›› ALL iN GOOD TASTE
The grand salami! Pizzalina dishing up high-class pizzas, hold the snootiness...
CLASSICS WE CAN DEVOUR Hawk’s Tavern, in Mill Valley, continues to tweak its gastropub image. Departing from an original concept of small-plates-to-share service it has changed to a classic appetizerentree-dessert format that seems to better
restaurant
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by Pat Fu sco
SAVORY CAST By the time you read this, San Anselmo’s newest restaurant will be in its soft opening stage. Pizzalina debuted Sept. 26 at Red Hill Shopping Center—ironically in a space vacated by Round Table Pizza. Neapolitan pizza, the authentic thin-crust style made from wildyeasted dough and freshest toppings and cooked in a wood-ďŹ red oven, is the focus of the place, served with a small but stellar selection of wines along with small plates and entrees of rustic Italian foods. Owner/pizzaiola Louise Franz is a local whose food career includes decades of experience in top San Francisco restaurants (Stars and Waterbar, where she oversaw private dining rooms) and a recent immersion in pizza making. She studied at Associazone Verace Pizza Napoletana in southern California, then worked at Pizzeria Picco, in Larkspur, and Pizzeria Rosso, in Santa Rosa, adding an intensive ďŹ eld trip to southern Italy to observe the art ďŹ rsthand. Her dream to have her own pizzeria came to fruition in a place that feels like it has been there for a very long time. With assistance —including a handcrafted main wall—from ace restaurant designer Michael Brennan (Farallon, Jardiniere, Marinitas and Murray Circle) she built a bright, comfortable interior. On board as chef is Douglas Richey, whose background readied him for making his own charcuterie and Italian dishes; he worked with and learned from the owners of Santi in Geyserville, later taking over the Santa Rosa version of Santi. The wine list is created by Franz’s brother Sean Crowley, who happens to be a sommelier/ wine director (Aqua, Campton Place, RitzCarlton) and is now in charge of sales and marketing at Paradigm in Napa. In spite of its high-wattage creators, Franz wants Pizzalina to be a welcoming hometown hangout. More than once she has spoken out publicly against restaurant “snootiness,â€? hoping for regulars who will eat her pizza and Richey’s foods (pasta, salads, small appetizers, grilled chicken, bowls of mussels), enjoying the casual atmosphere. Pizzalina is open 11am-9pm, Sunday-Thursday; 11am-10pm, Friday and Saturday. West end of Red Hill Shopping Center, 415/256-9780 or www. pizzalina.com.
CREPEVINE
TWIN CITIES MARKET Under New Management
Same Great Sandwiches... but SO MUCH more!!
Lunch Specials BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER %% 2 a , - ,.' +.' ! 908 4TH STREET , ' + % a WWW.CREPEVINE.COM Crust never sleeps, at Pizzalina.
suit its clientele. Current starters include dishes very suitable for this transitional season: warm mushroom salad with poached egg, perhaps scioppino, then on to mains like kurobuta pork ribs with a dry rub, a Mediterranean-style grilled chicken paillard with olives, feta, cucucmber and yogurt, or a classic ďŹ let with frites, trufďŹ&#x201A;eshallot puree and watercress. Brunch service has been added on weekends (11:30am-3pm) with salads, egg dishes and heartier burgers, ale-braised sausages, a salmon BLT. www.hawkstavern.com . NOT THE BAND, AFTER BATHING Left Bank, in Larkspur, is hosting An Evening With Clean Fish on Thursday, Oct. 4 (5:30pm), when Tim Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Shea, cofounder of Clean Fish, will be on hand to discuss sustainable seafood. Chef Fabrice Marconâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ ve-course, prix-ďŹ xe menu will include shrimp from Costa Rica, Arctic char from Iceland and sea bream from Greece. Cost is $49.50 per person; reserve at 415/927-3331 or www.leftbank.com OCTOBER OPPORTUNITIES From now until Halloween, Nicasio Valley Farms Pumpkin Patch in West Marin will be open daily (10am-6pm) for picking out organic jack-o-lantern specimens. But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not all: there are hayrides, farm animals, kidsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; activities and a farm stand. On weekends live music for kids and adults, a barbecue stand and organic ice cream are added to the mix. Sunday, Oct. 21, is the date for MALT Day at the patch, with much more food and music choices and grown-up beverages. For information, visit www.malt.org. Football seasonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s here and Moylanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s will take care of you! The Novato brewpub will open at 10 am every Sunday for reinforcing brunch foods, just in time for those games. Details: www.moylans.com .< Email Pat at patfusco@sonic.net.
Think.Eat.Dine.
LOCAL
Thank you for dining locally. Your patronage makes a major difference to our fine Marin restaurants.
World Veg Festival
celebrating the
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SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 4, 2012 PACIFIC SUN 21