Mescolanza

Mescolanza is a small, intimate, little, neighborhood, mom-and-pop restaurant that serves Italian food located on Clement Street between 23rd and 24th Avenues. It's discreetly tucked under a small pink awning. It's my favorite restaurant in my neighborhood and I've been going there for 20 years! Please note, parking on the Clement Street corridor is difficult (almost as bad as North Beach) but there is a parking lot directly across the street from the restaurant (as Martha Stewart would say, "It's a good thing!"). This restaurant is small and seats only 49 patrons at one time so be sure to make reservations. My favorite appetizers are the Carpaccio and Bruschetta. The plate of Carpaccio is presented with extremely thinly sliced beef draped on the plate. There are small mounds of capers, chopped red onions, shaved Parmesan cheese, and mustard paste. Mix all the ingredients and enjoy! The Bruschetta is toasted french bread topped with a delicious sprinkling of chopped Roma tomatoes mixed with fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, and sea salt. In this day and age of almost tasteless tomatoes (inbreeding is never a good thing), the tomatoes in this dish are ripe, packed full of flavor, and fill your mouth with a burst of flavor. The Pear Pizza (Yeah, I know, it sounds kind of strange but darling, it's divine intervention on a plate.) You have got to try this! The Osso Bucco was excellent. The meat was very tender and flavorful in its rich burgundy-like sauce. I loved the vegetables and that's saying something for a meat eater like me. The vegetables were carrots, zucchini, and yellow squash done just right in that perfect combination of buttery, tender and crunchy at the same time. We had a veal chop off the "Specials Menu" that was sauteed in its own juices with a blend of slow-cooked root vegetables surrounding it. It came with silky, creamy mashed potatoes that had a hint of garlic flavor and a serving of the vegetable combination I spoke of earlier. Once again, excellent! We had the creme caramel, the tiramisu and the chocolate flan with amaretto and crushed amaretti cookies. The tiramisu and creme caramel were as expected, delicious. That chocolate flan was EXCEPTIONAL! Sinfully, silky smooth texture on a bed of crushed cookies with the hint of amaretto flavors. While we ate all the desserts, the chocolate flan won hands down.