Il Fornaio, Larkspur

I've only been there once - it was a couple of weeks ago.  Service was good, bread was delicious, food was very good if not excellent.  My friend and I split a salad that was a simplified Caesar - romaine and a couple of other greens in a light anchovy-laced vinaigrette, with big thin shards of imported parmesan - just right and half a salad was plenty.  I had a lobster/shrimp ravioli dish in a sauce that was based, I think, on cooked-down crustacean shell broth.  It had great flavor and was a treat sopped up with the tasty bread.  The raviolis were homemade, and stuffed with quite a bit of lobster and shrimp whose flavor was clean and intense. My friend had a shellfish/marinara pasta dish; the mussels had been lightly smoked, which gave the entire dish a subtle smoky flavor (obviously we traded some tastes).  The marinara sauce had been made with fresh tomatoes, but skinned and pureed the way I like them.  Classy Euro-style atmosphere with lots of marble.  Overall I'd give it a B+ and would gladly go back, especially if someone else is buying (as was the case this time).

There's an Italian deli...Ferrari's, I think...in the same mall, that has an excellent selection of Italian wines.  I picked up a bottle of their inexpensive "house" white, forget the name but it has a painting of a female figure on the label, about $6, bone-dry and delicious - a trebbiano abruzzo, different and more robust than regular trebbiano.

Will