After a really long day of shopping in Berkeley and SF, we actually planned to go to La Ciccia, having heard of their house-made salumi.

But that was not to be at 7:00 on a Saturday night when we were all running on empty. Park Chow promised only a 15-minute wait. The considerable crowd outside the restaurant promised otherwise. Luckily, it wasn’t that cold, and it wasn’t raining. After a time, one impatient gentleman began grumbling loudly, ‘Tell them to eat faster.’ Large parties were seated. We waited some more. I double-checked the menu, only to be told by a family member that there was little question what I would be ordering.

From time to time, one of us will get a pasta or some fish. Inevitably, the rest of us will get the short ribs. The ribs come in three sizes, depending on the appetite, and are served over mashed potatoes. Not a real hearty serving of mashed, but adequate. The lone holdout will spend the meal gazing at the short ribs enviously.

Saturday, we all wanted comfort. Eventually, we were seated (fairly close to the fireplace), and were told that we would be getting two free appetizers due to our wait that had turned into 25 minutes. Service was very attentive, the food appeared quickly, the ribs meltingly tender.