Coming from the same team as Acquerello, a fine dining establishment in San Francisco, Sorella is their casual and more approachable restaurant.

Sorella meaning sister in Italian is quite fitting since it literally is the sister restaurant of Acquerello which is a few blocks away. It’s been over a decade since I’ve dined at Acquerello and I had a great meal there back then (no idea how it is now but I’m definitely curious). While Sorella has been open since 2021, Tommaso and I are always apprehensive to eat Italian food as our standards are high but this restaurant has been on our radar for some time.

While this was advertised as a potato and leek focaccia, I didn’t necessarily taste those components. Otherwise, the focaccia was soft and pillowy.

I’ve heard of Rize Up Bakery but never have tried any of their baked goods. It was a solid sourdough bread with that addicting tangy flavor profile and of course I always love a good cultured butter.

The tuna tartare was seasoned nicely with chili, tomato, and other aromatics but I wasn’t crazy about the squid ink crisps. While they were airy and crunchy, they had a slightly off putting fishy smell, I’m assuming from the squid ink. I’m typically not a huge fan of squid ink as the flavor never comes through and can seem gimmicky.

This was a solid appetizer with vibrant bright colors from the various herbs, snap peas, and pea tendrils. The Stracciatella cheese was creamy and slightly tangy but I wanted more of the fried baby artichokes underneath as I wanted those to be the star of the dish.

These lovely yellow corn agnolotti were sweet and scrumptious and were stuffed with a corn and Crescenza cheese filling tossed in a butter sauce. I would have liked some charred pieces of corn as garnish to add another dimension of flavor.

These ravioli were almost too pretty to eat. The pea and Ricotta cheese filling complimented the meyer lemon butter sauce and the addition of Pecorino Sardo shavings added that salty bite.

This was least favorite dish of the night as I was expecting the ragù to be shredded beef cheek instead of chunks. The sauce was watery and lacking depth of flavor which was disappointing since it had potential. I did love the Burrata cheese though!

The last pasta dish was perhaps my favorite in terms of flavor as the rabbit ragù was extremely tasty with fresh fava beans, green garlic, and Pecorino Toscano. The reason I’m docking a few points off is because the pasta was slightly too thick. It would have been perfect if the pasta was rolled out thinner.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever had a crepe cake before but I’ve seen them countless times on social media. In between the crepe layers was a gianduja chocolate mousse served with a roasted banana gelato that was unexpectedly really delicious.

This dish had so much potential to be great as the flavors were impeccable with the roasted strawberries, floral elderflower notes, and the creamy namelaka (a white chocoalte “mousse” of some sorts). The biggest issue was unfortunately the meringue as it had no crispy crunch to it and felt stale. If they could have nailed the meringue technically, this would have been a perfect dessert.

I could have easily eaten this entire dish. The soft espresso genoise cake with Mascarpone mousse and malted chocolate made for a superb tiramisu.

While most of the dishes were flavorful, there were some technical flaws that I cannot overlook. I think with a few tweaks here and there, Sorella could nail these dishes. The food at Itria, another popular Italian restaurant, is a little stronger with a similar price point. Therefore my rating is a 7.5/10.