Cotogna gives Italian favours a Californian spin
COMPILED BY RORY GOULDING, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM ALISON BING AND JOHN A VLAHIDES. PHOTOGRAPHS: BONJWING LEE, MICHAEL BURRELL/ALAMY
CHEAP EATS
City View DIM SUM £
(cityviewdimsum.com;662 Commercial St)
Take a seat in the sunny dining room and make way for carts loaded with delicate shrimp and leek dumplings, garlicky Chinese broccoli, tangy spareribs, coconut-dusted custard tarts and other tantalising dim sum. Come before the midday rush to nab seats in the upstairs room.
Golden Boy PIZZA £
(goldenboypizza.com;542 Green St)
Looking for the ultimate post-bar-crawl or morning-after slice? Here you’re golden. Since 1978, the Sodini family pizzaioli (pizza makers) have perfected Genovese-style focaccia-crust pizza, achieving that mystical mean between chewy and crunchy with the ideal amount of olive oil. Go for Genovese toppings like clam and garlic or pesto, and bliss out with hot slices and draft beer at the tin-shed counter.
La Palma Mexicatessen
MEXICAN £
(lapalmasf.com;2884 24th St)
Follow the applause: that’s the sound of organic tortilla-making in progress. La Palma is the Mission mother lode of handmade tamales, pupusas (tortilla pockets) with potato and chicharones (pork crackling), carnitas (slow-roasted pork), cotija (Oaxacan cheese) and tangy tomatillo sauce. Get takeout, or bring a small army to fnish that massive meal at sunny sidewalk tables.
La Taqueria MEXICAN £
(00 1 415 285 7117;2889 Mission St) SF’s defnitive burrito has no safron rice, spinach tortilla or mango salsa – just perfectly grilled meats, slow-cooked beans and tomatillo or mesquite salsa all wrapped in a four tortilla. They’re purists at James Beard Award-winning La Taqueria – you’ll pay extra to go without beans, because they add more meat, but spicy pickles and crema (sour cream) bring burrito bliss. Worth the wait, always.
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October 2017
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