PAN'S LABYRINTH; SCALA'S BISTRO: BELLA ITALIA ON UNION SQUARE; SF

You may need a path through Pan's Labyrinth and film critic Michael Atkinson in 1/07 Film Comment provides it by posing the question, Is del Toro a folk artist, i.e, a "toiler in fields of fable, animist anxiety, symbolic trial, the fragility of 'good', ambivalence of 'evil', and vice verso". Or is his film mere gore-soaked pulp? I think he marches with one boot in each camp but it is more of a morality tale because the visionary film director sympathizes enormously with the tragic, idealistic arena of Spanish Civil War. Atkinson, the critic, reflects that when "elephants fight, it's the grass that suffers." (Nigerian Proverb.

My companion, King of the Woobies (a private joke), who I call "the great Dane", had the desire to get cucina italia so we headed to Union Square to Scala's Bistro (scalasbistro.com;(415) 395-8555)next to the gorgeous Sir Francis Drake Hotel at 432 Powell, across from Borders. Reservations are a must here!Life is meals, eat or die! are well-worn cliches but never more true than when you stride through the Tuscan red doors for a piece of bella italia . No cheesy North Beach factory here. You feel the vibrant energy immediately as you are greeted by warm staff, a huge floral arrangement and a beuatiful refurbished interior! The place is perpetually packed and our waitress, Patricia, step mom to a young film enthusiast, seated us at a booth heir to multitudinous butts, including Elvis Costella, Boz Skaggs, and most recently, the late Princess Diana's brother, Lord Spencer, a "scoundrel" (Patricia "googled him" and dished the dirt: hes abandoned many wives & children), who is dating a local hottie. He was however a charming dapper dandy who loved his liquid lunch last Tuesday!

Back to Scala's. "Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity." (Voltaire)

Foodies love the delectable cucina cooked to perfection, which includes wild boar meatballs (12.50), Margherita pizza with fresh tomato, mozzarella cheese and basil (12.50). (Did you know that NYC claims first pizzeria in 1905. After WWII soldiers returned from Italy with stories of a wonderful food eaten without utensila. It took off).

Try the chicories with poached pear salad made with fresh herbs, dried cranberries, toasted pistachios & a blue cheese vinaigrette (10.50). Dane had the Linguine with Clams done al dente with garlic roasted tomato, white wine...a chef's special(21), and I the seared salmon, broccoli rabe, cherry tomatoes, buttermilk mashed potatoes. (23) There is only one dessert on the menu (just kidding): Boston Cream Pie, which is actually an orange chiffon cake with warm dark chocolate glaze (8.00). It's meant for sharing! I'll leave you with English writer Bulwer-Lytton's tribute in Lucile:
He may live without books -- what is knowledge but grieving?
He may live without hope -- what is hope but deceiving?
He may live without love -- what is love without dining?
But where is the man that can live without dining?Bon Appetit!