Specchio, San Francisco

Specchio chef and owner Gino Assaf constantly reinvents a menu of Northern Italian cuisine to accommodate in-season ingredients sourced from local farmers. House-made breads and pastas and Italian wines accompany specialty dishes, such as wild-boar pappardelle, risotto, and pistachio pesto. A disco-ball chandelier, invented during Edison's Saturday Night Fever phase, tops the bar, past which a fearless arrangement of mismatched furniture and sculptures fills the restaurant's second-floor lounge. Fellini movies light the wall above the kitchen, and diners share plates, glasses of Italian beer, and approving nods from sentient sculptures.