Di Fara

I'm not an expert of NY-style pizza unlike Mr. Ferrari, but I enjoyed watching the love and care go into each pie at Di Fara, and it was quite delicious. It's supposedly one of the best (although there are places around Coney Island that supposedly have better sauces), but in the end it's all about preference... kind of like Zachary's vs. Little Star.. which is better? They're different!

During our expected hour-long wait, I took lots of videos and photos - after the jump!

First the basil, then the second dose of olive oil, then some extra freshly grated parmesan.

And the final product! My tummy was very happy.

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Gioia to the World

* UPDATE 22Feb09 *
Lesson learned, we ordered by phone and got their sausage and mushroom pies. They ran out of dough again, but we just made it. Their housemade sausage was the real winner. Hopefully next time we'll get to try a seasonal pizza! They were out of the butternut squash.

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Mikey and I came here the night before Super Bowl, which ended up being a bad idea especially since we didn't call ahead. Gioia is closed on Sundays, so people were buying stacks of pies to reheat for the next day's game, making our wait over an hour long. They didn't even have pies by the slice when we got there. We were lucky to get our order in though... right before they ran out of dough.

This North Berkeley pizzeria marriages the owner's native east coast with its west coast location - New York style pizza with seasonal and fresh ingredients. Very simple, made with love and care. The general manager is really great (not Will Gioia) and friendly, and puts the finishing touches on each pie with some freshly chopped oregano.

Since they were getting so slammed that night, we just bought one whole pie - basically cheese with anchovies. After about 30 minutes or so, they started busting out pies that weren't on the menu (sausage, butternut squash, etc etc), but we had already ordered and didn't want to overly stuff our faces. Once they finally called our name, Mike didn't want to eat there, so we sped home in hopes that it would stay hot. Well, it was a cold, cold night, and hot it was not. It's hard to judge based on one luke-warm-congealing-cheese pizza (microwaving it did help a bit, but really.. what a shame), but based on that experience alone, I prefer Pizzetta 211. Gioia's crust was nice and chewy, had some good yeasty flavor... but I just wasn't feeling the toppings. But that's not a fair assessment, I know. I will definitely have to go again if I'm ever in Berk and craving pizza. And I will call ahead! We were seriously there FOREVER.

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The Richmond: More than Asian and Russian

Sure, there's more than just Asian restaurants and Russian bakeries out in the north avenues. Near my hood, there's the overrated Chapeau! ... the ecclectic Simple Pleasures... the always ironic Trader Sam's.... Yes, we really have quite a selection, I must say. Well I finally made it over to Pizzetta 211 after a long-time recommendation by a coworker. Goal: become a regular (ie. gain 15 lbs).

This tiny little 4 table+bar spot is so cute and so good... I am definitely going to return. Good thing we showed up a little after 5pm on a Saturday evening because almost immediately afterwards there was a wait outside. The staff was great and friendly... pizzas came shortly after ordering, even when they were made to order (I'm pretty sure they were at least). We only tried 2 - the potato, leek + pancetta w/ egg, and the margherita w/ white anchovies. They were both great - the former a bit heavy but tasty, and the latter could've had more anchovies. White anchovies are way less fishy than other kinds, so I would've liked more than just one per slice.

Regardless, we really enjoyed our meal here. The short walk from home is just a bonus! Mike said it reminded him of di fara's in bk because of the tiny space and thin crust. I still need to go =P

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Ketchup

Things have been so busy so I haven't really been able to blog, let alone filter through my feeds! There has been a lot going on, including another wedding (post to come). Busy busy busy!

In this post: dinner at Pizzaiolo, brunch at Bouchon, and Gigi's 4-year anniversary at Swan Oyster Depot!

I've been wanting to go to Swan Oyster Depot for a really long time - basically since I moved to the city. My old roommate Shinie used to work near there and would always talk about it, but since it's only open for lunch and weekends are a madhouse, I just have never been able to go over the years.

Thank goodness for foodie managers heh, because we took a nice long lunch on a Monday to celebrate Gigi's accomplishment of bearing with our company for the last 4 years. Good God!

We got almost everything - clam chowder, oysters, seafood salad. The seafood salad is deceptively filling - doesn't look like much, but man I was so stuffed afterwards. Like all seafood places, this wasn't cheap. It was definitely good to try, but I don't think I would go out of my way to return... especially with the wait! My only complaint is that they don't have purse hooks under the counter. I mean, you're sitting on stools and the only place to put a bag is on the floor or on the hooks behind you where people can easily steal it without you noticing.

