Had an errand in Pleasant Hill so tried Montesacro in Walnut Creek. I was curious about their Roman dishes (when I went to the one in SF they had no pasta or secondi).
Eggplant fritters ($15) were quite nice, delicate.
Porchetta ($16) was tasty but it was disappointing that the skin wasn’t crisp. Surprisingly large portion for the price.
Cacio e pepe ($23) was really, really cheesy. Not what I was expecting but tasty and I polished it off.
Carbonara ($26) had a lot of sauce. I would have liked more guanciale in bigger pieces and crisped up. Tasty but not really what I want in carbonara.
Also had agnello scottadito ($36), very nice fried potatoes ($9), bread ($5), ciambelline ($6), and a bunch of wine. It was a fun meal but for the price I’d rather go to Perbacco, Cotogna, or Belotti.
If I wanted somewhere to eat in Walnut Creek I might go back and get appetizers and pinsa like the Italians at a nearby table. One of them had the focaccia del muratore (plain pinsa stuffed with mortadella), which also looked great. They also have some wines you don’t see very often, like a Bellone.
I may have posted this before, but contrary to marketing nonsense pinsa is not a traditional Roman dish. It was invented around the early 90s (various people including Corrado Di Marco and Angelo Iezzi take credit), inspired by the ancient Roman practice of combining whatever grains were available.