The Hungry Palate
‘Chef’s surprise’ dinners, pizzas, top Italian wines: Rulli Gran Caffé offers so much more than pastries and coffee
By Susan Dyer Reynolds


I have a secret and I’m not sure I want to tell. I would like to keep it all for myself. But that’s selfish, so here goes: Rulli Gran Caffé on Chestnut Street in the Marina offers so much more than pastries, cakes and coffee. Not that Gary Rulli’s pastries, cakes and coffee are anything to sneeze at – he is a nationally recognized, award-winning Italian baker. When I have guests in town, I always keep an assortment of his artisan cookies on hand, and holidays and birthdays wouldn’t be the same without his panettone and the decadent, but surprisingly light Brasiliana (chocolate sponge cake brushed with espresso liqueur, filled with chantilly cream and covered with milk chocolate shavings). I am also a huge fan of his fresh-roasted coffee and will go for days without a cappuccino at home until I have time to get a pound of the decaf espresso.



It is hard to believe that Rulli’s original shop, Emporio Rulli in Larkspur, is celebrating 25 years. Now with four locations (Larkspur, the Marina, Union Square, SFO), Rulli has managed not only to maintain the quality of his products, but also, in the case of the Marina, to enhance the experience by collaborating with long-time friend and chef Angelo Auriana on lunch and dinner menus, including a Tuesday night $50 prix fixe multicourse “chef’s surprise” that is one of the best deals in town.

Master chef Auriana is renowned for his nearly two decades heading the kitchen at the upscale Valentino in Santa Monica. In 2003, he relocated to El Dorado County in the Sierra foothills where he opened Masque Ristorante in 2004, lauded by Esquire magazine’s John Mariani as “One of the best Italian restaurants to open in the U.S. in years.”

Auriana comes up for his Tuesday night culinary excursions with a selection of fresh meat, poultry, seafood, and produce to combine with the selection of fresh, seasonal ingredients already awaiting him in the kitchen at Rulli. After laying everything out before him, Auriana decides what he will prepare for each course, and it may vary from table to table. He reminds me a bit of an Italian David Kinch, who is famous for the same style at his four-star Los Gatos restaurant, Manresa. Creating dishes as you go is not something many chefs can do, and even fewer can do it well – it takes a special talent and years of experience to pull it off with aplomb as Kinch and Auriana do.

On August 19, Bill “The Kitchenless Cook” Knutson and I sat down not knowing what to expect. I had heard from Chestnut Street neighbors, adventurous gourmands, other food writers, and chefs that we were in for a treat, and as soon as the first course arrived – silky sea urchin with shavings of costata di romanesco (an heirloom Italian zucchini thought to be the best tasting in the world) and a San Marzano, zucchini-mint sauce – I knew the evening was going to be better than we could have imagined. Many Italian cooks (my mother and grandfather included) consider San Marzano, a variety of plum tomatoes, to make the best sauces. Firm and meaty with very few seeds, the bright, tangy flavor played nicely against the nuttiness of the costata di romanesco, the sweetness of the sea urchin, and the coolness of the mint.

One of Auriana’s greatest gifts is his willingness to allow the ingredients to shine. Monterey squid and royal trumpet mushrooms were simply grilled and placed over an onion and English pea fondue. The slightly crunchy, chewy texture of the squid juxtaposed against the loamy mushrooms created wonderful texture, while the delicate flavors remained distinct. The trumpet mushrooms, juicy and plump, were the best I’ve had. Inexperienced or insecure chefs often feel obligated to dazzle diners with overly complex sauces, but Auriana’s confidence and well-honed skills tell him when enough is enough, even if that means only two or three components on the plate.

Fresh-made pasta is another of Auriana’s specialties. Bill delighted in veal tongue tortelli with medallions of crispy lamb tongue. Not only does Bill love to eat tongue of anything, he was thrilled that Auriana used a sheep’s milk cheese since he is allergic to cow’s milk. It was the first tortelli he’d been able to eat in years, and he raved about it. I, on the other hand, can eat tortelli anytime, but I agree with Bill – it was swoon worthy.

My agnolotti del plin di Mandriano di Zambla was a much simpler dish than the name suggests. Agnolotti (“priest hats”) are tiny ravioli. Auriana’s painstakingly hand-pinched, perfectly al dente agnolotti were filled with Mandriano di Zambla, a rustic, Alpine cow’s milk cheese from his hometown of Bergamo, and scattered with little chunks of zucchini.
Sometimes I find squid ink pasta to be too heavy and intense, but I loved Auriana’s squid ink reginette (wide, flat ribbon pasta with rippled edges). Topped with scampi, basil leaves and yellow tomatoes, the dish was as much a delight for the eye as it was for the taste buds.

