Calzones in North Beach

Yes, last weekend I was suckered in by a tourist trap. Walking the sunny streets of North Beach with slowly developing hunger pangs, we strolled past Calzones and initially kept walking. I couldn't resist a picture though, the scene was charming.



We walked on, saw other things and other stuff. Talked to people, watched some events, and saw a man about a dog. Eventually we came back to Calzones. My gut told me, it said, "This is a tourist trap, enticing tourists with its sidewalk seating and colorful tiles." But the rest of me was seduced by the sweet tables on the tile sidewalk in the warm fall North Beach sun. We sat down and ate the following:



The above grilled artichoke was cooked perfectly. If you cook an artichoke well, you will never do me wrong. It is my favorite food on the planet. This one could have used a little less butter, but the butter certainly didn't make it taste bad by any stretch.



D started with this lovely, and huge, arugula salad with feta, sun dried tomatoes, garbanzos and artichoke hearts. Very lightly dressed, it was fresh and delicious.



Next we shared an order of house made fettuccine with broccolini, pine nuts, fresh and sun dried tomatoes. The pasta was quite sublime, accessorized gently with olive oil and lots and lots of roasted garlic slivers. I love the veggie to pasta ratio. Close to 1:1. Lots and lots of broccolini made this dish very light. I would eat this again anytime.



We polished the meal off with a couple of beautiful double espressos. Keep your head up and your wits about you all the way to the Oakland airport. Le sigh.


P.S. Calzones has an impressive airplane bottle collection. They were all winking at me as I turned to snap a pic. "Fly away!", they said.