Description
Chef Anthony Strong seeds the menu at Locanda with enough classic Roman dishes - the Jewish-style artichokes, egg-drop soup called stracciatella, bucatini all'amatriciana - to justify calling it a Roman-style restaurant. But it's also a Californian one, and the resemblance to sister restaurant Delfina is strong. The room is decorated in black and white, chandeliers in the shape of jacks, and tiles forming the intricate diamond patterns of a late-1960s leisure shirt. The Mission District restaurant is still a little coltish, especially the service, but there are numerous highlights among the appetizers, pastas, and grilled and roasted meats. If there's a strength emerging here, it's Strong's delicate way with what the Romans call the quinto quarto (an animal's "fifth quarter"), aka tongue, tripe, and sweetbreads.
