we hit bice downtown friday for the last night of restaurant week.  this is one of the best-looking dining rooms i can remember in san diego:  sleek black walls lead to an elegant large room framed by curtained windows, a cheese bar, and a wall of wine bottles displayed behind glass in back.  another design touch we liked were the futuristic, narrow light fixtures hanging in front of the bar as you enter.

cocktails were up first and my pomegranate lychee martini was a solid start.  several of the drinks involved some sort of muddling (like you’d see in a mojito), and our very competent server showed us the bartender’s card which proclaimed him to be some sort of master muddler.  we had planned to do one of the $40 three-course restaurant week selections, but the appetizer and entree menu was intriguing (and reasonable) enough that all four of us ditched that idea.  i opted for the octopus salad, which was a thinly-cut square of octopus topped with a parsley/lemon dressing and fennel.  another appetizer highlight was jay’s calamari in a tomato/spinach/red wine broth, with soggy toasted bread at the bottom.

our entrees didn’t disappoint either – my wagyu beef was amazingly tender and covered with oil-soaked fried sweet potatoes.  the milanese-style veal chop was quite a sight:

and compared favorably to the several similarly-named plates consumed by our friends during their last visit to new york’s little italy.

an “ugly but beautiful” flour-less chocolate cake finished things off (while saving room for a visit to chocolat in hillcrest).  we were all pretty thrilled about bice and judging by how busy it was, we’re not alone.  it’s a plus to see places like this opening in the gaslamp, where restaurants don’t always back up their good looks with excellent cuisine.