Jonathan Kauffman is only half-pleased with Ragazza, the new Gialina spinoff on Divis, but that’s because only “half of the pizzas come out as fantastic as the pies at Gialina; same with the sides and salads.” He calls an autumnal pizza topped with chanterelles and radicchio “marvelous,” and he says Sharon Ardiana’s crusts are “the lightest in town,” praising her lack of pretense over Neapolitan purity: “It’s California pizza, pure and simple, with thin crusts engineered to support three or four seasonally appropriate toppings.” But in contrast to the wonder of Una Pizza Napoletana, which he only just reviewed last week, he says the margherita pie he had was “anemic,” topping-wise, and on his last visit, a waiter delivered a sodden pizza that had been sitting around and that Kauffman suspected as being a mistaken order foisted off on him. All told, he says, “Ragazza is a promising restaurant whose staff just needs to get it together.” [SF Weekly]
Paul Reidinger has a few things to say first about corn, in his review of Pica Pica Maize Kitchen. “Corn is to the Americas’ more southerly peoples what wine grapes are to the French.” Okay, fair enough. How’s the food, Paul? Well, he calls the bululú salad (“a jumble of roasted corn kernels, julienne red bell peppers, chunks of jicama and pineapple, quinoa, and daikon sprouts, with a syrupy passion-fruit vinaigrette on the side”) “inventive,” but the dressing’s a little sweet. Also, he says the cachapas are too sweet, and he prefers the arepas, especially filled with pernil (pulled pork) and served with a side of aioli. [SFBG]
