But if you want distinctive food, brilliantly conceived, Incanto is for you.

This is a restaurant that I had been wanting to try for quite sometime, but it’s always easier to try something new here in the East Bay than to travel all the way to San Francisco. My wife and I with two friends finally made it to Incanto last evening. Since we had traveled through Italy together we thought this would be a good restaurant to visit together and it was.

My favorite of the starters was the antipasto platter…excellent salumi. My only complaint about the food of the evening was the sweatbreads…they were a little tough and lacked salt, but still good.

The three pasta courses we had were all at least very good. The cured tuna heart spaghettini was distinctive and excellent, with the tuna heart shaved and served like botarga over the pasta. The highlight of the evening was the rabbit liver foie gras ravioli…superb and well worth a trip back to have that dish again.

For the main course, two of us had the pork shoulder and two the braised lamb neck. The pork was much more flavorful than the typical commercial pork available these days. The lamb was fabulous, rich and complex, perfectly accompanied by the bright flavors of roasted green vegetables.

The dessert of panna cotta with lime mousse and almonds was perfect after the rich meal. One of my favorite desserts of all time!

And being a big fan of Italian wines, the wine list at Incanto is great!

Promptly after being seated a caviar and champagne cart is rolled to you table, but we passed on that. But we did order some of their justly famous cocktails. The only flaw in the otherwise impeccable service was the length of time it required to produce and serve our cocktails. But the cocktails were fabulous…and very inventive. I had a rum cocktail with, among other ingredients, chili peppers (probably Fresno chiles). The hot blended perfectly with the rest of the drink and it was delicious.

All the food was excellent; of course anything less in a restaurant of this level and price would be a travesty. But today none of the dishes from last night are really memorable. I think this is a result of the style of cooking. In an effort to create complex food, each dish has too many flavors, and therefore lacks an ultimate focus. Also the seven courses, along with the canapés, Amuse Bouche, Mignardises, bread and butter are a lot of flavors to assimilate in one evening.

In discussions after the meal with my co-diners, we all thought the most memorable part of the meal was the great bread and butters! Two butters were served, a cow’s milk and a goat’s milk, both from Europe, both beyond excellent. The goat’s milk butter may have been the best butter I have ever tasted.

The wine pairings were generally very good, but I was surprised by the lack of California wines, which only accompanied two courses. Although I am generally critical of the California wine industry and many of the wines produced here (a topic for another blog), I was surprised that more California wines were not served in a high end restaurant in the middle of California wine country.

The dinner menu at Cyrus does change a bit, but every time I looked at their online menu before we went, it was remarkably similar to the menu we had. I makes me wonder how a restaurant can keep being creative and vital with a menu that changes little.

Now, was the dinner worth the price? At just over $600 for my wife and me, I would have to say “Of course not”. High end restaurants are never worth the money you spend, but it’s something that for serious eaters must be experienced occasionally.