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Awhile ago (i.e. before my trip to nyc), Cyn, Elvie, and I went to Pizzaiolo in Oakland's temescal neighborhood (up and coming gentrified borderline Berkeley on Telegraph area near Bakesale Betty and other restaurants). As a frequenter of Betty's fried chicken sandwiches, I've passed by many times since it's only down the block. It didn't click that it was the same place that Michael Bauer has lauded until Mike mentioned that he heard mixed things about it.

Elvin and I are good eaters, so we got 2 pizzas and a main. The space is surprisingly large - open kitchen, sunny with tall windows, and a large party area in the back. The ambiance was very family-friendly... very Californian, if you will... laid back, casual, and welcoming. The food, amazing. Do I say that often? Not at all! But it was! The clam pizza was so flavorful and juicy... a bit on the salty side, but I like salty. It doesn't look like it's on the menu anymore, but if you go there you should keep an eye out. Their braised pork entree was also very tasty (also not on the menu now). The other pizza we got (rapini and sausage, topped with an egg) was ok - not for those who don't like bitter greens. Definitely would go back! We were raving about it for the rest of the evening.

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After my trip to nyc, I went straight to Vegas for a bachelorette party. Our last day there we had a nice brunch at Bouchon, which was actually my first time aside from bakery visits. Aside from a classy play on chicken and waffles (bacon + chive waffles with roast chicken), their strawberry croissants were really interesting. They really didn't look like croissants at all... and I wish I tried them dangit. Another time. But here's a picture that boggles my mind.

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Pizzeria Delfina

3611 18th St (and Guerrero)
(415) 437-6800

Pizza/Italian in the Mission

Update 7/2/08 (Kathy): I went here again but I didn't have pizza - they had a braised octopus special that was pretty amazing. The octopus was flown in frozen from Greece and braised for a long time in a lobster broth. Flavor wise it was ok, but the texture... like chicken. Not your typical rubbery octopus!

(5/30/07)
This restaurant is a personal favorite of mine, not just because of the food but also the location. Situated between two Mission institutions, Dolores Park and Tartine , eating at this restaurant is a great way to capture the San Francisco casual dining experience.* P-Del has some set menu items but for the most part is constantly changing their fare to reflect the seasonal produce.

The pizza served here is thin crust and rustic, similar to the kind you would find in Naples. In typical Neapolitan style, cheese is a topping, NOT a bed for other ingredients to nest in (i.e. Round Table, Papa Johns, etc.). My personal favorite amongst the regulars is the Salsiccia. The toppings include, house made fennel sausage, tomato, bell peppers, onions and mozzarella. It combines savory chunks of sausage with sweet bell peppers and a slight crunch of thinly sliced onions. The Margherita doesn't offer anything unique to the palette but if you're dull or boring, the tomato, fior di latte mozzarella, basil and parmigiano combo is right up your alley. If you want to try something a little extra special, I would go for the clam pie which has cherrystones, tomato, oregano, pecorino and hot peppers.

You definitely cannot go wrong with ordering one of the specials of the day. There are usually two and always sell out quickly. A popular Prosciutto one is topped with fresh arugula before serving. A nice spicy bite complements the soft and salty cured meat. You can also try the Amatriciana, which has guanciale (dry-cured pork cheeks), caramelized onions, pecorino and hot peppers. Of course my all-time favorite (but has been met with mixed reviews from others) is the Carbonara. Like the Amatriciana, the Cabonara is also a spin-off of a popular Italian pasta dish. It starts with pancetta and leeks and is topped with two cracked eggs and then baked. When it comes to the table, the whites are firm with the yolk at a perfect runny consistency once cut into.

They have a wide selection of salads that are worth a try if you want a nice side with your pizza. Pizza condiments are served au natural, with dried oregano still on the stem, fresh red pepper flakes and grated parmesan cheese that didn't come from a green can. Feel free to ask for a bowl of sauce on the side. It's great for dipping the breadsticks that await you once seated.

This place can be a bit pricey for larger groups, but for a small group of old friends who just want to catch up, enjoy the sunny weather and maybe grab a cookie at Tartine after a light meal, this is place to be.

