If you can secure passage across the Golden Gate, do your soul a favor (though not necessarily your arteries) and get out to Poggio's Trattoria (777 Bridgeway) in Sausalito for the first annual Allo Spiedo Festa. Through Saturday, May 3, Chef Peter McNee will be rolling out the spit and the carrello -- a heated tableside cart -- where all manner of unfortunate but delicious four-legged friends will be roasted up over an oak fire for your carnivorous pleasure. The spectacle includes coniglio (rabbit), maialina (baby pig), capretto (goat), pernice (partridge), faraona (guinea hen), and fagiano (pheasant). The meats will be served alongside contorni of polenta and Tuscan-style fagioli all'uccelletto (white beans with tomato, olive oil and sage), which is cooked underneath the roasting meats to catch all the hot, dripping goodness -- and that's your Italian lesson for the day. $19 per person. Make reservations by calling 332-7771 or visit www.poggiotrattoria.com
-- Brian Bernbaum
Around Town:
Mission rock 'n' roll watering hole The Knockout (3223 Mission at Valencia) has been garnering attention from foodie quarters with its Wednesday night Godzuki Sushi Happy Hour. Ichi Catering's Erin Neeley and Tim Archuleta, formerly of Tokyo Go Go, sling fresh, simple specials to the friendly, local crowd. Take your pick from a variety of $3 rolls, $4 nigiri, and the highly sought-after fried yuzu chicken wings, and wash them all down with a few rounds of happy hour drinks, including Kirin on tap. "What we're doing is all really basic, and we tend to draw people who are into traditional sushi rather than all the crazy rolls that are popular," Archuleta explains. "I'm not busting out the blowtorch and smearing spicy mayonnaise on everything." The Ichi team also hawks its wares during a new Tuesday Raw Bar night at the Knockout: Stop in for oysters, sashimi, and shrimp cocktail. Both nights run 6:00-9:00 p.m.
This week, SF Weekly's Meredith Brody takes a culinary tour of one of San Francisco's richest dining neighborhoods: the two blocks of Larkin between Eddy and O'Farrell known as Little Saigon. Going well beyond the infamously delicious and inexpensive banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches made to order at Saigon Sandwiches (560 Larkin at Eddy), she tested the mettle of three other Vietnamese eateries, with mouth-watering results. Recommendations include the bo 7 mon, aka seven flavors beef ($16), at Pagolac (655 Larkin at Ellis), which combines fun, theater, and good eating; and the spicy banana-blossom baby clam salad ($7.95) at Mangosteen (601 Larkin at Eddy). Read Brody's full rundown in the latest issue of SF Weekly, on newsstands today.
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