What I Ate Yesterday: Osteria Coppa Restaurant Review

Today's post is dedicated to a delicious restaurant I'm in love with right now: Osteria Coppa, in San Mateo, CA. I haven't done a restaurant review in a while, but Osteria Coppa is officially my new favorite restaurant in the San Francisco Bay Area. Having now eaten there twice and both times being close to perfection, I can safely say that you NEED to check this place out if you're in my neck of the woods.

I'm not alone in my reverence for Osteria Coppa. The modern Italian restaurant was recommended in the Michelin Guide in 2012. I'm sure this recommendation is no surprise for the executive chef, Chanan Kamen, who spent time in Italy working in seven restaurants that had at least one start to their name. He is also a veteran of another Michelin starred restaurant in San Francisco: Quince. I would not be surprised if he earns his own star in the next couple of years.

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Osteria Coppa is unique in that all of their pizzas and pastas are available gluten free. While this is becoming a growing trend, many restaurants are still slow to jump on the bandwagon. Since I am grain-free, I did steer away from the pizza and pasta, enjoying a wonderful lamb stew instead. Our server was able to help me navigate the menu to ensure my meal was both grain and dairy free. She passed all my restrictions to the chef, who was also very accommodating and thoughtful as he brought out our dishes. We were lucky enough to sit at the chef's table and the chef, Chanan Kamen, personally brought out all of our dishes.

For an appetizer, we ordered the salumi platter, which included Bresoala, Mortadella, and two types of salami, a sweet with cinnamon, and a savory with fennel. The meats were accompanied by Marcona almonds, house cured olives, and pickled peppers. Everything was delicious.

As a gift from the kitchen, chef Chanan Kamen brought us an avocado and grapefruit salad with a lemony aioli emulsification. The salad was wonderful, airy and light. It was a great palate cleanser.

For my main course, I had the lamb spezzatino, a classic Italian stew. The lamb was delicate and melted in my mouth. The sauce and the gremolata drizzle were so good that I was wishing I had a piece of bread to soak them up. Instead, I dipped my side of garlic sauteed spinach in the savory sauce. The chef also brought us an additional side as a gift from the kitchen. It was wonderful classic dish of broccoli, anchovy and lemon. Everything was absolutely impeccable.

One of the reasons the food at Osteria Coppa is so good, is because of their dedication to farm-to-table cuisine. The restaurant has created strong relationships with local farmers that allows the chef access to the most freshest in-season ingredients. The quality of the ingredients can be easily tasted in the high quality cuisine served here. Check out this video about and learn more about the farm-to-table approach at Osteria Coppa.





I can't wait to go back and enjoy another delicious meal at this wonderful place. My husband (and editor) said his mouth was watering as he read this post and he was quite jealous that he hasn't had the chance to accompany me here. If you are in San Francisco, San Mateo is only short 20-25 minute drive South. I promise that the drive will be worth your time!