*San Francisco casual dining experience-- a place where SF locals congregate to eat. It is essential that the establishment be extremely small, with an actual dining capacity of 20, but with 15 additional people crammed in. The restaurant cannot take reservations, the wait must be excruciatingly long, and there must be no way of knowing how long you will be standing in line for (usually over an hour, but you are hopeful that it will be 45 minutes). Your group will not be seated until you have exhausted all conversation topics and are forced to stand around awkwardly to the point of passing out from starvation. The potential diner must also utter the phrase, "this better be worth it" at some point.

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Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

846 Divis (& Fulton)
(415) 441-1118

Pizza in Nopa/Western Addition/Panhandle

After my coworker had been raving about Little Star for the longest time, I decided to finally give it a try. After briefly skimming through yelp reviews, it seems like a lot of people think it's better than Zachary's. My opinion? It was different, not necessarily better.

For a pizza place it isn't what I expected - really dark (hence, no pictures) and tiny! Not a family place at all. You can get takeout though, which would be a good idea if you're in a rush because the wait is ridiculous. It took me like 20 min to find parking so we got seated almost right away after I arrived (sorry Tan!), but around 8pm the wait was 2 hrs long. Our waiter was really nice, and after waiting another 25-30min, our Little Star pizza (spinach, feta, other stuff) was ready.

I really liked it. It has a lot of flavor (heavy on the garlic, which I like), crunchy cornmeal crust... but lighter on the toppings. Lighter isn't necessarily a bad thing - if anything, it doesn't leave you comatose like Zachary's. However, I like heavy tomatoes, and Zachary's wins hands down in that respect.

So yes, I liked Little Star a lot and would go back if I had a craving for deep dish, and maybe also try their thin crust. Plus, it's in a great neighborhood that's walkable to anything (we went to a bike cafe down divis where we were surrounded by granola hipsters and talked about blogs).

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Pizzeria Mozza (LA)

I don't really read up on restaurants from other cities unless they're featured in the NYTimes. As such, Mozza was ingrained into my memory after reading this article. Lots of celebs frequent new LA restaurant hot spots, and Mozza is no exception despite the fact that the food is actually good (is it obvious that I'm not the biggest fan of LA?). On this trip, we saw two C-list (or D-?) celebs, including a childhood favorite Rider Strong (too bad Cory Matthews was not in tow) and some minor character on Felicity (the guy who raped Felicity's roommate?). Not quite the Scarlett Johansson debacle we were hoping for.

Curtis and me pretending to pose for a picture, but only so we could sneak a shot at good ole Shawn Hunter

Letdowns aside, Mozza is good. Our party of 6 shared two appetizers (chicken liver bruschetta, fried ricotta-stuffed squash blossoms) and 5 pizzas. The flatbread (base of the pizza) that they're famous for was definitely as the press has described: thin, bubbly, and fired to perfection. The bianca with fennel sausage, as LA Weekly recommended, was my favorite, but all were pretty good.

Goat cheese, Prosciutto, and Bianca w/ fennel sausage

The dessert menu was full of uncommon (at least to us) Italian names so we had to sit our waitress down for explanations. They have a nice selection of gelati that they'll focus on after the osteria opens, but we opted for the plated desserts. We had no idea what "spiced ginger pigs" were supposed to be, and that instantly intrigued us. The dish ended up being a play on pigs in mud - not as mind-blowingly delicious as the waitress made it out to be, but interactive food is always fun. Curtis got a pumpkin gelato pie which I thought was not worth $7-8 at all. Reminiscent of Baskin Robbins ice cream cake, sorry.

"Spiced Ginger Pigs" + Italian chocolate pudding, Pumpkin gelato pie + candied nuts

If I were to rate this place, I'd give it 3 stars (bill came out to $25/person). It was good, but honestly... I like Cheeseboard better.

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Cheeseboard

1512 Shattuck Ave (& Vine)
(510) 549-3055

Pizza/Cheese in Berkeley

Cheeseboard is one of the true Berkeley staples (the others being Zachary's, Rick & Ann's, Gregoire, etc). If you're wondering, I go to Berkeley maybe like once a month. I'm just nostalgic like that (this time was for Arcade Fire though*). There's always a long-ass line, but it moves quickly since you don't really have to put much thought into ordering (one type of pizza, so you just decide how many slices/whole/half you want). The space is pretty cramped, and is even more so when they have live jazz, but it's a real treat while you're waiting. If you want to eat there, however, you can easily nab a seat if there are any open tables outside, or cop a squat on the grass in the Shattuck median - just don't get run over.

