The Other Critics

Stafford Pans Café Des Amis; Reidinger Eats Mediocre Pizza in West Portal

Matthew Stafford lets Kauffman off the hook and takes in Café Des Amis this week (Did Kauffman go on vacation with Bauer? That’d be cute, right?), and the verdict is similar to Bauer’s: not so great. He says the food is “tasty but not always entirely satisfying,” calls the Boulanger’s Basket “nothing special” and also says the onion soup is “perfectly serviceable but nothing special.” He likes the octopus salad, the brandade, and the tête de cochon (head cheese), but says the more traditionally French entrées were kind of bad, like the bouillabaisse, and the beef bourgignon (“a bowl of butter noodles and chewy chunks of unexciting meat with no broth or sauce or any discernible flavor of wine whatsoever”). [SF Weekly]

Reidinger jets out to West Portal to retry Paradise Pizza & Pasta — all those “new and ballyhooed pizzerias” be damned. He describes the 21-year-old, family-owned restaurant as “clean and modernish, with a semi-exhibition kitchen,” and he says their pizza crusts “strike a nice balance between anorexic (in vogue at the moment) and foccacia-puffy.” So, let’s get this straight, Reidinger: Neapolitan-style equals anorexic? Moving on… he says the calzones are “splendid to look at” but neglects to say how they taste, and he says you can’t taste the artichoke in their cream of artichoke soup. Also, we’re gonna wager this was a one-visit review, as he doesn’t try any of their pastas at all. [SFBG]

Stafford Pans Café Des Amis; Reidinger Eats Mediocre Pizza in West Portal