It's still in soft-opening mode, but a much anticipated new trattoria devoted to the cuisine of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy has made a quiet debut at long last in Alamo Square.

Polenta is both the name of the new restaurant and one of its signature specialties, with a menu built around the comforting, traditional dishes of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region — which blend influences from Italy, Slovenia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In addition to recognizable dishes like prosciutto with asparagus — served here with a perfectly fried egg, aged Montasio cheese, and 36-month aged Prosciutto San Daniele thinly sliced on the Berkel slicer — you'll find less familiar things on the menu, like Hungarian-style goulash, and potato gnocchi served with a rich ragu of housemade Friulian sausage.

A staple of Friulian cuisine that is sure to be a standout hit at the new restaurant is frico — a traditional potato cake layered with onions and Montasio cheese, served warm and crisp, currently with a bright spring salad of sugar snap peas and herbs.

You'll find the dish names all in Friulian, which is still widely spoken in the region alongside Italian — so tagliolini is called taiarins, gnocchi are called macarons, and asparagus are called sparcjs.

The chef at Polenta is Friuli-born Michele Gargani, who is devoted to executing these richly flavorful and satisfying dishes — and showing San Francisco diners who might not have experienced the Friulian side of Italian food what they've been missing.

But the restaurant is the first solo project of wine importer Giulio De Monte Gaspardo, who personally knows all of the winemakers from the region whose wines  he's showcasing here. De Monte Gaspardo previously worked as a sommelier at Bottega in Yountville, as well as at Bartholomew Winery in Sonoma, and he came looking around San Francisco for a neighborhood restaurant space where he could execute his vision for a Friuli-focused trattoria.

He landed on the former Alamo Square Seafood Grill space at 803 Fillmore Street, signing a lease almost a year ago, and SFist first reported on the opening last August. Following the usual delays that beset new restaurant openings, Polenta quietly opened last week with no website and no sign — and if you want to check it out during this soft-opening period, you'll need to use the phone number below to make a reservation.

Of the wineries he's featured, De Monte Gaspardo says, "These are all my personal friends," and the white and orange wines in particular are specialties of the region, with varietals including Friulano, Malvasia, and a truly unusual, mineral-forward Chardonnay from Kante.

San Francisco is a city that has for decades been home to regionally specific Italian restaurants, including Perbacco (Piemonte), La Ciccia (Sardinia), 54 Mint (Roman), Poesia (Calabria), A16 (Campania), and the now-long-gone Farina (Liguria). And now we can add Friuli to that list by way of Polenta.

Don't miss: The frico, the deeply comforting dish of square buckwheat pasta called blecs served with a chicken ragu called "gjal," the "green" polenta, or the white and orange wines by the glass.

Polenta Trattoria Friuliana - Now softly open at 803 Fillmore Street, Tue - Sat 5 pm to 9 pm - Call to reserve at 415-875-9404

Previously: This Week In Food: Alamo Square to Get a Friulian Restaurant