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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/diningout/article/Alexander-Alioto-breaks-out-of-the-classic-5799468.php\nAlexander Alioto breaks out of the classic Italian box with Plin\nBy Michael Bauer\nPublished 12:05 am PDT, Saturday, October 4, 2014\nThe bar at Plin in San Francisco features three large sculptural chandeliers that look like abstract fish skeletons.\nAlexander Alioto was destined to be a chef; he’s the fourth generation of his family to put on the whites and cook Italian food. The name is not only associated with one of the most prominent seafood restaurants on Fisherman’s Wharf, but has a long political lineage in San Francisco.\nNunzio Alioto, Alexander Alioto’s father, is carrying on the tradition at Alioto’s, which the family opened in 1925. Alexander Alioto has taken his career in a slightly different direction. He cooked in Italy for a spell and, in 2010, was the opening chef of Seven Hills, where he quickly garnered a following.\nIn November, the chef parted ways with his business partner to go it alone. He ended up in the Mission, which has been the coming-of-age neighborhood for many young chefs. In August, he opened Plin in the former space of Conduit and Another Monkey, where he’s cooking his own brand of Italian cuisine.\nAt Seven Hills, Alioto seemed boxed into a relatively classic menu, but in this more modern space in the Mission, he’s loosened the restraints and expanded his repertoire, to the benefit of diners.\nHe began with a remodel of the space. Architects II removed some of the gimmicky pipes that dominated the room and painted the remaining ones black to recede into the background. There’s a handsome bar and communal tables (naturally!), with three large sculptural chandeliers that look like abstract fish skeletons. Refined wood partitions and glazed tile around the open kitchen help create a contemporary look.\nAlioto focuses much of his creativity on the starters. He molds a dice of raw tuna ($11) into a disk and tops it with chunks of puffed rice, whipped mascarpone cream and a generous sprinkling of black sea salt on a restrained drizzle of balsamic vinegar with figs. I initially was skeptical about the combination, but it worked.\nSo did a creative pasta — cold spaghetti and raw wild halibut ($11), where he forms the al dente spaghetti into a tower, topping it with the diced fish, a confetti of minced chives and pink salt. It’s surrounded by a fresh tasting tomato puree with just a hint of basil.\nHe balances delicacy with earthiness with a starter of fried Chilean sea bass ($14) on a black bean sauce lightened with lemon vinaigrette. Finger limes add the exciting element to kampachi carpaccio ($11) with mussel cream sauce, sea beans and bread crumbs; unfortunately, a heavy hand with the smoked sea salt threw things out of balance.\nAlioto puts some modern techniques to good use with dishes like sous vide salmon ($12), where the fish is flaked like canned tuna, piled on heirloom tomatoes and topped with a salt-cured egg yolk, salmon roe, sea beans and black-eyed peas. Tomato water brings it all together. It’s the sort of dish that keeps the menu exciting.\nHowever, portion size is all over the board. Grilled Spanish octopus ($15) curled around fried Italian butter beans fortified with bone marrow is so big that the tip of the tentacle juts over the edge of the plate. Seared calamari ($9.50) with cauliflower and caponata could also be an entree. On the other hand, a mixed bean salad ($9.50) with romano, shelling beans, black-eyed peas and purslane could fit comfortably on a bread plate and is the same price as the squid.\nAlioto’s classic training emerges on many pastas, including his signature at Seven Hills — raviolo al uovo ($12), which pays homage to Ristorante San Domenico in Italy, where he once worked. The pasta envelops an egg yolk and house-made ricotta cheese, and is glazed with brown butter and truffle oil. He also produces fettuccine carbonara ($11) with generous chunks of pancetta.\nA fresh-tasting tomato sauce gives a contemporary perspective to confit chicken cannelloni ($11), two pasta tubes stuffed with chicken and topped with mozzarella and tomato sauce. His seafood lasagna ($11) also shows how he balances tradition with Northern California lightness. The disks of pasta separate the chunks of sole and rock shrimp, accented with a generous pool of lemon butter sauce, lime and caviar.\nSeared sea scallops ($22) feature seemingly disparate elements — salumi, squid ink agnolotti, avocado mash and a buttery tomato water sauce — but every element contributes to the blend.\nAlioto’s rustic side again emerges on other dishes like clams and shrimp ($22) on a soft polenta that acts as a sponge for the broth and tomatoes. He glazes braised pork cheeks ($22) with huckleberry port and elevates them on sweet potato puree that gets a pleasant jolt from jalapeño peppers.\nThe chef even uses peppers in dessert where the tangy buttermilk panna cotta ($9) is accompanied by beignets dusted in cayenne and cinnamon.\nWhile the food is coming together nicely, the service is somewhat amateurish. Waiters may interrupt to see how everything is before anyone has taken a bite, or pour wine so exuberantly that they leave a trail with every pour. Still, it’s evident that they are trying.\nFor me, the most interesting aspect of Plin is seeing how Alioto’s style is evolving in this larger, more contemporary space. He’s definitely a talent to watch.\nFood: ★★ ½\nService:★★ ½\nAtmosphere:★★ ½\nNoise:Four Bells\n280 Valencia St. (near 14th Street), S.F.\n(415) 644-8425. www.plinsf.com\nDinner 5:30-11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, until 10 p.m. Sunday. Full bar. 3% S.F. surcharges. Reservations and credit cards accepted. Street parking, sometimes difficult.\nMichael Bauer is The San Francisco Chronicle restaurant critic. Read his previous reviews on www.sfgate.com. E-mail: mbauer@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @michaelbauer1\nThe best bars around SAP Center, according to Yelp\nLatest recipes from the San Francisco Chronicle"