The Other Critics

In Honor of V-Day, Kauffman Eats Heart; Reidinger Kind of Likes Pizza Nostra, Admits He’s Not Nice

Jonathan Kauffman decides to take the whole heart theme of this impending holiday literally, and he tours the city hunting the blood-pumping organ of the offal realm. “I’d even argue that hearts are entry-level offal,” he writes. “There’s none of the digestive funk of stewed intestines, none of the reek of badly cleaned kidneys, none of the cloying richness of liver and blood.” He recommends ordering some of Ted Fleury’s jerk duck hearts the next time you’re at The Alembic, to go with your Old Fashioned, and despite the presence of heart skewers at most area yakitoris, he gives a special shout-out to the ones at Halu (312 8th Avenue), “A hit of grill-smoke, followed by soy sauce and sugar, intensified the meat’s flavor: darker than chicken thighs, smooth-surfaced, and just chewy enough to keep you aware that you’re eating meat.” He also recommends trying the tuna heart at Incanto, but not with the spaghettini, and the anticuchos de res at Limon Rotisserie. [SF Weekly]

Meanwhile, in Reidinger country, we’re taking a trip to French-inflected Potrero pizza joint, Pizza Nostra. He talks first about Nice, France, making an aside, “not [to be confused with] the human quality, of which I must be one of life’s least accomplished practitioners.” Aw really, Paul? We always thought you sounded a bit stuffy, but not mean. Anyhow, long story short, the free focaccia’s addictive, and he doesn’t have a clear opinion on the pizza overall (surprise), but does mention that one had too many toppings. “Sometimes more isn’t better. Broccoli doesn’t translate well to pizza, and we found the red-onion jam to be jarringly sweet.” [SFBG]

In Honor of V-Day, Kauffman Eats Heart; Reidinger Kind of Likes Pizza Nostra,