A little bit of North Beach in, shockingly, North Beach.
North Beach is a changed neighborhood. Once the haven of punks and poets and other delightful local misfits, it's been overrun by thugish tweens with fake IDs and bad manners. It's hard to find an establishment in North Beach that isn't crawling with vacuous stares, bad grammar and worse fashion sense. But such places can still be found in this truly wonderful, historic neighborhood.
Which is why it is a superb thing to find such a worthy restaurant has taken over the space of the legendary Le Felce. Le Felce was old school and like all old-school stuff, eventually it transcends retro and becomes simply old. Avenue G manages to honor the old-school feeling, yet spice it up with some pan-Asian flavors and some basic cultural and epicurean eclecticism that North Beach has always been a little short on.
We ate at the bar, because that's how we roll. The closer to the booze, the better. The bartender was gentlemanly and accommodating in the style of the bartenders of yesteryear, complete with witty rejoinders, a wealth of boozy knowledge and a cool hat. It's hard to find folks behind the bar with talent AND knowledge AND taste. But the older and forgotten corners of North Beach hide these good people in its safe folds, away from the maddening bridge-and-tunnel chaos of Broadway and Columbus. North Beach is still there; you just have to look a lot harder for it.
But I digress. The meal.
We started with pulled pork profiteroles that were a delightfully confounding mixture of salty and spicy, served up on crisp puff pastry with greens lightly dressed in vinegar. Then the crab pot pie, which was exactly as good as it sounds. The bartender warned us of its excessive richness (meaning, you might not want your entree by the time you're done with this delicious little baked and creamy heart attack) but we must've been hungry because as rich and dreamy delicious as the crab pot pie was, we were ready for the main course.
BBH had a lamb shank with mashed potatoes and fried leeks. I had a pork chop stuffed with fontina and prosciutto, served with a rich mushroom sauce and polenta cakes. As much as I don't care for lamb generally, I envied the BBH's shank for it flavorful tenderness, and he envied my pork chop for its cheesy, saltiness. The polenta cakes were a little mushy, and I couldn't tell if that was by design or by kitchen flaw, and the pork was a little tough to the knife, but not too chewy in the mouth. The flavors of everything were great, however, and I would take another shot at either of these dishes with no qualms.
The food was a little slow coming out of the kitchen, which I am loath to complain about, because why should it matter how long it takes if you're sitting with an old friend and a good bottle of wine and nowhere to be in particular?
Avenue G
1570 Stockton @ Union
San Francisco, CA 94133
(415) 989-0399
