Oakland & San Francisco eats.

I’ll have my annual re-ranking of the top five farm systems up this week, most likely Tuesday, for Insiders.

I only had two meals on my own during my trip to the Bay Area last week to speak at Google and sign books at Books Inc. in Berkeley (which should still have signed copies available), but both were memorable additions to my ongoing U.S. pizzeria tour. Oakland’s Pizzaiolo is on that list from Food and Wine from a few years ago that continues to inform some of my travels – it’s not a perfect list but I’ve done well by it overall – but the pizza wasn’t even the best thing I ate there.

Pizzaiolo is more than a pizzeria, although those are obviously the star attraction on the menu. It’s really a locavore restaurant that also does pastas, mains, salads, and vegetable-focused sides (contorni), with outstanding, largely local ingredients the common thread among all of them. I met a friend for dinner there and we split two pizzas, a margherita with housemade Italian sausage and a pizza of sweet & hot peppers, black olives, and ricotta salata. The sausage was probably the best element of all of this; the dough itself was good, maybe a grade 55 when comparing it to other Neapolitan pizzerias I’ve tried around the country (a list that has to number around fifty now). The pepper and olive pizza was surprisingly good, less spicy than I feared it would be, more briny and salty from the combination of the olives and the ricotta salata, a pressed, salted, lightly aged cheese made from the whey of sheep’s milk left over from other cheesemaking. But the best thing I ate was actually a salad of mixed chicory leaves (especially radicchio) with figs and hazelnuts; I love radicchio in spite of its bitterness (or perhaps because of it), but this had some of the least bitter chicory leaves I’ve ever tasted, and the sweetness of the black mission figs gave the perfect contrast to just that hint of a bitter note. The menu changes daily, however, and I can see it’s not on the Pizzaiolo menu today.

Una Pizza Napoletana isn’t on that F&W list of the country’s best pizzerias, which is kind of a joke because it’s probably a top five spot for me because of the dough. I’ve never had a pizza with a crust like this – it has the texture of naan, which is an enriched dough from India (usually containing yogurt or other dairy), whereas pizza dough is typically enriched with nothing but maybe a little olive oil. The menu is very short: five different pizza options, no alterations or substitutions allowed, with a few drinks, and one extra pizza (with fresh eggs) on Saturdays. Most of the pizzas use buffalo-milk mozzarella, and only the margherita has tomato sauce. I went with the filetti, which has no sauce but uses fresh cherry tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, garlic, and fresh basil. It’s really the dough that makes this pizza – it’s a traditional, naturally-leavened dough that takes three days to make, resulting in that incomparable texture. The pizzas are on the expensive side at $25 apiece, although I think given the quality of inputs and the time required to make doughs like this, it’s a reasonable price point. You’re buying someone’s skill and time for something you’re never going to make at home.

Una Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco. To die for.

A post shared by Keith Law (@mrkeithlaw) on

My new friends at Google also sent me home with a few gifts, including a bag of coffee from Philz, which a few of you have been telling me to try for years now. I haven’t opened the bag yet (I am a bit obsessive about finishing one bag before opening the next) but will report back when I try it.

Comments

  1. Keith – which locations remain untried on the F&W list?

    • Mani Osteria (Ann Arbor)
      The Backspace (Austin)
      Santarpio’s (Boston)
      Burt’s Place (Chicago) – skipping this one because I don’t like deep dish
      Supino Pizzeria (Detroit)
      Buddy’s (Detroit)
      Pizzeria Picco (Larkspur, CA)
      Sottocasa (New York)
      Oven and Shaker (Portland, OR)
      Apizza Scholls (Portland, OR)
      Ken’s Artisan (Portland, OR)
      Al Forno (Providence)
      Casey’s Pizza Truck (San Francisco)
      Pizzeria Delfina (San Francisco)
      Pastaria (St. Louis)
      2Amy’s Neapolitan (Washington, DC)
      Redd Wood (Yountville)

    • If you end up in DC and try 2Amy’s, I also recommend making a trip out to Arlington for Pupatella, another Neapolitan pizzeria that has absolutely tremendous pizzas and salads, with very strong appetizers as well

    • I will second Pupatella’s … their Aroncini i cannot discuss rationally

    • Frankly, I don’t get the hype around Santarpio’s. It’s fine, but it’s nowhere near the caliber of some of the other places on that list.

  2. Pizzeria Picco and Pizzeria Delfina are two of my favorite pizza shops in the bay area (UNA is up there, too) and Casey’s Pizza Truck is opening a brick and mortar near AT&T Park soon. Hopefully you’ll be able to give it a shot on your next trip to SF!

  3. Been in suburban Detroit for 16 years; I’m shocked Buddy’s is on this list. I like Supino’s, do not compose sonnets for it but it’s worth hitting (and while you’re in Eastern Market, treat yourself to something at Milano’s a bakery that’s out of this world). If you are in Detroit for something, Redcoat Tavern in Royal Oak (20-25 minutes from the city) would be the place I’d suggest you go (if craving meat). I’ve never had a better burger, anywhere. Don’t let the cheesy interior and exterior of the restaurant fool you. Amici’s Pizza in Berkley is also very good, though has limited seating capacity.

    I went out of my way to get to Santarpio’s a few years ago, after hearing Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe rave about it so often. I liked it, didn’t love it. Sometimes expectations can get in your way. It’s a very unpretentious shop, which is a plus.

    Headed to New England in two weeks for a few things, what would be the best pizza to hit in CT or Greenwich Village? I’ve been to John’s of Bleecker Street, enjoyed it. I’m pretty sure I’ve been to Mystic Pizza II (Electric Boogaloo), but it was a while ago. None of the Hollywood actresses were there.

    • I totally agree about Santarpio’s. It’s a local institution and very reasonably priced, but it’s just not that great of a pizza. I would recommend the sausage though if you go.

    • Also, get a side of the lamb skewers!

  4. Guess I need to check out the Portland locales, and give a report. So far, I’ve not loved a Portland pizza place.