Bottega on Valencia St. Mission District SF

My daughter lives ten minutes away from us. So one day, I called her up and asked if she can have dinner with me after work.

We bundled ourselves and braced for the afternoon wind. As always, we ended up on Valencia Street, and this time, we tried to sample what the new restaurant, Bottega, had to offer.

The Roman pizza with burrata, artichokes and prosciutto lived up to the hype! My husband, who is a pizza crust expert and a self-proclaimed critique himself, commented that in Rome, the crust is made pinsare, meaning the dough is pushed by hand in such a way that when you eat it, it has a chewy inside and quite crispy on the outside. My daughter, on the other hand, (who grew up eating out both locally here in SF and lived and ate out in New York, had studied abroad) appreciated the depth of taste that the artichokes lent to the pizza. As for me, I enjoyed looking at the oblongated shape as the burrata melted in my mouth from each bite!

The calamari was spetacolare , soft and velvety-fres, with onions, carrots and jalapeños thrown in which reminded me of Japanese tempura.

The rest was just okay—like the minestrone, which was not exactly the deep, rich and thick Tuscan style I was expecting.

In the end, we savored every dish Epicurean style as we always do in my family. After all, we truly believe in and try to practice la dolce vita!