I had dinner at Ideale in North Beach tonight, a longstanding (31 years) Roman restaurant which is in the process of being taken over by two of its employees:
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-ideale-restaurant-sold-after-three-decades-19857931.php
They have a full liquor license, and I started with a Negroni on the rocks ($14) which was a good Negroni.
There was free bread with olive oil.
CALAMARI E RUGHETTA ($20)
FRESH LOCAL CALAMARI, GRILLED AND SERVED WITH ORGANIC ARUGULA
I started with the calamari, which was grilled to a perfect doneness with a bit of smokiness from the grill. It came with a small salad of arugula and cherry tomatoes.
PIZZA FUNGHI E SALSICCIA ($23)
PIZZA TOPPED WITH MOZZARELLA FIOR DI LATTE, TOMATOES, HOME-MADE SAUSAGE & MUSHROOMS
For a main, I had the pizza with sausage and mushrooms. Ideale describes its pizzas as personal sized Roman pizzas, which I believe is pizza Romana tonda, a round pizza with a cracker thin crust. There aren’t that many places that serve this style in SF. I’ve been to Rome once but only sampled the pizza Romana al taglio there - the rectangular pizza sold by the kilo. So I can’t compare with the pizza tonda in Rome. Nevertheless, this was a delicious pizza. The crust was cracker thin and crispy, and there was just the right amount of sauce and cheese along with mushrooms and sausage.
TIRAMISU ($10)
MAURIZIO’S FAMOUS TIRAMISU LAYERS OF SPONGE CAKE DRENCHED WITH ESPRESSO & MASCARPONE DUSTED WITH COCOA
For dessert I had the tiramisu, which was a very good rendition, very moist, and soaked with espresso.
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This was a delicious dinner at Ideale, with very friendly service at the bar.
