San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
The best pastas in the Bay Area
From showstopping stuffed pastas to perfectly sauced noodles, these dishes will make any gluten-lover swoon
The Bay Area is full of restaurants that make great pasta. But after you decide which CalItalian destination to try, score a reservation and finally slide into your seat, how do you know what to order?
These are the correct answers.
You’ll find supple strands rolled out from impossibly eggy doughs, perfect little pouches of cheese and all kinds of butter sauces, beautifully emulsified and married to the pasta at just the right heat. You’ll find dishes that have come to define a restaurant — even non-Italian ones — the kind of pastas that chefs simply cannot take off their menus or else people would surely riot.
To help narrow down the field of magical pasta-filled experiences available in the region, we created some rules: We only included dishes that are available year-round, so your cravings can be appeased whenever they strike — or whenever you happen to be nearby. That means we had to let go of some seasonal favorites at restaurants like Octavia, Che Fico and Seven Hills, where the menus change constantly. At other spots, the handmade pastas are reliably lovely, but a single dish doesn’t necessarily rise above the rest. These ones do.
We also tried to rank them, an imperfect process involving impassioned debate, score cards and calculators. Somehow, we’re all still friends. Here are the Bay Area’s 15 must-try pasta dishes, ranked from great to incredible. — Janelle Bitker
15. Beef suqaar with spaghetti at Jubba
Though it’s not exactly a pasta dish per se, spaghetti is a constant at Somali restaurant Jubba in San Jose. It’s one of the many starch options that accompanies entrees. My favorite is the beef suqaar ($18.99) — succulent stir-fried beef, peppers and onions — over spaghetti in a tomato sauce boldly flavored with xawaash, Somalia’s preferred spice mix. Squirt some lime over the beefy, ropy pasta and dab it with a sharply spicy, acidic hot sauce, which comes on the side with every order. The pastel green sauce glows with zest and piquancy, making this pasta shine bright. — Cesar Hernandez
5330 Terner Way, San Jose. 408-440-1504
14. Fiocchetti aurora at La Stanza Cucina Italiana
It’s hard to find fresh fiocchetti pasta in the Bay Area, so it’s no surprise that it’s the bestselling dish at this low-key Italian restaurant in Menlo Park. The dumpling-like pasta ($19.95) looks like a miniature parcel cinched at the top — a little present filled with pear and asiago cheese. Despite the unusual use of fruit, the filling isn’t cloyingly sweet, and pairs well with La Stanza’s tangy, vodkaesque tomato sauce. Add a few cracks of fresh black pepper for hits of spice. — Elena Kadvany
651 Oak Grove Ave., Menlo Park. lastanzacucina.com
13. Maccaronara at A16
The maccaronara ($25) at San Francisco Cal-Italian destination A16 manages to match the laidback yet refined feel of the restaurant. The squared, spaghettilike noodles are delightfully chewy and come covered in an understated, Neapolitan-style ragu showing off a surprisingly sweet and playfully acidic tomato flavor. The shavings of ricotta salata add a nice salty touch at first bite, but as one chews along, the ragu’s flavors become more pronounced, slowly grabbing your attention without any fancy tricks. Sometimes, simple is all you need. — Mario Cortez
2355 Chestnut St., San Francisco. a16pizza.com
12. Pappardelle with Bolognese at AltoVino
At Cal-Italian restaurant AltoVino, the Bolognese ($25) is simmered for half a day before it’s gracefully folded into long, flat pappardelle sheets. Its meatiness — consisting of veal, dryaged beef, pork and prosciutto — communicates that Bolognese is an exercise in comfort, not lightness. The pasta ribbons are made in-house and cooked until wonderfully chewy. As is traditional for Bolognese, soffritto — diced aromatic vegetables like onions, carrots and celery — thickens the meat sauce and boosts its savoriness. It’s one of the few dishes that has earned a consistent spot on AltoVino’s menu, displaying its rich eloquence. — C.H.
1358 Mason St., San Francisco. altovinosf.com
11. Mac and cheese at Minnie Bell’s Soul Movement
The mac ($5 for small, $13 for large) from Minnie Bell’s is a regal event. It’s the mac and cheese of your dreams, the one that lives in your head rent-free unblemished by time and space. It exists in a perfect Venn diagram of gooey cheese, seasoning and soft pasta. The bechamel is fortified with a blend of parmesan, cheddar and fontina then folded into elbow macaroni. It’s baked like a casserole so the cheese on top forms a crisp skin
— easily the best part. The Emeryville spot is also known for its show-stopping, herby fried chicken, but the side of mac tends to steal the spotlight. Together, they form an unstoppable alliance. — C.H.
5959 Shellmound St., Emeryville. minniebellssoul.com
10. Lemon cream ravioli at Bistro Don Giovanni
Presentation-wise, this dish is nothing to fuss over. Yet the simple plate of six large, handmade ravioli ($30) is one of the most popular dishes at this 30-year-old Napa institution. The delightfully fluffy filling of Bellwether Farms ricotta with microscopic flecks of spinach is rich and moist without feeling too heavy. For the sauce, most locals order it “half and half ” — meaning half tomato sauce, half cream — but the cheek-puckering, tangy lemon cream is hands down the best choice, so don’t be afraid to go all in. — Jess Lander
4110 Howard Ln., Napa. bistrodongiovanni.com
9. Handkerchief pasta at Pearl 6101
Eating Pearl 6101’s handkerchief pasta ($22) feels like pulling on a pair of cozy socks on a cold night. The super wide noodles — hence the name — are coated in a luxurious yet delicate white Bolognese sauce, then topped with herbs and shards of Grana Padano cheese. It’s rare to see this pasta style at Bay Area restaurants, as well as a white, tomato-less bolognese made with veal and pork braised in milk rather than the classic red meat sauce. The handkerchief has been on the
menu since Pearl’s earliest days; a bartender recently said he and many customers (this one included) would revolt if the owners ever took it off. — E.K.
6101 California St., San Francisco. pearl6101.com
8. Raviolo di ricotta at Cotogna
There may be no more famous pasta dish in San Francisco than Cotogna’s raviolo ($29). Diners at almost every table at the Italian favorite are seen slicing into the single, enormous square ravioli expertly cooked so it bursts with amber egg yolk and fresh ricotta. It’s an unapologetically indulgent dish, served in a shimmering pool of brown butter. Consider it a rite of passage in the Bay Area pasta scene. — E.K.
490 Pacific Ave., San Francisco. cotognasf.com
7. Casoncelli Bergamaschi at Belotti Ristorante
Belotti may be decidedly untrendy, yet it’s one of Oakland’s toughest reservations for good reason: sublime pastas that former restaurant critic Soleil
Ho once described as “perfect.” While choosing what to order among a dozen or so pastas can feel like an existential crisis, the Bergamo-style casoncelli ($18.95) is always wise. These crescentshaped pockets contain a surprising amount of meat — beef, prosciutto and pork shoulder — topped with crispy bits of smoked pancetta for texture and a butter sauce lightly scented with sage. It showcases what Belotti does so well: unfussy, blissful stuffed pastas with thin, golden skins and luxurious flavor. — J.B.
5403 College Ave., Oakland. belottirb.com
6. Timballo at Sorella
Picture a slice of lasagna. Now, make it tighter, neater, with brilliantly defined layers and an unusually intense flavor. Say hello to the timballo ($27) from Sorella, the more casual, sleek sister restaurant to Michelin-starred destination Acquerello. It features nine thin sheets of pasta, which alternate with the sources of the funk: slowly braised, dry-aged beef and creamy, nutty Comté cheese. The whole thing is baked for three hours, and each tall slice sits in a pool of bright-red tomato sauce for even more umami. — J.B.
1760 Polk St., San Francisco. sorellasf.com
5. Tonnarelli Sea Urchin Cacio e Pepe at Rich Table
Chefs love to talk about “depth of flavor,” and this dish ($28), from Rich Table chefowners Sarah and Evan Rich, has fathoms of it. The deepest, briniest level comes from sweet sea urchins emulsified with butter and a broth of kombu, garlic and shallot. Just above that swims a layer of toasted black pepper, umami-packed dashi and melted Idiazabal, a nutty, slightly smoky Basque sheep’s milk cheese. Eggy tonnarelli, a cousin of spaghetti, bathes deep in the sauce, while bright sunflower sprouts and chives bob above the surface. There’s nothing to call these deep, salty flavors except oceanic. “It’s a good representation of what we do,” said chef Sarah Rich. “That’s why it never leaves the menu.” A gluten-free version is available, too. — Caleb Pershan
199 Gough St., San Francisco. richtablesf.com
4. Scarpinocc at Flour + Water
Flour + Water’s scarpinocc ($27) is a phenomenal display of the creativity and whimsy in the Bay Area pasta scene. It’s the one pasta that the chefs have kept returning to since the San Francisco restaurant’s opening in 2009. The dim lighting heightens the anticipation as the pinched, candy wrapper-like pasta arrives at the table. The boiled, chewy parcel contains a rich burst of creamy taleggio cheese. It’s garnished with a generous shaving of pecorino and a zigzag of syrupy balsamic, which adds a dramatic contrast of tart sweetness. If you want to experience the Bay Area’s CalItalian legacy in pasta form, try this one. — C.H.
2401 Harrison St., San Francisco. flourandwater.com
3. Spaghetti with bottarga at La Ciccia
Spaghetti with bottarga, or salted and cured fish roe, is a specialty of the Mediterranean island Sardinia. It’s also become the essential order at San Francisco’s most beloved Sardinian restaurant, La Ciccia, which renders the dish on its menu in the ancient Sardinian language: spaghittusu cun allu ollu e bottariga ($28). At the restaurant, the pasta arrives as a golden mound, showered in the finely grated roe, the noodles coated in a slick, lightly spicy, garlicky oil. Part of what makes the plate so irresistible is the toothsome snap of the spaghetti, cooked to a sturdy al dente. It looks simple, but the complexity of the bottarga’s flavors and the expertness of the execution make it taste revelatory. Wash it down with a glass of Vermentino di Sardegna, a fruity white wine that makes an excellent foil for the deeply salty pasta. — Esther Mobley
291 30th St., San Francisco. laciccia.com
2. Cacio e uova at Itria
A lot of Bay Area restaurants serve cacio e pepe, but few make cacio e uova. The former is the Roman classic of spaghetti vigorously tossed with Pecorino Romano and black pepper; the latter gets further enriched with eggs, somewhat like a meatless carbonara. The version at Itria ($24), the only pasta that’s stayed on the menu since the hip San Francisco spot opened in 2021, is excellent: luscious, comforting, zingy. It also offers pleasing textures between the chewy, frilly mafaldine pasta and a dusting of crispy breadcrumbs on top. — J.B.
3266 24th St., San Francisco. itriasf.com
1. Miso butter pasta at Daytrip
This miso butter pasta ($24) might put you in a galactic trance, like you’re traversing a young, velvety nebula made of honeynut squash miso and butter. Everything about the dish sparkles, from the springy pasta coated in the luxurious sauce to the final flourishes of chile flakes and kelp pearls. It’s one of the few dishes on the game-changing Oakland restaurant’s menu that’s earned a permanent spot. Though a few elements like the type of miso from local outfit Shared Cultures — currently pumpkin miso — might change, its essence perseveres. — C.H.
4316 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. thisisdaytrip.com