San Francisco, CA - Tucked away in an alley along with five or six other restaurants in the financial district, you'll find Taverna. I had to go during the world series, so the places was pretty deserted, but they did have the game on, therefore, our server was a little distracted. I completely understood, so no stars deducted for that.

Taverna does have some really nice outdoor seating sitting adjacent to all the other restaurant's outdoor seating, creating an alley reminiscent of a small street in Italy. The decor is decent and updated, but not spectacular. Our server did tell us they have a full bakery in the back where they make their biscuits on-site each morning.

I tried the Bouillabaisse; Shellfish Stew in a Tomato Saffron Broth. The shellfish were scallops and mussels. I thought the scallops were cooked very nicely, but I think the mussels had a very strong mussel flavor, too much for my palate. It's the sauce that I'll write home about. The saffron broth, I wanted to drink it. I did finish it all and used the toast with garlic butter that accompanied it, to soak it up. Once the toast was gone, I used my spoon to scoop it up. It had a very nice balanced flavor, complimenting the seafood very well.

We finished with the Warm Chocolate Cake Caramel Sauce & Vanilla Ice Cream. This is certainly a must to try. The chocolate cake was very nice, but not spectacular. It did have a nice gooey center, but not as much as a lava cake. If it were a lava cake, I think it would have gone up a notch. However, the component on this dish you want to save for last is the ice cream in the crispy delicious bowl. It was crunchy, salty, sweet, and perfect with the ice cream. I would be tempted to get this dessert each time there.