Sometimes Check Please comes through in a big way and introduces you to a restaurant that lives up to the all the gushing. Sitting flush on the sidewalk on Belmont just east California, Pisolino Italian Caffe’s got that super urban neighborhood feel; hard edges on the outside and soft and pretty on the inside. Although Rachel De Marte who owns the restaurant with her chef husband James calls the restaurant cozy, I’d lean more to warm and welcoming. In a town with hundreds of restaurants that aren’t, that description shouldn’t be taken lightly.
With a reservation for four, we were looking forward to getting a decent sampling of what the restaurant has to offer. The impression is that Pisolino’s is primarily a pizza house with classic Italian pasta options. Which is true but sounds limiting. I’d flip it and emphasize the pasta first even though the pizzas are very very nice. Even though our table thought the smoked burrata and smoked prosciutto pizza on special would have been even more enjoyable if the prosciutto was torn in smaller pieces, my palette couldn’t care less and was turning somersaults over the sensational mild yet distinct flavors. The chef spent a decade or more in Italy cooking in a number of renowned restaurants and brought all of that acquired knowledge and skill to his own kitchen. What you get is a commitment to quality and a love for authenticity. Even before the pizza, both of those attributes came through in, of all things, the cocktail.
Old school to the bone, they keep it as uncluttered and sharp at the bar as they do in the back of the house. Using just rye whiskey (Dickel’s), sweet vermouth and bitter liqueur, the bar staff created one outstanding Manhattan. It was so wonderfully balanced and clean; a solo trip might be in order to see if lightning can strike twice. And, if they have time, maybe even chat up the bartender to talk about “process”.
It can be a little daunting when one of your dinner companions is a famously picky eater. And this one is also considering going vegan. No worries. Settling on a potato gnocchi with fonduta di Asiago and white spring truffle, also on special, she practically chortled her pleasure with the selection. Once again, the quality of the ingredients was a luminous as the flavors. Forks from all directions dove kamikaze style into her bowl followed by a chorus of mmm’s and ahhhs. The bucatini carbonara got an equally warm reception. With bacon, yolk and pecorino, it’s by design rich, creamy and delicious. People started talking about bringing out of town friends and family to the restaurant and wondering if Pisolino does brunch. It doesn’t.
Hoping for rustic, dense flavors with depth and character, the orecchiette with spicy sausage, rapini, confit garlic and shallot with pecorino cheese looked promising. Asking for a little direction from the waitress, she was almost joyful in her enthusiastic endorsement of the choice. Which points to another great thing about Pisolino. The service was the most casually impeccable experienced anywhere. So much so that my jaded inner self kept saying “There’s no way this young lady can be as nice as she’s coming off”. If it was an act, even Ms. Streep would be impressed and it lasted through the whole meal. And yep, the orecchiette met every blissful expectation. Hearty, complex, with an ideal heat level and flavors that were decidedly artisanal, it was instantly understandable why it was a diner favorite.
Priced low enough to stay in the sphere of reasonable, but high enough to say this is a serious enterprise; the quality of the food and its preparation wouldn’t have anybody quibbling about cost. One thing you can’t put a price on is the unassuming conviviality of the space. That does mean the restaurant can get loud. But to these ears that also means people are enjoying their dining companions and their meals. It’s a happy sound. And it pairs with the food brilliantly.
