Eat Lamb Brain on a Special Ocassion in San Francisco

I originally wanted to spend our fourteenth wedding anniversary sipping champagne on the veranda of a cozy B&B overlooking the coast, but eating lamb brain in San Francisco was a close second.

Though I was unaware of Locanda’s offal menu, I have to admit that my eyes sparkled as I read; pig’s head, tripe, oxtails or lamb brain? It was a surprisingly tough choice.

If you recall, last year on our anniversary Peter and I indulged in lambs tongue at Scopa in Healdsburg. Well, really…he indulged, I took a bite. This year…lamb brain. Isn’t it fun being married to me?

Even though I made reservations at Laconda a week in advance, the earliest slot available was 9:00pm on a Sunday night. This is not unheard of for San Francisco dining, though a bit of a shocker considering this restaurant was still in its infancy, just a few weeks old.

We arrived an hour early to belly-up to the bar for pre-dinner cocktails. But, our tummys couldn’t even come close, it was an overfull house. Bulging in fact. The room. Not our stomachs. Yet.

I was intrigued by the laboratory-style cocktail mixers at the bar. But, not enough to sway me from my typical Jammy red wine.

We were sat a half hour early at the bar (finally belly-up) and it was a guilty pleasure to watch somebody else cook for a change. Complimentary flatbread was the first to arrive at the table which was similar to a focaccia. It was reminiscent of the last delicacy that my Nona ever cooked for me. Tear drop.

This Jewish Style artichoke ($6) was showered in mint and each part was more tender than the next.

The Fiorellini pasta ($16) was stuffed with ricotta and sprinkled in squash blossoms. It was lightly sauced, implicative of the true Italian style.  Ciao, Lamb Scottadito ($26). I watched you laboriously being grilled and I can taste the love.

The lamb brain ($12) arrived discreetly, covered in batter. Didn’t resemble the noggin at all. I did a tongue test to cure my anticipation. Hmmm. Not so good. Of course, you have to at least take a full bite to access the situation and I did so. I was confused by the uber-creamy texture. All my anatomy text books showed something that appeared as if it would be chewy. But. this was smooth. It had almost a mild oyster flavor, definitely not as gamey as lambs tongue.

We ended our evening with a berry tart chaser to the  wash down the cerebrum we (when I say we, I really mean my husband) just devoured.

Have you ever eaten lamb brain?

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