Welcome to the "Summer of the Restaurant." I've been trying hard to keep up with all the new Bay Area spots, yet my dying-to-try list is still pretty long: Farina, Palmetto, Mexico DF, Cantina, Spork and Levende East to name a few.
Last night, I crossed Laiola off the list. My friend K. and I met up at what is already a total hot spot, despite being so brand spanking new that they don't have a liquor license yet. (For now it's BYOB. Nectar, just around the corner, is offering bottles at 10% off retail, and Laiola isn't charging corkage.)
K. and I lucked into a nice bottle of albarino without a side trip to the store, thanks to everyone's favorite sardine-lover, who was perched at the bar when we arrived. So we plopped down next to him and took in the scene. It was positively packed (speaking of sardines). The pressed tin ceiling casts a copper glow over tables in front and along the sides. The bar is framed with towers of bright yellow sunflowers and backed by shelves of Spanish wine on one side, and an open kitchen on the other. The big windows out front are Laiola's best advertisement, and my bet is that last night was the first and last time I'll ever walk in and get a seat straight away.
Laiola (pronounced lye-ola) considers itself a "California restaurant inspired by Spain," but I'd peg that as a very heavy influence. The highlight of our shared small plates meal was the spicy salchicon pork sausage served on a slab of wood, and crisp sardines served atop pickled carrots, shallots, and cauliflower, each pickled in their own brine (this tidbit courtesy of Brett, who knows the sous-chef and had been speaking to him before we arrived). Some of the other dishes were less well executed, but it's early so I'm giving them a break. Besides, the roast piglet that I saw plated before me looked so succulent that I'm bound to go back to try that, along with pan con chocolate -- toast smeared with chocolate and dressed with sea salt and Arbequina olive oil. As for wines, a glance at the list reveals one that is long, 99% Spanish, and full of $10 carafes -- an insanely good deal.
roasted pork, bread, chocolate, salt....let me know when that happens!
Yours in pork,
Posted by: jeanne bee | July 24, 2007 at 08:46 PM