San Francisco’s BEST Pizza! February 23, 2011

This past weekend, we ventured out to San Francisco’s Italian neighborhood, North Beach and stumbled upon an old landmark famous for it’s wood fired pizzas!  I can’t believe that I missed this one – it’s been around since 1935!  Growing up in San Francisco, frequenting North Beach ALL the time, and thinking I knew all the Italian restaurants in the vicinity of my own father’s Italian restaurant – it eluded me, somehow!  Maybe because it is actually below street level?  Maybe because it has a small little sign?  Maybe because it is on a side street?  Who knows…but, WOW, am I glad I found it!  Better late than never, right?

Tomasso’s has been a San Francisco landmark since 1935 when it was started by a family from Naples who wanted to share their pizza with the world!  Back then, pizza was not a popular food item – in fact, even in the rest of Italy, they didn’t eat it.  Believe it or not, it wasn’t until my parents immigrated to the United States from Northern Italy that they tasted their first pizza.  Pizza was unique to Naples, and because of World War II it became popular once the GI’s tried it!!  Anyway, this little family from Naples built a wood fire oven and baked their pizzas in the old fashioned way like they did in the Old Country.  Back then Tomasso’s was called Lupo’s, and didn’t change it’s name until 1971 when the new owner, Tommy Chin, took it over.  Tommy had been a cook with the family for over 30 years and when the original family wanted to retire, he bought the place.  He created the same pizzas with the same recipes in the same oven!  Two years later, he sold it to another Italian immigrant family and they have owned it ever since.  It is a family run affair, with all the members of the family chipping in and working.  The walls are frescoed by local artists who painted in exchange for pizzas and pasta! 

The restaurant is chaotic – it is loud – but it is a BLAST.  They don’t take reservations, so be prepared for a REALLY long wait while waiting for a table to open up.  Most of the tables are family style – so you make friends with your neighbors!  The waiters run around you….the food comes out quickly….it is frenetic….but you will eat the BEST pizza you have ever had.  The range of toppings is extensive and the ingredients are always fresh.  The restaurant has a full menu, but since I didn’t eat anything else, I cannot either praise it or boo-hoo it. 

What a Pretty Label! October 29, 2010

I am, by no means, a wine connoisseur!  Pretty much any bottle of wine tastes fine to me (except maybe ”two buck Chuck”!!!).  Now, if I were comparing wines side by side, I could probably tell the difference, but with a random glass – it’s all good!!  You have to understand – I was brought up on Italian table wine – nothing fancy at all.  The more home grown, the better it was!!! 

Anyway, when it comes to picking a new bottle of wine to try, I don’t really go by all the descriptions of the bouquet, legs, etc. that the real wine connoisseurs give.  Usually, I cannot detect the “flavors” that they describe anyway - my palate is no where near that sophisticated!!  But, I can appreciate a beautiful label.  I seem to pick my wines the same way I pick my horses at the race track – the prettiest one gets my bet!!!  So, when last night we visited our favorite new wine bar here in Los Gatos, Enoteca La Storia, and they were having a special on “fizzy” wines from Italy, I found a wine from my homeland, Lombardy!!!  And, what really sold me on trying it was the absolutely GORGEOUS label   Fortunately for everyone who shared it with me, it was also VERY good!

Here is the description of the wine at the Enoteca:

2007  Castello di Luzzano  Bonarda from Lombardy, IT

Bright ruby color with fragrant raspberry aromas.  The lightly sparkling, elegant, dry wine is from Rovescala where Bonarda has been grown for centuries and with great reknown.

E` Tutto Qua October 14, 2010

It’s all here….a perfect name for a perfect restaurant!  On the sort of sketchy corner of Columbus and Broadway, at the end of San Francisco’s North Beach, is one of the best Italian restaurants I have ever been to.  The neighborhood used to house all the strip clubs…but in recent years, the strip clubs have gone and have been replaced with sports bars and restaurants.  There are still a few remnant ones which make for an interesting stroll up and down the street (and also people watching opportunities!)

E` Tutto Qua was born three years ago by the same owner that began North Beach’s  Steps of Rome about 20 years ago.  He sold Steps of Rome, moved back to Italy for awhile, and then came back.  According to him, this new restaurant was just “handed to him” because it had been the location of several failed businesses.  He took it on, changed the name, and created a sensational place.  The food is so authentic that you would literally feel like you are back in Italy.  The ingredients are fresh, the pasta is homemade, the pizzas have thin crusts (just like Italy), and the sauces and entrees are all created with much care.  If you are looking for Pasta Alfredo, you will have to look elsewhere!!  The gnocchi is just like Nonna makes (and that is a very hard act to follow!) The waiters are mostly all Italian (and recent transplants at that) and will delightfully carry on conversations in Italian with anyone that shows some interest.  It is so nice to see so many young Italians making San Francisco their new home. 

The restaurant is modernly decorated – there are no gawdy Italian statues or paintings on the wall.  Don’t get me wrong – sometimes I like Italian gawd!  It adds its own character and charm to restaurants.  But, in the case of E` Tutto Qua, the ambience has its own understated charm.  The many windows give it a vibrancy and life that is electric.  You feel like you are a part of all the action that North Beach offers in the evenings!  There is an upstairs dining balcony, as well,  for larger parties which is a bit more quiet, but which still allows you to  feel a part of the restaurant because it isn’t totally closed off. 

We will surely be returning to E` Tutto Qua for many more dinners and special events.