1760 Restaurant Chef Adam Tortosa | Tasting Table San Francisco

If you come to 1760 expecting linguine and Chianti, prepare to be disappointed.

Just as Acquerello's Italian focus is more a gauzy filter than a culinary template, its casual spinoff, which opened three weeks ago, is no trattoria. Spare and grey, it's about as rustic as Ron Swanson is a salad fan.

Chef Adam Tortosa spent a few weeks at the mother ship training to make pasta, but for the most part, he says, "They let me do what I want." Which means some fascinating culinary riffing.

The dining room at 1760 (photo: Daniel Morris)
Roasted brussels sprouts ($8), for instance, are dressed with tart vinegar and dusted in finely sieved egg yolks. At the heart of a fried duck sandwich ($15) is a crazily juicy patty of confit leg meat with a crisp breadcrumb shell and spicy aioli.

Tortosa, who cooked under Michael Voltaggio at Ink, works in two modes: the delicate and the brawny.

Tortosa's delicate mode produces both failures (beef tartare over sticky almond purée, $16) and bewitching, haunting successes, such as crab meat and saline "sea grass" set atop a hot-pink watermelon gazpacho ($15) whose sweetness is transformed into something savory with a few drops of toasted sesame oil.

We can't wait to see what other tricks he has up his sleeve.