New York Style remains the most popular, and if you see an unspecified version of this lusciously rich dessert on the menu at a local restaurant, chances are it will be some variant of this cream cheese-based standard. Only very special Italian restaurants dare to take on the elaborate delicacy of the Ricotta Cheesecake. And for good reason: a bad version of this classic dessert can be a bland mess of fatty droopiness. Sounds delightful, right? Well the flipside here is that when it’s executed properly, Italian Cheesecake is one of the unencumbered joys of existence.
My personal favorites in the city are offered at Stelline (330 Gough Street) in Hayes Valley and at Firenze By Night Ristorante (1429 Stockton Street) in North Beach.
However, if you want to take a more hands-on approach in procuring this most divine of desserts, making your own Ricotta Cheesecake at home is not difficult at all. Here’s the recipe I use. I’ve never been much of a pastry chef, but with about $20 worth of ingredients and a few hours in the kitchen last night, I was able to produce this masterpiece of delectability:
And to get you psyched up for Outside Lands in one month (ONE MONTH!), here’s the festival headliner with their own version of cheesecake: