Divine pasta in Belmont
Good neighborhood restaurants often fade into the fabric of the area and survive without much publicity. They serve their regular customers well, and don’t often get wider notice.
Yet at their very best, some of these unsung restaurants will surprise those who happen to find their way in. These types of places are what make cities like Paris so alluring. I would put Divino in Belmont in that class, though I don’t think you’ll find many people strolling Ralston Avenue as they would Saint-Germain-des-Prés.
Owner Vincenzo Cucco knows a lot about neighborhood restaurants. He owned and continues to help out at Bacco in Noe Valley. In 2006 he opened Divino in Belmont; I reviewed the restaurant soon after it opened. While I was impressed with his take on Italian flavors, I never had an opportunity for a return visit.
When I entered the glass door, it was apparent the restaurant had undergone a face-lift; Cucco added a full bar and changed the color scheme. It’s now a deep gold with charcoal gray accents. It’s still not the type of interior that makes much of an impression, but fortunately the food does.
I had forgotten how good Cucco is with traditional pasta. I had Bolognese sauce at a half dozen restaurants in Bologna last year, and his version with pappardelle ($17.50) beat them all, with its deep rich sauce and flecks of meat and mushrooms.
I’ve also enjoyed meatballs ($10.50) at dozens of Bay Area restaurants, and his meatballs, which he attributes to his mother, are among the best. The juicy orbs are placed in a thick, bright red sauce that has a sweet, complex flavor.
The calamari salad ($12.75) features grilled squid surrounding cannellini beans. The beans have a custardlike softness, are infused with a hint of rosemary and are blanketed with a pile of arugula leaves glistening in a tangy vinaigrette.
The pork chop crusted in pistachio ($23.95) was on the menu when I initially visited, but I’d forgotten how good it is. It’s one of the tenderest pieces of meat that I’ve encountered. The thick, well-marked chop is propped on a mound of mashed potatoes and sweet-and-sour red cabbage that leaks into the thick sauce and slightly diminishes the pleasure of the meat.
The menu also includes six or seven specials, such as a sauteed Petrale sole ($25) on a butter sauce with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables like Brussels sprouts and corn. The combination was good, if not memorable.
The waiter, who knew his craft, asked if we would like lemon with the fish; when we said yes, he quickly brought over three wedges presented on the edge of a glass. The service from start to finish was friendly and professional.
I was again surprised at dessert.
I wasn’t that enamored with the panna cotta ($8), but I had the opposite reaction to the apple tart ($8). It was a square of puff pastry fluted at the four corners, so you could see the delicate layers with the caramelized apples in the center, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzles of caramel.
From the Caesar salad ($8.95) to the tart, the food satisfied, and it made me wish that something this good would open in my Potrero Hill neighborhood.