My summer pizza safari to San Francisco proved to be an unqualified success. No, I didn’t return home with the stuffed heads of pizza-makers, but I did bag two transcendent pie experiences. Tony Gemignani, of Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in North Beach, served me an impeccable Margherita and sausage pie, the red, green and white colors swirling in an almost hallucinatory vision made doubly intense by the intoxicating aromas that nearly knocked me off the bar stool.
The following afternoon I visited A16, the VPN-certified pizza restaurant in the Marina District that gained fame for its pizza first under Christophe Hille and then under Nate Appleman (who, as Slice readers know, has moved to NYC to open a pizzeria). A16, named for the highway that connects Naples with Puglia, did not disappoint.
We followed the hostess through a tastefully decorated space, covered in restrained earth tones, punctuated by fresh sunflowers bursting with golden hues, and bathed in soft natural light. I ordered the Margherita and the salsiccia pies then immediately tore into the crusty, rustic, home-baked bread, dipping it in extra virgin olive oil. Admittedly, I risked overloading on the carbs before the pies arrived, but I was already hopelessly out of control.
Meanwhile, pizzas passed by me left and right. I felt as if I were at a strip club, but instead of eyeballin’ sexy ladies, I glued my eyes to the wait staff and their pulchritudinous pies. The Margherita, simplicity incarnate, arrived first. Flour (Caputo "00"), mozzarella, a few basil leaves, and sauce stared back at me like a high school sweetheart offering her innocence to her lover.
Sorry, but great pizza does that to me.
The wood-burning oven imparted the characteristic, smoky char to the crust; the high heat produced a beautifully blistered cornicione, and, combined with the fine flour, contributed to the light, airy texture and almost sweetness of the pie’s foundation. Such high-quality crust guarantees that you'll dip any remnants in sauce or oil and consume them ravenously.
The spicy, pungent and fresh-tasting sauce and the smooth, creamy mozzarella (from the artisanal Gioia Cheese Co. just south of L.A.) were nearly faultless—the only imperfections being the absence of cheese on an isolated region of the pie (a problem common to Neapolitan style pies) and the “wet” center, which some pizzaphiles object to. Naturally, the pie’s wetness also resulted in tip sag, the other symptom of traditional Neapolitan pizza.
The salsiccia pie, in spite of the absence of red sauce, left me speechless. The crust was flawless and, lacking sauce, perfectly maintained its structural integrity, even under the weight of generously supplied spicy, fennel sausage, yellow peppers, and mozzarella. Every bite yielded a carnival of sweet and spicy flavors. I lingered as long as possible over each mouthful, not wanting to send the tasty morsels on their way to the digestive tract.
A16
A16
2355 Chestnut Street, San Francisco CA (Marina Dist., near Divisadero; map); 415-771-2216; a16sf.com Pizza Style: Neapolitan Oven Type: Wood-oven The Skinny: Longtime SF Neapolitan favorite A16 continues to turn out great pizza even after departure of celebrated chef Nate Appleman Price: Pies start at $11 (marinara), run to $15.50 (salsiccia); more, if you add prosciutto, pancetta, arugula, or an egg
If I have to find some fault with the pie, it would be that it should have been cut into six or eight slices, rather than four. Otherwise, the pies, in my opinion, rank at the very top of Bay Area pizza. The wood-burning oven and the resulting crispy and chewy crust vaults A16 over Delfina and Gialina. Not to diminish the other establishments in the slightest but, if I had time for only one pie, it would either be the A16 salsiccia or the Margherita-sausage combination Gemignani made.
The San Francisco Bay Area certainly has traveled a culinary light year from the '80s, when I had to satisfy my pizza cravings with truly inferior pies. Today, a pizza-lover can confidently enter several establishments spread throughout the region from Glen Park (Gialina), the Mission (Delfina), the Marina (A16), and North Beach (Tony’s) in SF to the East Bay (Pizzaiolo and the soon-to-open Emilia’s Pizzeria) and to the North Bay (a review of Bruce Hill's Larkspur pizzeria, Picco, is coming), and sit down to scrumptious pies. My days of West Coast pizza nightmares seem to have finally come to an end.
