The Fro Fro Blog: Pizzeria Delfina (San Francisco)

Delfina consistently earns raves as one of the top restaurants in San Francisco, and is a perennial favorite among many of the Fro Fro faithful. There's the main restaurant, and next door on 18th Street there's Pizzeria Delfina, which has been serving up thin-crust pies to adoring crowds for some time. But they don't take reservations, and it's a bit of a schlep from my 'hood. So I took a number on the excited line when I heard that they were opening an outpost on California and Fillmore.

Dena, Steve and I went to check it out last Sunday. After waiting about an hour, constantly making sure our name hadn't been inadvertently erased and not replaced on the chalkboard waiting list, the three of us were seated at the counter. Some people prefer tables, but I want to be as close to the action as possible. There was one cook in particular, a young woman, who looked like a rising star. I always thought that cooks in restaurants had defined stations, but it looked like she was doing it all -- and getting it done without losing her cool. I started having a daydream that in the future we'll all be eating in her eponymous restaurant. But that'll be another blog post, I guess.

Back to present day. Our waitress warned us that the Pane al Pomodoro with Marquita early girl tomatoes and Belfiore ricotta would only be on the menu one more week before the tomatoes went out of season. That's what we in the sales biz call "creating a sense of urgency." So of course, we had to have it. Steve and I liked it a lot - the olive oil was luscious, the bread nicely toasted, the tomatoes sweet, the cheese creamy. Dena wasn't as big a fan - for her it needed basil in order to fire on all cylinders.

Time for pie! We ordered three: a Margherita (Tomato, fior de latte mozzarella, basil),

a Salsicca (Housemade fennel sausage, tomato, bell peppers, onions and mozzarella)

and one of the evening's specials, the Funghi (Hen of the woods mushrooms, taleggio, nepitella, panna).

All three were quite good, but we each had our loyalty -- Steve to Salsicca, Dena to Margherita, and yours truly to the Funghi. I think I liked it best because of the white panna sauce instead of tomato. The tomato sauce on the other pies was more on the sweet side, and I personally tend to prefer a heartier sauce, and more cheese. But that's just me. Personal preference plays a huge role at pizzerias, and I have a feeling that Pizzeria Delfina at their new location will be just as beloved as the original. If you like a thin-crusted, wood-fired pie, head right on over.

And when you go, don't skip dessert. All of Pizzeria Delfina's gelati are house made daily. Flavors include chocolate, vanilla, lemon, peach, raspberry and soy-straciatella (an Italian version of chocolate chip). They'll even make you their version of an ice cream sandwich: one or two flavors, in a brioche bun.

What we missed that I'll have to try next time was the fried pizza dough -- we watched it being made several times, but didn't see it on the menu -- and by the time we asked what it was, we were too full to order. ...'til next time!