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If this restaurant feels like it's been done several times before in this town, it has. The name is Italian for mirror - and it seems like a mirror image of Horatius (Portuguese cuisine) or Foreign Cinema (French), complete with tall ceilings and subtitled movies at the back and the ubiquitous table of 12+ filled exclusively with Asian-Americans. Yet the food quality here is on the so-so side - despite the built-in enoteca. In late 2009 they had burrata cheese appetizer on the menu, which was completely overdone by SF restaurants by 2007. Using a two-group La Spaziale at the bar (in the sidewalk window, in fact), they serve a properly short shot with a healthy, congealed medium brown crema. It has a balanced flavor of spice, pepper, and tobacco smoke. It's actually surprisingly quite good for a restaurant espresso. The owners here clearly cut many corners, but what should have been a weak espresso was salvaged by a competent and caring barista.
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