Wine & Spirits - October 2017 - 44

42. SPQR
A small, clubby, dark-wood-paneled
dining room sets off the brightly lit open
kitchen and large wall of wines, making clear that they are the focal points
of this Pacific Heights modern Italian
restaurant. Chef Matthew Accarrino
coaxes the most from his deceptively
simple ingredients, creating polished
dishes-particularly pastas-that are
delicate yet deep in flavor. Shelley
Lindgren's wine list is an adventure
tour of Italy's regions and multitude
of indigenous grapes. There's as likely
to be a freisa as a nebbiolo from Piedmont available by the half or full glass,
or a Sicilian "orange" catarratto and a
Morro d'Alba from the Marche to order
alongside house-made strozzapreti
with rich rabbit and greens. -B.H.
1911 Fillmore St., 415-771-7779,
spqrsf.com

43. Tasca Tasca
A tasca is Lisbon's answer to a wine bar. This
one is in Sonoma, just off the town square,
complete with plenty of Vinho Verde to whet the
palate and alvarinho for the bacalhau, or light
Lisbon reds for the chouriço and Douro touriga
for a goat stew. It's run by Manuel Azevedo, who
was born in the Azores and has spent years promoting Portuguese food at LaSalette, an upscale
restaurant across the square. -T.Q.T.
122 W. Napa St. (Sonoma);
707-996-8272, tascatasca.com

44. Tawla
First, ask for two orders of flatbread. Soft, warm and yeasty-rich, with a
crisp wheat-bran crust on the bottom, the loaves will disappear alongside
an order of the rich, tangy fava-based ful medames. Ful is a transnational
dish, a spread prepared in various ways from Lebanon to Egypt. Tawla's
food is similarly transnational in its reach, drawing inspiration from all over
the eastern Mediterranean and welcoming distinctly Californian contributions, like a salad based around fresh Early Girl tomatoes. Tawla is owned
by Azhar Hashem, who grew up in Amman, Jordan, studied business
at Berkeley's Haas School and built a successful career in marketing at
Google before leaving the tech world to open her restaurant. She brought
on former Delfina chef Joseph Magidow to take charge of the kitchen. Wine
director Shaundon Castonguay fills the one-page list with affordable wines
that subtly elevate Tawla's Middle Eastern flavors, from Andrea Felici's rich,
mineral Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi to Copain syrah from nearby Mendocino County. You'll also find a few older vintages of Château Musar, in
case your party of four needs something special to drink alongside the leg
of lamb with three sauces. -L.S.
206 Valencia St.; 415-814-2704, tawlasf.com

45. Torc
At Torc, husband-and-wife duo Sean and Cynthia O'Toole offer the truffles and blue-chip wines of a fine-dining destination
without the pomp and hush. Come for handmade pastas, locally raised heritage meats, and vegetable sides featuring produce grown at neighboring farms or foraged by Sean himself. Then settle in to take advantage of Cynthia's wine list, deep in
library vintages of seminal Napa wines like Dominus, and in Old World wine-trade favorites like Allemand Cornas. -J.W.
1140 Main St. (Napa); 707-252-3292, torcnapa.com

46. Trick Dog
Home base of the Bon Vivants, the
cocktail and design firm run by Josh
Harris and Scott Baird, Trick Dog is
as famous for its menu design and
conceptual hijinks as for the cocktails
themselves. The current menu, a Dr.
Seuss-inspired book, features drawings and poetry from Bay Area locals.
Don't forget the Trick Dog, a cheeseburger shaped to fit a hot-dog bun,
slathered in special sauce. -E.T.
3010 20th St.; 415-471-2999,
trickdogbar.com

WINE & SPIRITS

OCTOBER 2017

http://www.tascatasca.com http://www.spqrsf.com http://www.tawlasf.com http://www.torcnapa.com http://www.trickdogbar.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - October 2017