My dinner with Lee at Mangarosa, a brand-new Brazilian-Italian restaurant in North Beach, started out with several strikes against it. I had to circle the block three long and torturous times before spotting her on the sidewalk outside her office, making me doubt her instructions, rendering me anxious and cranky, and increasing the length of our already tedious rush-hour drive. We were, probably overambitiously, trying to squeeze a relaxing and maybe even adventurous three-course meal between the end of the workday and a movie. I was prepared to forgo dessert, if need be, but Lee has a sweet tooth, and because I already feel that, as an ovo-lacto vegetarian, her restaurant experiences are somewhat diminished, I'm loath to eliminate any possibility of pleasure from her meal. I hasten to point out that it's silly old omnivorous me, and not Lee, who feels that reading a restaurant menu, with its many dishes that don't fit into her diet, is a trial. Lee always seems to find something she's not only willing but... More >>>