Just a little south of San Francisco is an area called Burlingame. I found a quaint little Italian restaurant called Rocca Ristorante. It is located on the main street among several other cute restaurants and shops.
The restaurant was a little small inside so I was glad I made a reservation. There was a great bar when I walked in that had a beautiful mural painted on the wall. It reminded me of some of the restaurants I visited in Barcelona.
They brought some wonderful fresh bread to the table, along with some fresh olive oil and Italian spices. The focaccia bread had great flavor and was elevated when I dipped it into the olive oil mixture.
I started off with a cocktail, a raspberry cosmopolitan. I had not had one of these in a long time. It brought back wonderful memories of the first time I ever had one during a trip to Hong Kong. It was the perfect blend of sweet and sour. The fresh raspberry puree made it taste fresh.
I made sure to order a bowl of the minestrone soup since I love soup so much. The soup was loaded with vegetables from beans to potatoes. The only thing that was missing was a little pasta. Normally I find that in minestrone soup. There was a savory taste to the broth that I thought had a comforting feeling.
For my main dish I ordered the gnocchi. As anyone who reads my blog will know, gnocchi are my favorite. These gnocchi were actually filled with butternut squash. They offered two different options for sauce. It was a tough choice so I asked the opinion of my waiter. He said to go with the pesto sauce. This sauce was slightly creamy. The gnocchi themselves were pleasantly sweet. It was balanced out by the herby nature of the pesto.
This dish was extremely rich and it filled me up fast. Naturally I could not finish it but I knew what I would be having for lunch the next day.
I did get to try the Tortellini alla Casalin. Talk about another extremely rich dish. These tortellini were stuffed with meat and cooked in a cream sauce along with peas, mushrooms, and pancetta. I could tell right away that this pasta was homemade. There was tenderness to the dough. The meat filling was savory and had a creamy texture. It went perfectly with the savory sauce that made the dish so filling.
These filling dishes made it so I was not able to order dessert. I would want to come back just to try a few of those sweet treats on the menu. If you are in the San Francisco area and want to get away from the crowds and tourist spots, head a little south, past the airport to Rocca Ristorante.
Visit their website at www.RistoranteRocca.com
Enjoy!
T
