Rome If You Want To

A taste of the Eternal City comes to San Francisco.

It’s sweet to hear tattooed tough-guy chef Nate Appleman refer to Daniel Holzman, his co-executive chef at SPQR, as his BFF (text-message shorthand, of course, for “best friend forever”). Since meeting 10 years ago  at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, the two have been in near constant contact—advising each other on career moves and engaging in screaming matches in the kitchen at Campton Place, where they both  worked. Now, they’ve teamed up to share chef duties at the city’s first  Roman restaurant, the latest venture from the team behind A16.

If you’ve spent time in Rome, you’ll notice immediately that the food at SPQR eats like the real deal. (The restaurant’s name is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase Senatus Populusque Romanus—initials that are emblazoned on manhole covers and government buildings throughout Rome.) The menu is a playbook for the most ubiquitous dishes of the Eternal City. An array of antipasti—21 at last count, divided into cold, hot and fried—ranges from a humble dish of stewed eggplant and peppers to fried potatoes punched up with garlic, cherry  tomatoes, capers and parsley. SPQR excels at these pleasingly rustic plates.

Unlike A16, SPQR has no wood-fired oven, so don’t come looking for pizza. Instead, work your way through the house-made pastas, a short list that always includes four stalwarts: aglio e olio, cacio  e pepe, amatriciana and carbonara, each made for eating again and again. Entrees—such as a sop-up-every-drop bowl of beef short ribs alla vaccinara  and a bowl of local calamari with beans, capers and stewed chard—are dishes you can relax into. Like  Appleman, wine director Shelley Lindgren divides her time between the two restaurants (soon to be  three; another restaurant in Dogpatch is slated to open in 2008). Her expertise is evident on the wine list, which, as at A16, showcases unusual Italian varietals and small producers.

With A16 as a calling card, it’s little wonder that SPQR has grabbed the city’s attention. There’s a risk that this new venture will be perceived by the public as “not measuring up” to the highly regarded A16, a pressure Holzman admits to feeling. “In New York, it’s enough to be the best restaurant on the block. Here, you have to compete to be the best restaurant in the city. I just  want to cook good food.” SPQR intends to be a neighborhood spot, the kind that serves $11 plates of pasta and $6 glasses of wine and doesn’t take  reservations, even if it means there’s an hour’s wait. That the partners believe that such a place is possible, despite their rising stardom, is a testament to  their humility. “This is, literally, the dream come true,” says Holzman, before catching himself. “That sounds cheesy.  Don’t write that!” He grins at Appleman.  “But it is.” 
 
SPQR 1911 Fillmore St.  415-771-7779 

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