If Auriana has a signature, it is his risotto. This is not the mushy variety many Americans are accustomed to, but rather your grandmother’s risotto (if you’re lucky). Like everything else in Auriana’s kitchen, it is made to order, the way risotto should be, and cooked until the rice is just al dente. He uses Vialone Nano, which is grainier and egg-shaped and creates a creamier risotto, opposed to the more common Arborio, which is long and narrow. On one visit, Auriana topped his risotto with shreds of friarelli – small, mild, thin-skinned green peppers from southern Italy – and young leaves of stinging nettles, a perennial Eurasian herb (older leaves are coarsely toothed with stinging hairs, hence the name). Another night, the risotto featured Maine lobster claw and tail meat and skate cheeks. Skates are members of the ray family, and while the wings are found occasionally in restaurants, the cheeks are a rarity. Like those of most animals, skate cheeks are incredibly tender with a velvety texture and mild flavor.

Auriana also excels with meat dishes, including Moscovy duck breast with golden raisins, kohlrabi (a member of the cabbage family), capers, and olives, topped with Gravenstein apples; and grilled quail wrapped in San Daniele prosciutto.

For a short time, Auriana will also be in the kitchen Friday and Saturday nights. While you won’t get the “chef’s surprise” menu, you will find some of his dishes as specials. The regular dinner menu is also filled with delicious starters, pizzas, pastas, and mains. I loved the burrata, a mozzarella shell filled with creamy curd, which Rulli imports from Apulia, the southern Italian region where it originated. It is becoming somewhat common on better Italian menus and is most often served with olive oil and sea salt. Auriana’s version is a clever take on sushi, with the buratta wrapped in zucchini “nori.”

Rulli has also added pizza for lunch and dinner – oblong pies served on logo-emblazoned wooden planks and topped with a variety of local and imported ingredients like mushrooms, prosciutto, arugula, and smoked mozzarella. The thin crust is bubbly and charred like the best of them. My favorite, as always, is the Margherita (basil, mozzarella and tomato sauce), but I couldn’t resist the “pizza of the day” during a recent lunch because it included the key to every Sicilian girl’s heart – grilled fennel sausage. As always, the pastas are terrific – from tagliatelle with three-meat ragu to pappardelle with English peas and prosciutto.

I rarely order chicken in a restaurant (I make a mean roast chicken in my Le Creuset pot and it couldn’t be easier), but I was tempted by the Milanese-style chicken breast – breaded, with almonds, and fried until crunchy. It was topped with crispy sage and served with seasonal vegetables (in my case, an underutilized favorite, roasted baby Brussels sprouts). I am not fond of white meat, which tends to be dry, but if I rated this dish using my “Breastalyzer” test, it would score a solid seven: chin-dribbling succulence – the gold medal for white meat.

And let’s not forget the vino – Rulli brings in a fabulous selection of Italian wines, from my favorite everyday Sicilian red, Nero d’Avola, to hard-to-find varietals. There are many glasses reasonably priced in the $7 to $9 range, and all are chosen to complement the food. They also do “Taste of Summer Wines” Fridays on the patio from 5 to 7:30 p.m. – $10 per person to taste five Italian regional wines with appetizers.

Ambiance at Rulli Gran Caffé is light and airy during the day, with the delectable baked goods beckoning from behind glass cases, casual seating, and that gorgeous ceiling fresco by artist Carlo Marchiori featuring a fantastical world of gastronomia; at night, the lights dim and candles cast a soft glow, the glass cases go dark, the Italian craftsmen-created wine bar beckons, and white linens cover the tables. My only complaint is the size of the tables, which were created with coffee and pastry in mind, but now must hold entire meals. During slow periods, servers have no problem pushing two tables together, but when it’s busy, you’re stuck doing a balancing act on an Alice in Wonderland two-top.
In the early days of Rulli Gran Caffé, service was lackluster at worst, strange at best. I never knew whether to order at the counter and take a seat, or wait to be seated and order from the wait staff (who seemed to be doing double-duty behind the counter). All of that has changed. Rulli and his team have worked hard, and it’s paid off with knowledgeable floor managers who greet you at the door, and friendly, motivated servers who know the menu and the wine. Our server for two dinners, Emilio, hails from Abruzzo, and added colorful cultural tidbits about the food and wine from the perspective of someone with roots still firmly planted in Italy.

So there, I’ve spilled my secret. With the Chestnut Street Hot Three – A16, Mamacita and Laiola – packed nearly every night, add Rulli to your rotation. Try the Tuesday night “chef’s surprise” when you’re feeling adventurous, order from the menu when you want a delicious meal in a laid back venue, come for breakfast or brunch when you’re craving those baked goods (or a frittata), and don’t miss the pizza for lunch. You may come home with a pound of fresh-roasted coffee, a Brasiliana, a bag of artisan cookies, and a few pastries, too. Calories aside, pastries are better than what you may come home with after too many margaritas at Mamacita, and they will still be there in the morning.

Rulli Gran Caffé: 2300 Chestnut St. (at Scott); breakfast Mon-Fri from 6:30 a.m., Sat-Sun from 8:30 a.m., lunch Mon-Fri from 11:30 a.m., brunch/lunch Sat-Sun from 9 a.m., dinner daily from 5 p.m.; 415-923-6464; www.rulli.com

All “Hungry Palate” reviews are conducted as anonymously as possible with a minimum of three visits and Northside Publications picks up the tab. E-mail: susan@northsidesf.com