Now all we need out here is a quality slice joint.
Keep it in your pant Maven. That review does make me wanna hop a flight to my favorite city on earth (not counting Brooklyn) and check out A16. However, I'd wanna wait until February so I can also head east on 80 and hit the slopes of Squaw and Alpine Meadows on the same trip. There is one thing I want to before I die and that's opening up a place in Tahoe City. I hope you join me when I do Maven. That's if they let me put in a woodburner in that town. Back to A16, thanks to your review I will not miss the place next time I'm out there. It seems like there is a paucity of wood burning oven the the Bay area. Is there some kind of restriction on them?
Yo Paulie, I dont think there are restrictions...Tony Gemignani's got a wood burning oven, Picco(review coming) has one as does Pizzaiolo in Oak-town...Definitely, check out A16...I'll have to get back there and try some different pies.. Be sure to Call ahead early though.I tried to go back last week and 10:30 was there earliest reservation...Maybe I shouldda told them I was Ed Levine. From the look of your home made pies,PG, if you open a place out here I will be there just bring plenty of sauseeeeege!
I'll be sure to do that Maven. I'll have The Slicemeister's favorite hot variety flown in from Salumeria Biellese. Thank you very much regarding my pies. Last night they looked better than they ever have. I changed my fermentation process a nit and they were off the hook. And my moors was the creamiest I've ever made it. The stars were certainly alligned. Now I just gotta keep them right where they are. Reminds me of that Modern English song, "I'll Stop the World and Melt With You". I wonder how the altitude will affect my dough up in the Sierras?
I guess I'll be in the minority here (and other food blogs perhaps) but I gotta say that my A16 pizza experience was less than transcendent. The pizza might make a splash in SF where the competition is nil but when you have your choice of Di Fara's, Lucali, Franny's and many other top notch pizza purveyors in NYC A16 gets left in the dust. Just my opinion.
@ ohmygod... I will readily admit that SF lacks the depth of great pizzerias in NY..but got any specific criticisms..the only issue I can imagine is that some people aren't fans of the Neapolitan style crust...which i love...By the way, I do have to say that the Bay Area pizza scene is definitely improving, witness Tony's, Delfina, Gialina, Flour and Water(havent been yet)...
A16 was one of the places that pushed me over the edge to get into the pizza business for real. I had an amazing Margherita and a Sausage/Chile/Brocolini there one night when Hille was still there. Probably heresy, but I liked it much more than Bianco. A16 Food & Wine is a great book as well...
@lapizzamaven...To be more specific I found the crust soggy, the sauce bland and the cheese watery and lacking any body or character. Did I hit an off night?
@ohmygod..well, the sauce does tend to make those Neapolitan crusts sog and sag some, at least compared to "NY style" pizzas....that said i found the crust on the margherita to be just right and perfect for dipping in sauce or oil...the sauce i found to be very fresh tasting and simple...these pies just dont normally come heavily spiced...the mozz comes from one of the best cheesemakers around...Ultimately, i guess it was either a bad night or a case of different palettes and different expectations....pies i get at Mozza here in LA tend to really explode with spices & flavors..garlic, salt ....the Neapolitan pies at A16, Antica here in LA tend to be simpler..
@maxrialdi....whats fds mean besides feminine deod.spray?
@canerosso....i think that is heresy...the Grand Inquisitor has sceduled an appt for you in the near future...isuggest that,like Galileo, you recant....otherwise no more pizza for you!
