely to come up – and a new chef and reinvigorated menu make this a great spot for moms who love authentic regional fare. After his promotion to executive chef, Armando Paniagua (who has cooked with the company nearly 10 years) embarked on a culinary voyage to Liguria and returned with a firm grasp on the authentic cuisine that made Rose Pistola famous (and earned them the 1996 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant in the United States). His enthusiasm shows in his articulate menu – perfectly seasoned penne with tender pork sugo and lemon zest, two types of whole fish prepared any of five ways, and one of the best bucatini alla carbonaras in town. The elegant ambience is a step above, just like the food, and a heated patio means mom can dine al fresco even if the fog rolls in. Rose Pistola: 532 Columbus Avenue. (415) 399-0499. FoodBites: Acclaimed chef George Morrone (Aqua, Fifth Floor, Tartare) has opened Boca, a steakhouse inspired by his Argentinean heritage, at 340 Ignacio Boulevard in Novato. The menu boasts a hard-to-find bone-in filet as well as whole roasted prime rib, and the prices are surprisingly reasonable ... U Street (1980 Union Street at Buchanan) has hired rising star chef Michael Schley, whose culinary pedigree includes stints at the Beard House in New York, the French Laundry, and most recently PlumpJack Café under executive chef James Ormsby. The promising menu includes dishes like maple-glazed Kurobuta pork filet mignon and grilled Snake River Farms Kobe beef.

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