Around the Globe in 60 Days

Globe.

It's one of those restaurants that everyone knows, but only a handful ever take the time to visit. San Francisco being an early-to-bed type of town, there is fairly little love for a gem like Globe. Generally speaking, late-night-eats in this city are limited to a selection of ethnic eateries and a less than a handful of pricey and loud hipster joints.

But Globe? It's dim, and brick, and sexy. With its bar, stocked with the best small-batches, and its gleaming open kitchen and dreamy brick oven... Globe is like that cherished, bejeweled music box you had when you were a little girl.

After too many months away from Globe, it has re-entered the rotation, in a special, almost reverential, way. In the past two months, I've spent no fewer than five hours here, across three visits. So I feel qualified to make the following statements:

1. Why, when we talk about pizza in San Francisco, do we NEVER mention Globe? I've never had a bad pie here, and when you ask for them a bit "done", they come out perfectly charred at the edges.
2. You'll never feel sexier than when you're basking in the dimness that is Globe, being taken care of like the late-night rockstar that you are. Of course, in these parts, we actually eat the food as opposed to picking at it like a Los-Angelean rockstar-anorexic.
3. Instead of the blood-roiling bass that most of our late-night restaurants play, Globe sticks to the divinely enervating downtempo -- extraordinary talents like Zero 7, Sweetback, Bebel Gilberto and Goldfrapp.
4. What? You want to hear about the food? Again? OK.
5. They have some of the best Spaghetti this side of New Jersey. Perfectly cooked pasta against a simple but savory red sauce.
6. Their wine list is impeccable, especially considering that perhaps a third of their total clientele are so drunk when they come in that the quality of what they're drinking is purely happenstance.
7. Oh. And the "Mac & Cheese". Simple. Satisfying. Devoid of frou-frou toppings and unnecessary additions, this is a purist's version of the dish. Rigatoni. Excellent cheese. Perhaps some cream. Done to perfection. So there.

Look, I realize that there are many more "refined" restaurants in the City. I also realize that Globe is an old standard, perhaps best left to the pre-boom guard -- those of us who lived here before a rash of 25-year-olds started making six-figures, and people who couldn't afford a mortgage rode around in $80,000 cars.

I don't mind that. I'm happy to have fallen in love with Globe. Again. I'm glad to be able to walk into this precious place at 11pm after a performance and get a table, to linger over a bottle of wine and a simple but perfectl(ly) satisfying meal, making eyes across the table at my love.

Globe Restaurant
290 Pacific Avenue
San Francisco
415.391.4132

Tags: Food, Food+Wine, San Francisco, Globe, Arts, Restaurant Reviews

Comments

[C]

Reading this post was, quite literally, like reliving my last meal there; the sights (yes, even the gavone in the white suit), the sounds… the smells, the tastes… and the absolutely mesmerizing *glimmer* in the eye of the truly stunning woman seated across the table from me.

Speaking of “happy to have fallen in love, again”…

;)

C

[Sean]

You are so right. I haven't been there in a dog's age, but I surely ought to go more often. It's the perfect restaurant -- high-quality, low-attitude. Thanks for the memory jogger!

[jaleh]

I am one of the most happy Mamans on the Globe :o)

[N from ipos]

We used to love to go to Globe late night... We'll definitely try it again now some evening after a show... thanks for bringing that memory ;)