Some people don't like Cheeseboard's pizza because they don't use sauce (i.e. tomato). But you see, that's what's so great about it! It's all about the fresh ingredients of the day, which includes of course, the CHEESE. An example of a typical thin crust pizza of the day would be... 3 cheeses + onions + herbs (+ olive oil). Simple, but delicious. The pizza shop is just an addition to its next door cheese shop (which also sells a lot of drool-worthy pastries...

2:47 PM Michael: i just had the shattuck blue roll from cheeseboard

its a pastry with blue cheese, candied pecans and cream cheese

i think it might be one of the best things ive eaten!)

The location is also great - prime Berkeley foodie area, close to the "gourmet ghetto" (I don't know the real name for this food court... Epicurious I think?), Gregoire, Chez Panisse, etc.

* I've tried to do the whole matching food to music thing, but I just don't have that talent. Arcade Fire, to me, is like a cheese souffle or quiche because their music is so grand and just fills the air (hence, souffle)... whereas other people might think cheese+meat, heavy Eastern European/meat+potatoes, or Guerilla Cafe (??? I love that place, but that just doesn't make sense, sorry haha). So yeah, I'm just not going to try.

** Edit: Stopped by for lunch over the weekend and they've remodeled! I haven't decided how I feel about it yet. It's definitely a glossier and more spacious shop, but I feel like some of its original charm is gone now. Oh well, still good pizza! They had an heirloom tomato + asiago pizza. I had 3.5 slices droool (pictured above).

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Gaspare's Pizza House & Italian Restaurant

5546 Geary Blvd. (between 19th and 20th Ave)
(415) 387-5025

Pizza/Italian in the Richmond

This is a very well-known mom & pop restaurant for thin-crust pizza. The service is friendly, but it's a bit confusing when you walk in because there's a sign-up sheet, so we automatically thought we had to wait for someone to seat us. However, we didn't realize until later (after people just started to sit down) that it's self-seating and the sign-up sheet is for if there are no tables available. The place is also a lot smaller than it looks from the outside, so it can only accomodate maybe 3 large parties at a time.

The food was just ok - we had a pizza (Bruce's special), a calzone, and a veal+ravioli dish. The veal was a bit dry, and the ravioli was ok. The calzone was pretty good, mostly because we asked them to add jalepenos. The pizza we had was not very good, honestly. It was EXTREMELY garlicy, and the crust was so thin and actually soggy. I was not impressed at all.

I would definitely go back, just to see if the soggy crust was an accident - nobody else said that about their pizzas. Jalapenos seriously make a big difference - they make everything taste better! I'm so not a jalapeno fan, but it's definitely worth trying. =)

** Edit: If you're friends with Nick, you should go with him because he gets hooked up (knows the owners) haha

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A16

2355 Chestnut St. (between Divisadero & Scott)
(415) 771-2216

Italian/Pizza in the Marina

This restaurant was the perfect place to go right before seeing Bookeaters at the Palace of Fine Arts (they're really close to each other). Even as a Monday evening, this place was pretty crowded, but we only had to wait about 15 min. without a reservation. Maybe I shouldn't hate on the Marina so much, but I was expecting pretty snotty service. To my surprise, the staff was actually really chill and accommodating. My friend and I were running late for the show and they took care of everything right away. =)

The atmosphere is pretty typical for the Marina, but what was cool was the bar seating in front of the chefs. Watching them oven-roast corn and plate other dishes made me want to eat those haha. However, we got the pizza salsiccia (sausage & green onions) since they're known for their pizzas, and the pasta with squid & zucchini. Maybe I was expecting too much, but the pizza was just so-so. It was pretty light for a pizza, which I appreciated, but if I ever go back, I'd get one with sauce (e.g. the marinara or romana). Despite having only had one bite of the pasta because we were running late, it was good! I had it later as leftovers and I really liked it - very light with subtle but good flavors.

If you were to go on a more popular night out (e.g. Friday or Saturday), I'd imagine the wait would be really long, and I don't think it would be worth it. However, the food is pretty good, so check it out on another day. =)

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