San Francisco Restaurants: Part One - Italian

Just as I was moving here, I read an article in the NYTimes about San Francisco and Italian food . At that moment I was, and had been, pursuing an obsession with pizza. Cooking it, but eating it. We had been making crust from scratch, sauce from scratch, and whipping out pizza margheritas from the grill. We also near-perfected a pizza with sauteed broccoli raab (near-perfect meaning our crust was about as good as we could get, but could not reach the quality of a brick-oven/other 5000deg beast). I was also at that time travelling to SF on a work expense account, so I could eat out. It started out with eating at 54 Mint , which was really good. Specifically I recall eating an amazing panna cotta with balsamic glaze, which was stunning. I also loved the plaza so much I considered moving in there, except that I would have had to stay in the plaza for my own comfort and safety level. This was rapidly followed by a trip to Una Pizza Napoletana, of NYC fame. Una Pizza lacked glamour, but the pizza was outstanding, with perfectly charred crust, and hard-to-make spot on margherita. When I moved to Potrero Hill, I became enamored with Piccino , at that time a tiny maybe 10 tables haunt with an excellent short wine list, pizza, a handful of delicious desserts where one could nearly always score a table with two people. This has changed since Piccino expanded to a larger, and decidedly more upscale space down the block. The pies are still excellent, but I have to admit missing the smaller, more neighborly, cafe-style space. Having moved to the Mission and tried Delfina's Pizzeria, I have to say that it's margherita cannot be beat. It's the pizza I dream of when I've been here by myself and have no one to split it with, though I could regrettably down a whole one myself if I dared. Moving on from pizza, I have been to SPQR, Perbacco, but for amazing pasta and atmosphere to-die-for, Farina is my pick. You could not ask for a more stunning interior space, and the fettuccine with pesto is the best I have ever eaten. Even in Italy.