We are frequent diners at a really nice little neighborhood restaurant in San Francisco on Portrero Hill called "Aperto," so when we read that its sister restaurant, "Bellanico," was in Oakland we decided to try it. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a bad idea. The meal started out good with the same warm and savory rosemary bread that Aperto serves, and the warm organic farro salad was truly delicious. Unfortunately, that's where the good part ended and we really do try to give independently-owned restaurants the benefit of the doubt! Next, the brocolli soup came out and it literally had no taste whatsoever. Not even red pepper flakes could give it much flavor. Then the main courses arrived, which included the tagliolini pepati with tomato sauce and chili flakes and jalapeno peppers (ordered vegetarian without the bacon and also usually excellent at Aperto) and the stinging nettle and meyer lemon risotto. The tagliolini tasted like canned tomato sauce had been used with completely seeded jalapeno peppers with uncharacteristically no taste. To make matters much worse, I had ordered the dish without bacon because we're vegetarians but they had put bacon in it. The risotto was a little better than that but it still was a bit too salty and lacked the flavor we've come to expect from Aperto's kitchen. We're giving it an average rating only because the host, one of the owners and the waiter came to our table to apologize and they didn't charge us for the tagliolini.

The atmosphere is cozy, a bit tight, but comfortable. Tight means that your neighbor at the next table will ask how you like your meal so they can order it. The first time I ate farro was here. Although it bills itself as a wine bar, the food is inventive and excellent. A bit pricey and great for a special occasion.

Came home from Oakland Airport and stopped at Bellanico with girlfriend for first time. A little off our path but worth the trip. Some of the best Italian I've had. Compares favorably price and quality-wise with Olivettos, another fav. Really can't go wrong and extensive hard to find Ialian wines by the glass completes the experience.

We went on a very busy evening and had to sit at the bar right near the door and the cold air coming in. It did not dampen our experience one little bit. (The staff were always right there to close the door when someone came in.) In fact, sitting at the bar was a plus, because the woman taking care of us was exceptional. She clearly loved her job, the restaurant and the food and her enthusiasm was contagious. But it was easy to be enthusiastic because the food was just wonderful. The wild boar ragu with gnocchi was, in our waitress' words, "insane". Every bite was delightful. The chard stem gratinata is one of those dishes for which the whole is way more than the sum of it's parts. Incredible. I loved that we could purchase "wine flights", 3 (almost) half glasses, thereby experiencing different Italian wines with our meal. We were too full for dessert, but we were reassured we could come for coffee and dessert at any time. I just loved this place (so did my husband.)