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.
Eating Lambs Brain
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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Thanks for visiting my blog! I have started using BYKI ( a free downloadable computer program) to learn Italian. I am at a really elementary level right now, but I hope to get better! I really want to know it pretty well whenever I get to visit Italy! Your blog is great, and I look forward to reading more of it!
-Hannah
I'm sorry I've been gone for awhile but I'm back and am trying to catch up on old posts. Thought of you when I ate Haggis at the beginning of July since you are always the one that eats interesting and unique things like lamb brains!
I just read your post on Haggis…YUM!
I like to try unusual foods. One of my goals is to eat at a Michelin star restaurant and the closest one to me actually specialises in offle dishes. Hopefully a future post there to set the taste buds alight. Until then I love reading about your food experiments.
The texture almost sounds like foie gras. I'm sure San Fran would be an amazing melting pot for all kinds of food. My family has always had very adventurous palates, so I'm very much looking forward to all the strange foreign food in Europe as well.
The texture was similar, but I definitely enjoyed foie gras much better. I am lucky to live close to a city that has a huge variety of foods.