Food Town, USA: Maybe that’s a stretch, but the tiny strip in Oakland’s Glenview neighborhood has exploded as a culinary hot spot, and Bellanico is behind much of this area’s big Bay Area bang. An open kitchen lets you watch Jonathan Luce work his magic on dishes like a beet-filled ravioli, whose bright red-and-gold colors seep right through the pasta, while a crunch from poppy seeds delivers another sensual surprise. Chewy purslane provides just the right sweet-and-sour notes in a Gorgonzola and leek risotto. For dessert, heirloom tomatoes pair with lemon verbena panna cotta and plums in a creamy caramel sauce—and it all works. The familiar Bay Area mantra (local, sustainable and organic) is evident at this cozy trattoria, too, but Bellanico refrains from listing every farmer’s name on the menu (thank you, Bellanico), which allows more time to ponder the list of wines by the glass, each of which is also available in a three-ounce tasting size. Images of Italian bicycles decorate the walls, as if to send a final eco-friendly message. You might not be able to pedal over from the city, but you do want to go east, young man and woman, to see what Oakland’s cooking up.

Casunziei (half-moon ravioli) filled with red and gold beets
Gorgonzola, leek and purslane risotto
Braised short ribs, butter beans, black leaf kale, wine sauce
Grilled local albacore, sweet pepper and eggplant caponata
Bomboloni (Florentine doughnuts) with sage custard sauce view full menu here

The two tables near the windows are the best; the continuous wooden bench against the wall is another good spot, and it’s less of a social commitment than a communal table.

Bellanico’s menu ranges all over Italy, and it stops in one fairly atypical place, Venice, for cicchetti, the bite-size items at the top of the dinner menu. Each one can also be chased with an ombra (shadow), a three-ounce glass of wine, in the Venetian tradition.

lunch: Mon.–Fri. 11:30 AM–2:30 PM
dinner: Mon.–Thurs. 5:30 PM–9:30 PM;
Fri.–Sat. 5:30 PM–10 PM; Sun. 5 PM–9 PM
brunch: Sat.–Sun. 10:30 AM–2:30 PM

$16 (risotto) to $22 (duck breast)