Poggio has become one of our favorite restaurants in the Bay Area. Located on the street level of the Casa Madrona, they offer a large Italian menu and equally large wine list. The service is excellent and the food... mangia bene!
As luck would have it, Monday evening was the first night that they offered that succulent roasted pork dish; Porchetta. Basically it's a boned suckling pig stuffed with a rosemary and pork sausage then slow roasted over an open fire (there's also a vendor at the Ferry Building Farmers Market that offers Porchetta sandwiches on Thursday and Saturday). They offer this succulent dish for several weeks starting in the Fall - several Casa Madrona employees actually made a point of securing a reservation on Monday just for the Porchetta.
We started with the Ribolitta which is basically a thrice cooked minestrone. Minestrone the 1st day, baked in a deep dish covered with sliced bread and red onions the 2nd day then everything reincorporated the 3rd day so that you can literally pan fry it to create a crust it gets so thick. It is then served with the latest harvest of extra virgin olive oil. Poggio's rendition used traditional cavallo nero (black kale) and broad beans. We also had (scarfed) the Lingua or Grilled Lamb Tongue served with roasted baby beets and bitter greens with soft boiled egg. This dish was sheer ecstasy! Food epiphany cubed! The flavor of nicely charred lamb with the consistency of that thin strip of meat on the outer portion of Prime Rib.
We then feasted on the Porchetta served on Tuscan style beans and indulged in Poggio's own garden harvested veggie platter which included broccolini, Romano beans, chard and roasted butternut squash.
For dessert, the Mrs indulged in a Lemon Mousse with Meringue and Pistacchio... I was already down for the count at this point still trying to digest lunch.
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