Great review. Also, I think SF has at least one quality slice Joint: Golden Boy in North Beach. It is a non traditional slice, but truly amazing none the less.
my A16 experience was less than stellar. the crust was just bland. dead in the flavor department. toppings were pretty good, but the funghi was too dry, and the crust on that one was also tough getting near the edges. as a man who generally just can't help himself from cleaning up the table when it comes to food scraps—especially pizza—i couldn't bring myself to finish it.
there seem to be plenty of other pizzerias in SF to head to these days. pizza nostra, delfina, gialina, and the new one with every variety of pizza known to man on the menu...
E Gad Man!...I guess it happens..i loved the two pies i had there...at least you do have excellent choices but i did like A16 better than Delfina....Gialina was full of flavor,no doubt, but i prefer the A16 crust...I did finish my crust by dipping it in the oil and extraneous sauce..MMMMMMMM
@judgefudge...for some reason, in all the years i lived in SF(80s) and in all my subsequent visits i never tried Golden Boy..I will next time i'm there...thanks for the rec...god knows SF should have a good slice joint.
@Paulie: I don't think there's a paucity of wood-burning ovens here. I think I could name about 50 places in the BA that make wood-fired pizza. That's about 1 per every 85k people. At a similar per-capita density, Brooklyn would have about 30. I don't know if it has more or less than that.
Maybe 10 in the BA are worth going to (in this 1 man's opinion).
@ f r y The thought crossed my mind after reading The Slicemeister's review of your place and thinking about Pizzeria Delfina. Thanks to you and Maven for clearing that up. Now if I could only find an excuse to get back out there to check out those ten wood burners. And your well worn gas beauty of course.
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18 Comments:
Keep it in your pant Maven. That review does make me wanna hop a flight to my favorite city on earth (not counting Brooklyn) and check out A16. However, I'd wanna wait until February so I can also head east on 80 and hit the slopes of Squaw and Alpine Meadows on the same trip. There is one thing I want to before I die and that's opening up a place in Tahoe City. I hope you join me when I do Maven. That's if they let me put in a woodburner in that town. Back to A16, thanks to your review I will not miss the place next time I'm out there. It seems like there is a paucity of wood burning oven the the Bay area. Is there some kind of restriction on them?
Ciao,
Paulie Hee
pauliegee at 11:12AM on 09/20/09
Yo Paulie, I dont think there are restrictions...Tony Gemignani's got a wood burning oven, Picco(review coming) has one as does Pizzaiolo in Oak-town...Definitely, check out A16...I'll have to get back there and try some different pies.. Be sure to Call ahead early though.I tried to go back last week and 10:30 was there earliest reservation...Maybe I shouldda told them I was Ed Levine. From the look of your home made pies,PG, if you open a place out here I will be there just bring plenty of sauseeeeege!
lapizzamaven at 11:27AM on 09/20/09
I'll be sure to do that Maven. I'll have The Slicemeister's favorite hot variety flown in from Salumeria Biellese. Thank you very much regarding my pies. Last night they looked better than they ever have. I changed my fermentation process a nit and they were off the hook. And my moors was the creamiest I've ever made it. The stars were certainly alligned. Now I just gotta keep them right where they are. Reminds me of that Modern English song, "I'll Stop the World and Melt With You". I wonder how the altitude will affect my dough up in the Sierras?
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 12:17PM on 09/20/09
I guess I'll be in the minority here (and other food blogs perhaps) but I gotta say that my A16 pizza experience was less than transcendent. The pizza might make a splash in SF where the competition is nil but when you have your choice of Di Fara's, Lucali, Franny's and many other top notch pizza purveyors in NYC A16 gets left in the dust. Just my opinion.
ohmygod at 1:59PM on 09/20/09
@ ohmygod... I will readily admit that SF lacks the depth of great pizzerias in NY..but got any specific criticisms..the only issue I can imagine is that some people aren't fans of the Neapolitan style crust...which i love...By the way, I do have to say that the Bay Area pizza scene is definitely improving, witness Tony's, Delfina, Gialina, Flour and Water(havent been yet)...
