Food review: Gnocchi bolognese pasta

Restaurant: Stelline (San Francisco)
Food description: Gnocchi (potato pasta) with bolognese meat sauce, pecorino cheese, and garlic bread
Food rating: 7 out of 10
Times ordered: 2

I'm a real sucker for pasta, so I'm really glad that Stelline is next door to keep that steady flow of pasta comin'. They must have realized this and went and raised all the prices on me, humph!! The ossobuco is now $13! Now I have to go back and edit that blog post (a cruel maneuver indeed). Of course this whole price adjustment is simply going to make me more critical of the food, so it goes both ways. I typically order penne bolognese, but the last couple of weeks, I finally tried the gnocchi. Gnocchi is sometimes annoying to eat because it's so dense, the center stays burning hot forever and it's not like you can blow on it to cool it off. So if you wanna eat this dish, just be prepared to lose a layer of skin from your upper palate. I'd say it's probably worth it because it's one of the better pasta dishes that Stelline offers. The gnocchi is decent, but the secret's in the bolognese sauce. It's nice and meaty and thick, with a little cream thrown in to tame the tang. I love it when the pasta sauce isn't overly tangy or sweet. There's some yummy pecorino cheese in the sauce, which adds that finishing touch of cheesy saltiness. Although the sauce is quite good, it's also quite heavy. You can actually see an orange layer of grease oozing out of the sauce, that is, if you care. I know it sure didn't stop me from sopping up every last bit of sauce with my garlic bread! Other than that, the garlic bread is useless. It's all dried out and has no taste. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: the second time I tried this pasta, they garnished it with some raw chopped tomatoes. What were they thinking? I could care less if my pasta looks cute, I just want it to taste good. No tomatoes next time por favor. Other than that, it's a top menu choice for Stelline.

Food review: Lamb ossobuco

Restaurant: Stelline (San Francisco)
Food description: Braised lamb shank with ossobuco sauce over soft polenta, served with string beans and cauliflower
Food rating: 7.5 out of 10
Times ordered: 7

Though I'd rather not admit it, I've tried almost every single entree on the menu at Stelline, so I can say that the lamb ossobuco is one of their better dishes (along with the lasagna special). And for $11.50, you'll be hard pressed to find a better value, especially given the quality. Like the caprese, it's not authentic ossobuco, but it's a really good lamb shank. Traditional ossobuco (literally "hole of bone") is made with veal and the flavor comes from the bone marrow, which is eaten out of the bone and the primary flavor constituent of the dish. As you can tell from the photo, using lamb for ossobuco precludes the whole hole-in-bone concept, so there's not really much marrow to be had. If you can live with this and just think of the dish as a braised lamb shank, you'll love it. Though this time it was slightly overcooked, it's normally very tender, falling right off the bone with just a pluck of the fork. The lamb is nice and lean, no trimming necessary, and has tons of flavor on it's own. The sauce is more of a tomato sauce than ossobuco sauce (given no marrow), but when mixed with the polenta and lamb, it makes a tasty combo. Though the ossobuco is consistently good, the vegetables are consistently overcooked and too garlicky. They round out the meal, but could and should be improved. Other than that, the dish is delicious and a great value, but lacks the authenticity and flavor of traditional ossobuco.

Food review: Fusilli pasta

Restaurant: Stelline (San Francisco)
Food description: Fusilli with sun dried tomatoes, arugula, pine nuts, garlic, red pepper flakes, and ricotta cheese
Food rating: 6.5 out of 10
Times ordered: 2

I'll sum up this pasta in 3 words: simple, savory, and SPICY! And thankfully, it's not ridiculously spicy like the farfalle, but a good spicy where I can actually taste the other ingredients. This dish is so simple I could probably make it at home. though I'd still rather be lazy and have them make it for me. There's very little sauce, just a little olive oil and garlic, so the sun dried tomatoes and pine nuts make up the bulk of the flavor. Since I love pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes, this dish worked for me, though it was a little too simple for me. Something seemed missing (aside from the obvious meat), more ricotta? Another vegetable? More sauce? Just as there was nothing glaringly bad about this pasta, there was nothing memorable about it either, thus the 6.5 score. Without meat, it probably won't be enough food for a dinner entree. Though I enjoyed it and wouldn't mind ordering it again, the best things at Stelline are still the ossobuco, lasagna (special), and any pasta with bolognese sauce.

Food review: Insalata caprese

Restaurant: Stelline (San Francisco)
Food description: Salad of fresh tomato, mozzarella, and basil drizzled with extra virgin olive oil
Food rating: 6.5 out of 10
Times ordered: 10+

If I'm at an Italian restaurant, you can bet money that I'm ordering a caprese salad. It's also really easy to make yourself at home (try using buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes from Whole Foods). Since it's such a simple recipe, a successful caprese salad really depends on the quality of its ingredients. That being said, the caprese at Stelline is often good, but sometimes not so good. I order it every time I go to Stelline, which is pretty frequent, being only a block away. This time the caprese was having one of its not-so-good moments, but I'd say the good times still outweigh the bad times. I realize tomatoes are out of season, so they were a little bland this time. At it's best, the tomatoes are usually ripe, red, and sweet. Now the mozzarella: I'm pretty sure they don't use buffalo mozzarella because it doesn't have that certain bite to it, which is a shame (plus that's the traditional recipe). It's typically above average--creamy, flavorful, and soft. This time though, it was really bland, and needed quite a bit of salt to get it going. The texture of the basil was slightly tough but nothing to complain about because it was very tasty. The olive oil was fine, but nothing really noticeable about it. So although this caprese is not really authentic and the kind I make at home is 10x better, I still think it's tasty enough to continue ordering again (though maybe I'll wait until spring this time).