I’ve been wanting to try Cotogna, a Californian inspired Italian restaurant in San Francisco, for years now but never gotten around to it. Cotogna is the sister restaurant of Quince (read my review here), the fine dining Italian restaurant located right next door.

Cotogna serves rustic Italian cuisine compared to its refined neighbor Quince. Since one of my old coworkers from Lazy Bear is now the Sous Chef at Cotogna, I decided to go there for lunch. Luckily, he was able to hook us up with a few gifts from the kitchen!

Spot Prawn Crudo with Avocado and Espelette Pepper (8.5/10)

We started the meal off with spot prawn crudo, fresh, clean, and delicious. Sweet pieces of beautiful raw spot prawns tossed in a simple refreshing vinaigrette with creamy avocado and a pinch of spicy espelette pepper.

Various Tomatoes with Pomegranate, Greek Yogurt, and Marjoram (7.5-8/10).

Next, we had a summery tomato salad with various sweet tomatoes, tangy pomegranate seeds, rich Greek yogurt, and fresh marjoram. The Greek yogurt was unlike most I’ve tried, it was subtle but had tons of deep flavor, a perfect accompaniment to the salad.

House Fermented ‘Nduja Sausage Pizza (8/10).

The wood oven pizza is how a pizza should be: chewy crust with a crispy bottom. Ours was topped with their house fermented ‘nduja sausage, tomato sauce, and Mozzarella cheese. ‘Nduja is a spicy Italian spreadable pork sausage but their house made version is fermented which gives it a funky sour yet tasty flavor.

Corn and Chive Triangle with Garlic Chive Blossoms (8.5-9/10).

The corn and chive triangoli was outstanding with an intense corn flavored stuffing with fresh corn kernels on top all swimming in a buttery sauce.

Farro Spaghetti with Clams, Chili, and Breadcrumbs (7.5-8/10).

Our last savory course was the farro spaghetti tossed with clams and tons of garlic, chili, parsley, and toasted breadcrumbs. A classic pairing but still yummy.

Nectarine Crostata (7/10).

Sicilian Pistachio Gelato (8.5/10).

For dessert we tried the nectarine crostata, simple and light, and the Sicilian pistachio gelato, extremely creamy.

Everything we ate was simple but executed well so my rating for Cotogna is an 8/10. I’m definitely looking forward to my next meal here!