lapizzamaven at 2:14PM on 09/20/09
A16 was one of the places that pushed me over the edge to get into the pizza business for real. I had an amazing Margherita and a Sausage/Chile/Brocolini there one night when Hille was still there. Probably heresy, but I liked it much more than Bianco. A16 Food & Wine is a great book as well...
canerosso at 3:35PM on 09/20/09
@lapizzamaven...To be more specific I found the crust soggy, the sauce bland and the cheese watery and lacking any body or character. Did I hit an off night?
ohmygod at 5:06PM on 09/20/09
fds
maxrimaldi at 7:22PM on 09/20/09
@ohmygod..well, the sauce does tend to make those Neapolitan crusts sog and sag some, at least compared to "NY style" pizzas....that said i found the crust on the margherita to be just right and perfect for dipping in sauce or oil...the sauce i found to be very fresh tasting and simple...these pies just dont normally come heavily spiced...the mozz comes from one of the best cheesemakers around...Ultimately, i guess it was either a bad night or a case of different palettes and different expectations....pies i get at Mozza here in LA tend to really explode with spices & flavors..garlic, salt ....the Neapolitan pies at A16, Antica here in LA tend to be simpler..
@maxrialdi....whats fds mean besides feminine deod.spray?
@canerosso....i think that is heresy...the Grand Inquisitor has sceduled an appt for you in the near future...isuggest that,like Galileo, you recant....otherwise no more pizza for you!
lapizzamaven at 11:29PM on 09/20/09
@canerosso, by the way, thats a gorgeous lookin pie on your post...Id go for that sorpresseta in an instant!
lapizzamaven at 11:33PM on 09/20/09
Does anybody know what happened to Christophe Hille? Where did he go after he left A16?
ultrasel at 2:05AM on 09/21/09
According to this he's working for Annie Lebowitz. I hope his resume is up to date:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/christophe-hille/6/1b4/952
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 7:00AM on 09/21/09
Great review. Also, I think SF has at least one quality slice Joint: Golden Boy in North Beach. It is a non traditional slice, but truly amazing none the less.
JudgeFudge at 9:19AM on 09/21/09
my A16 experience was less than stellar. the crust was just bland. dead in the flavor department. toppings were pretty good, but the funghi was too dry, and the crust on that one was also tough getting near the edges. as a man who generally just can't help himself from cleaning up the table when it comes to food scraps—especially pizza—i couldn't bring myself to finish it.
there seem to be plenty of other pizzerias in SF to head to these days. pizza nostra, delfina, gialina, and the new one with every variety of pizza known to man on the menu...
egadman at 3:19PM on 09/23/09
E Gad Man!...I guess it happens..i loved the two pies i had there...at least you do have excellent choices but i did like A16 better than Delfina....Gialina was full of flavor,no doubt, but i prefer the A16 crust...I did finish my crust by dipping it in the oil and extraneous sauce..MMMMMMMM
@judgefudge...for some reason, in all the years i lived in SF(80s) and in all my subsequent visits i never tried Golden Boy..I will next time i'm there...thanks for the rec...god knows SF should have a good slice joint.
lapizzamaven at 6:04PM on 09/23/09
@Paulie: I don't think there's a paucity of wood-burning ovens here. I think I could name about 50 places in the BA that make wood-fired pizza. That's about 1 per every 85k people. At a similar per-capita density, Brooklyn would have about 30. I don't know if it has more or less than that.
Maybe 10 in the BA are worth going to (in this 1 man's opinion).
f r y at 5:06PM on 09/24/09
@ f r y The thought crossed my mind after reading The Slicemeister's review of your place and thinking about Pizzeria Delfina. Thanks to you and Maven for clearing that up. Now if I could only find an excuse to get back out there to check out those ten wood burners. And your well worn gas beauty of course.
Ciao,
Paulie Gee
pauliegee at 5:19PM on 09/24/09
So who's Fry and where is your place? my brain and digestive tract are salivating...
lapizzamaven at 12:41AM on 09/25/09