Chef Ryan McIlwraith has a way with pasta.
After all, he’s the former director of culinary development at Michael Chiarello’s Bottega, the fine-dining Italian restaurant in Yountville and the former executive chef of Alora, the Mediterranean restaurant in San Francisco. In fact, his “100-layer ‘nduja lasagna” at Alora composed of silky, thin layers of pasta, bechamel, bolognese, and Pecorino, seared to order for the crispiest edges, remains my favorite lasagna ever.
Last September, he became executive chef of Bosco, an expansive Italian restaurant in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. Fortunately for all of us, he and Chef Kaili Hill, whom he also worked with at Alora, are applying their skills here to turn out more sublime pastas, plus a whole lot more.
Bosco is part of the Absinthe Restaurant Group, of which McIlwraith and Hill are veterans. In fact, McIlwraith was the opening chef for Bellota, the Spanish restaurant that was housed in this same space until closing in 2024.
The two traveled through Italy prior to Bosco’s opening to hone their ideas for this wood-fired restaurant that’s named for the Italian word for “forest.”
Last week, I was invited in as a guest to sample the menu. The huge, 5,000-square-foot restaurant sits on the ground floor of an office building. In fact, the restaurant’s restrooms are actually located in the soaring atrium of the building.
Owing to its size, Bosco has a very open, airy, contemporary warehouse-like feel with soaring concrete columns. The open-kitchen with long waterfall counter is the first thing you see when you walk in, along with a large bar off to the side.
Settle into one of the banquettes along the wall to enjoy a Limoncello Spritz ($16). The potent Southern Italian sweet lemon liqueur gets mixed with sparkling wine and mint to damp down its high-octane alcohol yet leave its refreshing citrus taste. For something stronger, there’s the Martini della Casa ($18), a beguiling mix of tomato gin, olive vermouth, and basil that’s boozy and bracing, and has the taste and aroma of tomato leaf.
Hill’s long-nurtured starter shows up in the sourdough focaccia ($8) that arrives at the table warm, glistening with olive oil, and dappled with vivid green herb oil. It’s crispy on the outside, and fluffy and tender within.
Hamachi crudo ($25) is a riot of textures and flavors. The buttery slices of fish are dotted with jammy, tangy kumquat agrodolce, umami-loaded black garlic, and spicy chili crisp with crunchy fried garlic chips. Slices of charred avocado add a creamy, velvety touch.
Fried calamari ($19) gets stepped up with the golden rings and tentacles mingled with thin fried slices of Meyer lemon that are delicious. The batter is ever so light and delicate yet very crunchy. What’s more, there are two sauces to dip into: a garlicky aioli that gets its subtle color from saffron; and a piquant tomato and olive puttanesca that would have been fabulous on pasta, too.
Speaking of pasta, there are seven handmade ones on the menu to contemplate. We chose two. First up, the fazzoletti ($24), the Italian word for “hankerchief.” Thin sheets of pasta get folded into triangles (3 of them) filled with julienned yellow and green squash plus three cheeses, then dotted with pesto and garlic chives. They get finished in the oven so that each bite delightfully brings both crispy and silky textures. The effect is almost like cannelloni after getting bronzed under the broiler.
Meat lovers are sure to enjoy the wild boar paccheri ($33), with a heap of shredded, meltingly tender boar meat enfolded with porcini in a super savory ragu that finds its way into all the wide holes of the tube-like pasta. A cloud of stracciatella covers the top, adding a milky, creamy richness to each bite.
A “Smoky Rocky’s Half Chicken for Two” ($39) won’t break the bank and is actually a pretty good deal in this day and age. It is definitely enough for two to share. The chicken undergoes a three-day process of brining and smoking, then finished on the wood-fire grill. It emerges tender and juicy with bronzed, crisp skin. It comes already sliced, arrayed on a large platter with butter beans; salad greens; and a jumble of plums, nectarines and sourdough croutons for a summery panzanella. It all gets finished with chicken jus and salsa verde that the croutons soak up wondrously.
For dessert, the olive oil polenta cake ($15) sure satisfies. It’s an ample round of moist and fluffy cake crowned with crunchy bits of crumble and tangy blueberry compote all over a tangy limoncello cream.
The best last bite? The nugget of info from McIlwraith who told me that in the future he just might offer that “100-layer ‘nduja lasagna” at Bosco. Cheers to that!