San Francisco Walking Tour With Grace Anne Walden
And, now back to the final stop: Tony’s Pizza Napoletana! This made the entire tour “worth it” for Vanja. Back across some now familiar streets in the North Beach area toward Tony’s… “Hey! Isn’t that the owner of the   restaurant that was bringing in the vegetables and the open chicken livers a little bit ago?” It sure was. There he sat, now in his track suit, reminding me of Tony Saprano, not looking up at the crowd passing by, but instead, fully concentrating on his mid day meal of the most beautiful whole flaky salmon, a bottle of wine and a massive salad. Clearly, his reward from bringing in some fresh groceries for the day’s menu. “Now, that is the life!”
But ours is pretty great, too. We traipsed in, were greated with gracious warmth and seated in the window immediately.
Through the bar to wash my hands, and a little peak into the generous wine storage, as well asTony watching his oven heat up. Then back to our table already laden with appetizers and a luscious salad.
Walnuts, gorgonzola, arugula, and little balls of pear. Beautiful, and absolutely the perfect dish for my palate as it was crisp, crunchy, juicy and busting with the strong flavours of spring on this late summer afternoon.
The deep fried beans with garlic were deadly. Absolutely scrumptious. The hearty meatballs reminded me of the ones we were served as an appetizer in Sorrento, Italy, one spring. Those ones were even larger than these, but the texture was as moist and tender, and the flavour as gently appealing. Vanja went nuts over these. I appreciate the memory they evoked, but they were too simple for me to get excited about them. I guess that was the point: the homemade appeal. Definitely.
There was also a lovely flatbread with tepenade dips. This, for me, was a huge full, and perfect meal… Then the pizzas started coming. First, the Traditional Sicillian. It was very good. It had a very homemade structure and taste. Thick crust, losts of cheese, gentle and typical Italian seasonings in the traditional type of tomato sauce, mushrooms, pepperoni. Basic. Really delicious, and basic.
Then came the Margharita. Apparently, Tony has won awards for this pizza. It was really beautiful, really delicious, and exceptionally simple. That was the beauty of this pizza. Here, the sauce was the star, and really took centre stage on this pizza. The hits of basil were bright and the cheese not too heavy. The crust was thinner than the last one, but could have still been thinner, for my palate, for this kind of pizza. But, in its entirety, as it was, it was a high note.
Then came four more pizzas. I recall no specific names after this, but am glad I have the photographs to bring me back to the table at Tony’s. YUM. I do remember the distinct flavours. Outstanding experience. The little tidbits of sausage were delectable.
The fig, balsamic and procuitto was my personal favourite. The combination of flavours definitely tickled my tummy and I will absolutely be making this one at home. It was spectacular.
Can you taste it? YUMMERS!
And here is the simplest pizza with the cheese under the sauce. It was a great note to end this feast on. Tony came over for introductions and a brief visit as he was very busy. He was extremely warm and gracious and very personal. When he found out we were from Canada, he told me that one of his Champion Pizza Dough Throwing team members was from Saskatchewan and that she puts Moosehead Beer into her pizza dough. Love that idea. Thank you, Tony, for taking a moment to share with us. Isn’t he adorable?
We were one very satisfied group!
After a heartfelt thank you to Tony for this amazing feast, we teased and had a little silly fun before parting ways. Grace Anne was playing with someone’s sour dough. Mine, looking similar, was packed away in my bag for the trip home.
I wandered around a bit and took some photos of Tony’s “Wall of Fame” as he is currently the Pizza Throwing Champion of the World. I so wanted to ask him to do a show for us, but was disciplined, like any good Canadian would be in such a situation.
Thankfully, Tony’s wife popped by at the moment we were taking photos on our way out the door and offered to take one of us together. What a sweetheart. She definitely read my mind. This was a really fun morning, a spectacular San Francisco North Beach experience, and Tony, only opened for two weeks, was clearly going places. It was a thrill to be in on the beginning of what I know will all too soon be a “must do” item on all San Francisco tourist lists. Fun, fun, fun!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he-V1J86REA
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWL__9yDu8I
Wow – another totally enthralling food travel report from lucky Valerie! I LOVE seeing all these photos. Please go away again soon, so I can share in you travel tastings vicariously!
Great shots! What camera are you using? I need to upgrade!
Hello, Vivian!
Great to hear from you! I am actually going to be writing about the “best” camera, soon… as I was going to get one for Christmas and canvassed my fellow food blogging community. However, I got a MacBook instead, and the camera is on hold (but not for long… I tend to buy myself Valentine’s gifts.:)!) I am currently using a small Cannon. Very Popular with high ratings. Most people don’t take the time to learn to use their small cameras to their maximum capacity. I use the micro setting often because I love that detail. Does any of this baking look familiar to you? Do you or your mom do the Christmas Baking anymore?
XOXO
Valerie
This looks incredible, such a great time too. I feel like I was there! I have to go get some pizza now………..
This was so wonderful to see! and The memory of us eating there just about 2 weeks ago! the Fig Pizza was amazing! Tony is cute! like Lauren said! hahaha