Upon recommendation from a few "in the know" San Francisco natives, we decided to return to the Mission district to try the somewhat mystical Mangiafuoco. It is a funky Tuscan trattoria with the name drawn from the Italian word meaning "fire-eater." The atmosphere is intimate and energetic with wooden tables and chairs as well as walls decorated with colors of red, yellow, and orange to match the fire theme. The restaurant is quite small with only twelve tables and has an open kitchen that gives you the feeling of being in the home of an Italian family. The cuisine is Northern Italian being that the chef is from Garda, a town near Milan, where we were told Mussolini had a villa. The service was very authentic being that our waiter had a heavy Italian accent and took her time taking our order. While we waited for our meal, we delighted in fresh warm bread dipped in olive oil, which was undeniably the best bread we have had so far. We started out sharing the Pinocchio, which was an assortment of classic Italian appetizers including prosciutto, mozzarella, tomatoes, and melon. The mozzarella cheese was so divine we were begging for more. We were also impressed with the wide selection of Italian vintages on the wine list. We decided on a bottle of Barolo, which complimented our food quite well. For the main course, Ariel had the Agnolotti, which was small ravioli filled with fresh salmon. I could not resist the risotto with mushrooms and veal, which was a delicious combination. We were told that the risotto changes everyday to match the feeling of the chef. We were so full from our meal that we unfortunately had to skip desert. Looking back, it was a very authentic Italian restaurant with an edge of San Francisco creativity that separates it from your everyday trattoria. The meal was surprisingly affordable and it was the type of place where you would want to become a regular customer.