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| Sotto Mare: I’m glad that this restaurant follows the Italian tradition, offering a great seafood stew in the heart of North Beach. Before the dish arrives in a big stainless steel bowl the waiters bring out bibs so diners don’t get spattered with the thick tomato sauce that coats the clams, mussels, shrimp, tiny scallops and loads of crab. It’s enough for two. www.sottomaresf.com. |
Maybe it’s because it is summer and the peak tourist season, but I’ve had several requests lately about where to find the best cioppino, the classic San Francisco seafood stew.
About five years ago I was hard-pressed to find a place that did it well; it had been abandoned by just about every place except those that lined the Wharf, and the quality was questionable. However in the last few years, it’s starting to show up on modern menus, and it feels as if some of the more traditional places have reinvigorated their recipes. Or maybe I’ve just grown to appreciate it.
For those who might not be familiar with it, cioppino was supposedly invented by fishermen on their boats who would toss their leftover catch into a pot with tomato sauce and wine. While just about every cioppino starts with tomato sauce and shellfish, the exact recipe varies from place to place. Some combine saffron with the sauce; others add a dose of chiles. Crab is almost always included, as are clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari and often chunks of other local fish. It’s also generally accompanied by sourdough bread.
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| The Trident, Sausalito: You can almost feel the spirit of Janice Joplin as you walk into this waterfront restaurant that was her hangout in the 1960s, and which was reinvented two years ago. It still has the original psychedelic ceiling paintings and great views of the Bay Bridge. They call their cioppino a Portuguese fish stew, which goes to the controversy of who/why/how/and where it was invented. None the less it has all the required seafood bathed in a tomato broth. www.thetridentsausalito.com |
So here is my list of 10 of the best to be found in the Bay Area. While I have my ideas, I’m always open to more suggestions, so please let me know if I missed some place that should be included.
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| Pesce: Last year this restaurant moved from Polk to Market Street, but they fortunately brought along the recipe for the cioppino. The restaurant specializes in Venetian seafood, and the rich cioppino, where the tomato sauce is given depth with saffron, bridges both cultures. www.pescebarsf.com |
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| Verbena: Modern restaurants are also riffing on the classics. At this restaurant opened last year they served a cioppino verde sauce with shellfish, a piece of swordfish and fennel. Long live cioppino, in all its guises! www.verbenarestaurant.com |
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