Emporio Rulli Gran Cafe: San Francisco

Date:  vendredi 2 octobre 2009

 
Location:  2300 Chestnut Street
San Francisco, CA 94123-2610
Tel:  +1 415 923 6464

http://www.rulli.com/ 

Last Monday, lundi 28 Septembre 2009, I was in Abruzzo, Italy.  I tasted wines through over 13 regions and feasted on "slow food" by two of Abruzzo's most cherished culinary stars.  It just so happened that 4 days later, their cooking tour landed them in San Francisco at the Emporio Rulli Gran Caffe.  Ercole and Stefano Fasciocco are two brothers from the Guardia Vomano (the Teramo region of Abruzzo).  They are the latest of several generations of the Fasciocco family to run the Antica Macelleria Fasciocco, a butcher shop.  But these two brothers do more than what Americans would expect of a butcher.  They buy animals only from small scale local farmers.  They are artisan "salumieri," making many types of sausages and cured meats.  They are also reknowned as the best meat cooks in the Guardia Vomano region.  They came to SF to prepare their famous PORCHETTA DINNER for us, a specialty of the Abruzzo region. 

They had beautiful olive skin like that of most Italians, and piercing dark eyes and the darkest of dark hair.  Perhaps some of the mystery about them may have lay in the language barrier, who knows.  Whatever it is, they were strong men. 

I arrived at the restaurant late, as usual.  My friends were already outside on the Emporio Rulli patio sitting comfortably under the heated lamps.  Liberata, the gracious sommelier whom I met also in Abruzzo early on Monday, greeted me with the typical CIAO CIAO KISS KISS on each cheek.  There is just something so warm about being in the company of Italian and Spanish people.  I really enjoy these cultures and its peoples.   

My first glass of wine (pictured here to the RIGHT) was the La Maschera Prosecco (which you may have read about in my review from Abruzzo).  Wonderful way to begin a Friday evening.  I have to reiterate that this prosecco retails for about $10US per bottle.  It is a steal and so easy to drink! 

Appetizers consisted of seafood and salatini starters.  They were perfectly and delicately prepared in bite sized portions.  I loved it with the prosecco.  The evening was warm, and I was in the company of fabulous friends, two whom were visiting from Chicago.  

We all moved to the dining room for dinner.  We were served two famous dishes representational of the Abruzzo region:  TIMBALLO ALLA TERAMANA (Teramo style oven baked pasta, tomato sauce, eggs, veal, and mozzarella).  The last time I tasted anything similar was in Rome at Osteria Del Gallo http://www.osteriadelgalloroma.it/galleria.html.  I learned this evening that it is not customary to add fresh cracked pepper to dishes served in the Abruzzo region fashion.  I could appreciate this, despite being a true fresh cracked pepper fanatic.  The main dish of the evening was the PORCHETTA DI CAMPLI (overn roasted porchetta), served simply with rosemary cubed potatoes and simple green beans.  I loved it.  I imagined myself transported back to Abruzzo, Italy.  Dining in the company of warm friends also made the evening just perfect.  

Finally, dessert was served.  PAROZZO D'ANNUNZIO CON TARALLUCCI (chocolate glazed almond cake with grape must [mosto cotto] cookies).  OH MY GOODNESS this dessert not only looked heavenly (pictured here to the RGHT) - they tasted every scrumptious morsel just as lovely.  I was already stuffed, but the delicious grape must inside the moon shaped cookies literally made my eyes roll back in my head.