Don’t you just love restaurants that live up to the recommendation given by friends?  I know we do.   Without the recommendations we would not have even bothered to stop at Carino Riserva…the exterior does not shout…hey, this is a great restaurant!

Last winter Toshi Karino opened a second restaurant, this time in the Mission district. He did so with little fanfare, just as when he opened Carino, his award-winning restaurant on Edmonton Trail, in 2012.

The open kitchen allows diners to watch and listen as chef Eisaku Kuboki and staff work to the soft background music and Italian Opera and Sinatra. The stark industrial interior initially seems cold, however, servers that strive to please and the quality of the food warm things up nicely.

Be prepared, this is Japanese/Italian fusion….I know it sounds crazy…yet it is crazy in the best way possible. I had the duck beast skewers “Yakitori”….smoked duck breast atop a Yukon gold potato waffle, honey chili gastrique and seared foie gras equals big, big smile!  Terry had seared ahi over a rice cake and greens.