LA CICCIA >

La Ciccia is the Bay Area’s only Sardinian restaurant, but that’s not the only thing that makes it a unicorn in San Francisco. The other factors manifest during the early stages of a meal, maybe when you sit and take stock of the dining room, dated and white-tableclothed in a way that spurs you to wonder whether you stepped into a time portal somewhere between the Noe Valley sidewalk and here. You’ll see how owners Massimiliano Conti and Lorella Degan showcase the foods and wines of their homeland, the simplest ingredients in simple dishes, yet somehow transforming into ethereal creations. All the while, Conti and Degan work the cozy dining room, connecting with their regulars and earning new ones. It’s a scene that is straight out of cinema. But that’s what La Ciccia feels like. It is food like no other. It is hospitality like no other. It is a real-life fantasy of a restaurant. Order: Sardinia is a rustic island, bound by mountains and myrtle bushes, with culinary influences from Africa and Spain. Much of the island is a shepherd’s domain, so at La Ciccia, don’t pass up items like pani guttiau (a traditional, cracker-like flatbread, $10), the ethereal sheep and goat cheeses, and truta de arrescottu (ricotta and saffron cake, $10). Other favorites include: prupisceddu in umidu cun tomatiga (baby octopus stew, $17); spaghittusu cun allu, ollu e bottariga (spaghetti with spicy oil, garlic and bottarga, $25); and spaghittusu cun tomatiga e casu (spaghetti with tomatoes, saffron and Fiore Sardo cheese, $18).

291 30th St., San Francisco. 415-550-8114 or www.laciccia.com. Dinner Tues.-Sat. Reservations recommended. Credit cards accepted.

— P.L.