Corzetti [San Francisco, Union Square]

[Mr_Happy]

I had an early dinner at the bar at Corzetti, a hotel restaurant in the Hotel G near Union Square from Adriano Paganini’s Back of House restaurant group, which also runs Beretta, A Mano, Delarosa, Super Duper Burger, etc. Eater blurb here:

One of San Francisco’s Most Prolific Restaurateurs Is Bringing Coastal...

Corzetti’s theme is coastal Italy, e.g. Liguria. The name of the restaurant comes from a type of disc shaped Ligurian pasta, which is also featured on one of the pasta dishes.

I got in just early enough for the happy hour menu, which is served in the bar area every day between opening and 6:30pm.

I started with a Negroni ($10 Happy Hour)

Polpette ($10 Happy Hour)
Some meatballs made of short ribs and guanciale, tender and juicy. In a tomato sauce with some grilled toast.

Squid ($7 Happy Hour)
Nicely fried calamari with a light crispy batter and an aioli for dipping.

Focaccia di Recco ($18 + $4 for mortadella)
thin crescenza cheese-stuffed focaccia
A thin Ligurian flatbread filled with cheese. I added mortadella as a topping for an extra $4. Very good. The focaccia exterior was thin and crispy, and the melted crescenza cheese layer inside was a little tangy. Delicious, my first time trying this dish. Enough for two people.

Very good meal, will be back to try the handkerchief pasta with pesto.

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More pics

[Mr_Happy]

I had another dinner at Corzetti tonight.

CRUDO ($18)
Kampachi, satsuma, green chili, basil oil, pistachio, fried shallot.
This had maybe an Asian influence with the fried shallot, which provided some crunch along with the pistachio bits. Not bad but it could have used a little salt, I probably wouldn’t get this again.

FAZZOLETTI AL PESTO ($22)
Basil, pine nut, parmigiano
Fazzoletti are “handkerchief” pasta, and this dish consisted of wide sheets of the pasta coated thoroughly with a delicious pesto, with some pine nuts sprinkled about for crunch. This was great! The fazzoletti were thin and supple, they had a really nice texture.

[Mr_Happy]

I went to Corzetti a couple times this week after seeing shows at the Curran theater, which is just down the street. Corzetti closes at 11 right now on Fridays and Saturdays so it’s convenient for a late after show dinner.

First dinner:

OLIVE LEAF MARTINI ($18)
Occitan gin, olive leaf, dry vermouth, bianco vermouth, olive oil washed, olives and a twist
I started with a savory martini which came in a sidecar on ice to keep chilled.

SALSICCIA ($23)
Italian sausage, crema di cipolla, broccolini, garlic, chili flake, fontina
This was a delicious pizza topped with fontina cheese, an onion cream spread, sausage, and broccoli. It had an excellent Neapolitan-esque crust that was crisp on the outside and tender inside. The slight bitterness of the broccolini went well with the sausage.

Second dinner:

IL CETRIOLINO ($16)
cucumber, marjoram, gin, limoncello, salt, lemon, strawberry powder
This was not too sweet, very refreshing with the cucumber and citrus.

PROSCIUTTO SAN DANIELE ($18)
focaccia, giardiniera, stracciatella
This was a delicious plate of prosciutto with a vinegary giardiniera, a milky stracciatella cheese, and a few slices of very good onion focaccia. I made some panini with them.

CORZETTI ($23)
taleggio crema, pancetta, hen of the woods, brown butter, sage
For a main I had a plate of their namesake corzetti pasta, which is a Ligurian disc shaped pasta stamped with a logo. The pasta reminded me a bit of Chinese rice cakes in that they were round and a bit chewy. It was in a creamy sauce that had little chunks of pancetta and hen of the woods mushrooms, scented with crispy sage leaves. This was good but I liked their handkerchief pasta with pesto more.

For dessert I had two scoops of pistachio gelato ($9), which was garnished with a light crispy anise flavored cookie.

[Leely2]

So you saw the Magnetic Fields and then went to Corzetti? Wow, I wish we had thought of that. I don’t think I saw this thread in advance, but what a great spot for pre-Curran, pre-ACT. Looks like there’s some kind of menu going on most of the day.

[Mr_Happy]

Good guess! Yes I went on Friday and Saturday. Fun shows! They played all of their classic album 69 Love Songs over two nights. There were plenty of tables post show, I guess maybe most people have dinner before the show. The shows ended at around 10 and Corzetti closes at 11 so that worked out pretty well.

[Leely2]

Stopped into Corzetti before a show at A.C.T. yesterday evening. I arrived before my friend and relaxed with a Corzetti Negroni. By the time friend arrived, we were short-ish on time so ended up gobbling up half the happy hour menu (4:30-6:30 every day) before thinking to take photos. Standouts for me were the lattuga insalata, very fresh and tasty with a smattering of olives, peppers and new potatoes, and in especiallythe baccalà, which were perfectly fried and salted fritters of pillowy cod goodness. We also enjoyed the polpette with grilled bread, calamari, and a margherita pizzetta.

A great spot for pre- or post-performance noshing. Crowd seemed to be a mix of theater-goers and tourists/folks staying in the hotel. I will happily return.

[bbulkow (Brian Bulkowski)]

Since I see some negronis in posts here, how were they?

[ Pictures are nice but it’s about the taste ]

I’ve become a bit judgy about my negronis. They’re simple and should show attention to detail, so they’re a good bellweather.

[Mr_Happy]

I remember liking the Negroni I had at Happy Hour. I think its pretty hard to mess up a Negroni though.

ETA: If you want to try a different twist on the Negroni and are in the area - check out the Leeward Negroni at Pacific Cocktail Haven nearby on Sutter St. - it’s a Negroni with coconut washed campari and a pandan cordial and it’s delicious.

[bbulkow (Brian Bulkowski)]

Hard to mess up, but not easy to get a great one. Basically you’re pairing the vermouth with the gin around the campari, and since you’ve got even proportions to work with, it’s about selecting the gin and vermouth. All three sets of flavors (since all three are mixes of different herbs) should be easy to pick out and have similar levels. At home, I slowly pour the ingredients over the single ice cube to get both a good mixture and a good temperature, with minimal stirring, but its slower. I also tend to put in a dash of orange bitter instead of an good orange garnish / twist; I’ve seen restaurants skip the orange entirely, that’s a miss. In japan they seem to love their dry shake and even dry mix, they’ll put the cube in a glass, stir with only ice to chill the glass, empty the water, then proceed with the build. I haven’t found that makes a big difference yet - maybe if I was in a bar environment and it was possible my glasses came right from the washer.

My perfect pair is Punt e Mes, and Junipero. But I think Ford’s and other overproof gins stand out, although if you use a less bitey vermouth you’ve got more choice in gin.

Although I’m generally a fan of Canteen down the peninsula, they’ve put a “spanish negroni” on the menu and I don’t like the balance. Last time I was there I just went with a vermouth for a starter, which suited my mood a little better.