Flour + Water

Had a fine meal at Flour + Water a new in-place at Harrison and 20th deep in the Mission. They only take reservations for 1/2 the restaurant so you can take your chances without one. We got there at 6:15 and were told they just had the first sitting so it would probably be 45 minutes. There were 2 parties with kids so they might be quicker. Since A&S were not meeting us there until 6:30 it didn't seem bad. And the receptionist was really nice-- she called me Ned as she gace progress reports. We had nice glasses of wine and waited it out. What's nice is they just add the wine to the overall bill instead of having to pay twice. Very nice Italian wine list-- had a very pleasant Rosato for $6.50. When we got seated after 55 minutes, we had already studied the menu and knew what to order and everything was great. My favorite was lamb's tongue salad with slices of fingerling potatoes in a mustard sauce with poached egg. Also had fresh heirloom tomato salad with sweet corn and a ricotta-filled fried squash blossom with a bite for each of us.
We then stuck with primi and skipped secondi, saving room for dessert. The pizza bianco with speck and arugula was very nice with a crisp thin crust. Then 2 pastas, a papardelle with lamb sagu in a tomato-based sauce and a pesto corzetti pasta. And we got a side of the roasted tomoatoes which were sublime. We asked for bread to sop up all juices. I could have eaten the plates too. We had a reasonably priced Barbera d'Asti at the table.
And then dessert. An incredible chocolate budino sprinked with sea salt and topped with a big wallop of espresso whipped cream. Perfect texture with a deep chocolate flavor. And a nice berry crostado.
The menu changes constantly it seems but everything seemed at the height of its season. We thought the service was great, that our server loved the fact we loved the food. And we were seated towards the back so it was about the quietest of the new popular and noisy restaurants. We got one of the tables with a kid, but the other table didn't leave until 1/2 way through ours. How rude! (415) 826-7000, http://www.flourandwater.com/