On February 18th, our class of 16 students and one professor took a trip to North Beach in hopes of experiencing San Francisco's version of Italian food and culture. North Beach is also known for harboring some of the best writers of "The Beat" generation. Salient writers such as Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac either lived or congregated around the neighborhood. Once renowned as an artistic and bohemian neighborhood, North Beach was, in recent years, relegated to more of a tourist destination. Over time and through publicity, the neighborhood was transformed from an authentic breeding ground for intellectual expression into a commercialized destination. Our aim was to reconnect, through dining, with the North Beach that existed when the beat writers dominated.
As far as food is concerned, North Beach, known as the Little Italy of San Francisco, is acknowledged for serving up a more Americanized version of Italian food than that one would find in Naples or Florence. Our class, predicated on the study of authentic food and its symbiotic relationship to culture, sought a meal that would embody the true nature of what food means to Italians. Prior to our excursion, our class had separately watched the culinary-themed movie Big Night. The film’s protagonists are brothers from Italy who attempt to live out the American dream by opening a restaurant in New Jersey in the 1950's. The film documents their struggle to run a lucrative business without compromising their culinary values. Americans often associate uninspiring dishes, such as spaghetti and meatballs, with typical Italian food. Big Night attempted to show the difference between genuine Italian cuisine, and its counterfeit dishes served at Americanized restaurants.
Armed with the belief that we could now tell the difference between the t
wo, our restaurant of choice was Bocce Café. You can read my Yelp review of it here. I went against my comfort zone and ordered the Fettuccine with Sauteed Calamari (pictured at right). Normally, I would have played it safe and ordered the Margarita Pizza, but the goal was authenticity. I was a little disappointed with the sauce in terms of thickness, but I was overall satisfied with my decision.
After dinner, our class took a tour of the Italian French Baking Company. This bakery, which is open 24 hours a day, is integral to the bread consumption of most North Beach consumers. Most of the restaurants in the surrounding area get their bread from this bakery. Along with free samples, we were able to watch them fire the huge ovens. It was mentioned that the ovens were old and dated, and probably not up to industry standards, yet these hoary machines added to the genuine feel of the bakery.
Here's a video of the machines (and labor) used during the bread-making process. Notice the dough on the right.
After my adventures in Italy (Rome and the Cinque Terre) I was disappointed with our restaurants level of authenticity. The food was Americanized (less spice, flavor) but as far as Italian-American food is concerned, it could have been a lot worse.
