Che Fico (Italian for what a fig!) is a newish restaurant on Divisidero that serves Italian and Jewish Italian inspired cuisine. I had dinner here with a late reservation at the counter. The counter is a nice place to sit as it’s in front of the open kitchen. They open later than most restaurants in SF - until 11pm most weekdays and until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Closed on Sunday and Monday. It was mostly full late on a Saturday night.
The Menu
The Jewish Italian inspired dishes have a Star of David by them. No carciofi alla giudia to be found though.
Suppli ($5)
I started with a suppli, which is risotto ball stuffed with tomato based sauce and mozzarella which is then breaded and deep fried. Similar to Sicilian arancini. This was a good suppli - nicely flavored rice with melty cheese inside.
Grilled Chopped Duck Liver ($13)
Next I had the chopped liver. One of the Jewish Italian inspired dishes on the menu. Artfully presented, with little mounds of chopped liver were hidden under radish slices. The liver was quite good, rich and meaty with just the right amount of bracing acidity to even out the richness. The single matzo that came with it was like a crunchy cracker. Kind of a small portion.
Rossotti Ranch Veal Offal Tortelloni (Half Portion, $15)
Then I had some pasta. You can get half portions of the pasta, which is what I did. Their pasta dishes are on the expensive side with some creeping near $30 for a full order. One of the pastas I had was the veal offal tortelloni. I thought this was delicious. Handmade wrappers stuffed with veal offal. It didn’t say on the menu what offal was in them but the filling was quite tasty, tender and well seasoned. The wrappers had a very nice texture and good bite. Lightly scented with sage.
Tagliatelle a Ragú (Half Portion, $15.50)
Also had a half portion of the tagliatelle in meat sauce. This was also delicious. Hand made ribbons of pasta that - like the tortelloni - had an excellent texture. In a nice savory and meaty sauce.
Asparagus ($9)
Also had a side of asparagus. This was fine, bathed in a lot of olive oil. The aioli that came with it was a little flavorless though.
Tiramisu
For dessert I had a slice of tiramisu. This was a good tiramisu - moist but not too saturated with liquid. Not too sweet either.
I enjoyed my meal at Che Fico and will be back, especially for the pastas, which were some of the best I’ve had in SF. Kind of expensive.
