It was the last Saturday in July and I’d had lunch with my pals in MWA-NorCal at Villa d’Este on Ocean. The M-OceanView/45/39 connection brought me home in time to meet up with his nibs before we headed down to La Mar for before-dinner pisco sours (in honor of Peruvian Independence Day) and a beef empanada snack. We stopped off at Palio on our way home to say farewell and “Have fun!” to retiring chef/owner Dan Scherotter, who is moving on to interesting times.
We turned up Kearny toward North Beach as we walked home on a Saturday night. Dinner decision time: Original Joe’s? The House? Park Tavern? But wait! Broadway! Kearny! Txoko! at Kearny and Broadway. Perfect. And what a delicious meal I had: crispy pork headcheese, glazed beef cheek with crispy sweetbreads, Shishito peppers with sea salt. Tasty. Perfect. The mains were staged on a medley of tasty peppers and vegetables blended with sauces, more. Bringing the Basque back to North Beach.
The food at Txoko’s is amazing. The wine list has an interesting selection of Spanish wines. The service was low key and on the money. What a perfect evening.
I was talking up Txoko’s to a friend of ours recently and he said, “But it’s on [gasp] Broadway.”
Well, yes. It is. In the former Enrico’s space. Hello? Did people not go to Enrico’s because it was on [gasp] Broadway? Two-star Michelin Coi is across the street and down a block and a half.
*sigh* Oh, what a sorry rep the Broadway strip has, but it was always thus.
Txoko’s has the food and ambiance (see the Jeremy Fish mural on the back wall) to be a magnet for local foodies. I wish I could convince more people (neighbors especially, who just have to walk down the hill) to get down there and see what I mean.