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Higher-end Noe Valley Italian restaurant (even if its name roughly translates to McDonald's "I'm lovin' it!" slogan) with warm lighting, good food, and a wide variety of Italian wines by the glass. Chef Chris Costentino still manages to show up despite all his recent food TV appearances. Baristas don't grind to order, but there's good turnover and they pour directly into the cups. In 2009 they replaced their single-group M27 Pasquini with a more generic single-group La Spaziale. It still gets overworked to produce espresso with a medium to light brown crema, sometimes striped and sometimes perfectly even, of varying thickness. In 2005 they switched from Peaberry's Coffee & Tea to Graffeo beans, and their espresso improved along with the switch. In 2009 they switched to Mr. Espresso beans (along with the machine change) with similar results. Originally the body was reliably thin, with the cup filled to the rim. They can still get carried away with the size of the pour, so ask for a "short" one - it will be far better. What was once a decent, light pepper-like flavor that hardly differed from good drip coffee is now more pungent and herbal with better balance and character. Still, the shots here can run a bit thin-bodied.
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