La Ciccia

Apr 3rd, 2024

Mar 27th, 2024

The bottarga pasta is great. It's shaved dried fish roe. Tastes like the ocean.
Mar 10th, 2024

Mar 8th, 2024

La Ciccia is a gem of San Francisco. If you like Italian cuisine and you like seafood, you must try this Sardinian restaurant, featuring a seafood-heavy Italian cuisine that's unlike most Italian restaurants in the area. I thought the place closed, and only recently learned that the restaurant survived the original owners retiring. A real estate agent who lived a couple of blocks away and who was a regular customer decided to purchase the business. They kept all the staff, including the head chef. Supposedly, it was just as good as under the original owners. We were certainly pleased with our visit. We started with simply grilled squid and an order of their Sardinian flatbread, pane carasau. The flatbread reminds me of Indian papadam, but flavored with olive oil and intense rosemary. For her entree, Marcia got the house specialty -- homemade spaghetti with spicy olive oil and shaved bottarga (cured fish roe). Whenever we've gone to La Ciccia, at least one of us orders this dish, and in this visit, it did not disappoint. I decided to try something different and get the fettucine with a tomato and sea urchin sauce, topped with a shaving of cured tuna heart. I love Marcia's pasta with bottarga, but I'm so glad I tried something new. The sauce was amazing -- the tomatoes didn't overpower the sea urchin, and that wonderful flavor of the sea shined right through. For dessert, we split the chocolate panna cotta. It was fine. Marcia liked it more than me. Toasted hazelnuts added a nice texture and flavor to the dish.
Mar 31st, 2024