La Ciccia

A small Sardinian room on a Noe Valley corner that we have been coming back to since 2016.

291 30th Street at Church, San Francisco

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Address

291 30th Street at Church, San Francisco

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Cuisine

Sardinian, seafood forward

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Reservations

Strongly recommended. The room is small and it fills

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We Book Early

Every table we have had here was between 5:30 and 6:30

Why We Keep Going Back

La Ciccia is one room, about a dozen tables, on the corner where 30th Street meets Church. It is Sardinian rather than generally Italian, which in practice means bottarga, sea urchin, octopus and a flatbread you will finish before the menus are collected. We first ate here in 2016 and have been back six times since, through a change of ownership, and it has not slipped.

A Little History

The restaurant was opened by Massimiliano Conti, a chef from Sardinia, and it built its name on cooking the island rather than the mainland. It has since passed to Cheryl, who kept the room, the menu and the staff rather than making it hers. That is rarer than it sounds and it is why the place still tastes the way it did.

What to Order

The pasta is where the kitchen shows itself. Sea urchin fettuccine finished with grated cured tuna heart is the dish La Ciccia is known for, and the bottarga spaghetti with garlic and spicy oil is the plate we would order alongside it. Around them: pani guttiau to open, prosciutto aged two years, the roasted Monterey calamari, and the baby octopus stewed in spicy tomato. If someone at the table does not eat fish there is a pasta off the land and a lamb tagliata finished with saba, but the sea is the point.

How it starts

How It Starts

Flatbread, olives, burrata and prosciutto. Most of it is gone before anyone has decided on a main.

Pani guttiau, a thin crisp Sardinian flatbread with rosemary, on a white plate. — **Pani Guttiau**Pani guttiau, the paper thin Sardinian flatbread, comes brushed with oil and scattered with rosemary and salt. It is the first thing on the table.

A dish of marinated green olives beside a plate of arugula. — **Marinated Olives**A small dish of marinated green olives to open the meal.

A round of burrata over dressed arugula on a white plate. — **Burrata and Arugula**Burrata over dressed arugula, the cream of the cheese set against the pepper of the leaves.

A platter of thinly sliced prosciutto aged 24 months. — **Prosciutto, 24 Months**Prosciutto aged 24 months, sliced thin to open the meal.

Sliced bread in a red napkin lined bowl. — **Bread**Bread brought warm in a napkin lined bowl.

From the sea

From the Sea

Sardinia is an island and the menu never forgets it. Roasted calamari, baby octopus stewed in spicy tomato, prawns around a tomato coulis.

Roasted Monterey calamari with basil oil over mixed greens on an oval plate. — **Calamareddusu Arrustiusu**Calamareddusu arrustiusu, roasted Monterey calamari finished with basil oil over mixed greens.

Baby octopus stewed in tomato sauce with herb oil in a white bowl. — **Prupisceddu in Umidu**Prupisceddu in umidu cun tomatiga, baby octopus stewed in a spicy tomato sauce and finished with herb oil.

Roasted prawns arranged around a tomato coulis with fennel and herb oil on a white plate. — **Gambas Arrustiusa cun Tomatiga**Gambas arrustiusa cun tomatiga, roasted prawns ringed around a tomato coulis with fennel and herb oil.

The pasta

The Pasta

Where the bottarga and the sea urchin turn up. This is the part of the menu to spend your order on.

Fresh spaghetti with garlic, oil, and grated bottarga in a dark bowl. — **Spaghittusu cun Allu Ollu e Bottariga**Spaghittusu cun allu ollu e bottariga, fresh spaghetti with garlic, spicy oil, and a shower of bottarga.

Fettuccine in a creamy sea urchin sauce with grated cured tuna heart in a metal bowl. — **Sea Urchin Fettuccine**Fresh fettuccine in a sea urchin sauce finished with grated cured tuna heart.

Long pasta in a creamy tomato and crab sauce on a white plate. — **Pasta Longa cun Tomatiga e Cavuru**Pasta longa cun tomatiga e cavuru, long pasta in a tomato and crab sauce.

Tagliatelle with mushrooms and grated cheese in a dark bowl. — **Mushroom Tagliatelle**Tagliatelle with mushrooms under a drift of grated cheese.

After the pasta

After the Pasta

Bottarga again, shaved over celery, and a lamb tagliata finished with saba.

A salad of shaved bottarga and celery on a rectangular plate. — **Bottariga cun Appiu**Bottariga cun appiu in inzallada, a salad of shaved bottarga and crisp celery.

Seared lamb tenderloin, sliced, with a saba drizzle on a white plate. — **Pezza de Angioni a sa Saba**Pezza de angioni a sa saba, lamb tenderloin seared, sliced tagliata style, and finished with saba.

The room

The Room

One small dining room on a corner in Noe Valley, and a covered patio behind it.

The La Ciccia front window with the reversed sign and Church Street beyond. — **The Name on the Window**The front window looks out onto Church Street, the restaurant name reading backward across the glass.

The covered back patio, its walls painted with a Mediterranean mural, set with small tables under a red awning. — **The Back Patio**The covered patio behind the dining room, open Fridays and Saturdays and for private parties. Ask for it when you book.

Book ahead and take the early slot. A dozen tables go quickly and the early seating is quieter
Order the sea urchin fettuccine. It is the dish the restaurant is known for and it is worth the detour on its own
The covered back patio is open Fridays and Saturdays, and for private parties. Ask for it when you book rather than when you arrive
Sardinian is not Italian-American. Expect bottarga, sea urchin and flatbread rather than a red-sauce menu

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Sardinian food, exactly?

Sardinia is an island, so the cooking leans on the sea: bottarga, which is cured and pressed fish roe, sea urchin, octopus and calamari. It also has its own breads and pastas, pani guttiau among them. It is not the Italian-American menu most Americans grew up with.

Is it worth crossing town for?

Yes, and people do. It sits well off the restaurant corridors, on a residential corner, and nobody arrives at it by accident. We live near enough to walk, which is luck rather than a recommendation, but the room fills with people who have come from across the city and beyond it. We bring visitors here from Palo Alto, Los Angeles and Florida, and it is usually the meal they talk about afterwards.

Do I need a reservation?

Effectively yes. It is one small room and it fills on weeknights. Book on OpenTable or call the restaurant.

Did it change when it was sold?

Not in the ways that would have mattered. The room, the menu and the staff carried over. We have eaten here under both owners and the cooking held.

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