As of next week, there’ll be a new pizza sheriff in town: Anthony Mangieri, one of New York’s more celebrated Neapolitan pizza chefs who shuttered Una Pizza Napoletana in the East Village at the height of its popularity last year, moves to SF permanently on March 1st. Mangieri announced in the fall that he’d be moving his operation to SOMA, and we’ve now learned from the man himself that he’ll be opening, hopefully by May, just a block or so away from the clubland of 11th Street, not far from Thad Vogler’s upcoming Bar Agricole — a combo which should make this usually boozy part of town a new food destination.
“I found the kind of space that I could never have afforded in New York,” Mangieri told us. “Really raw and industrial, high ceilings. I came out here and really fell in love with it. But mostly I just can’t wait to get out my hiking boots, you know?”
His wood oven arrived from Naples ten days ago and the building owner installed it last week. All that remains are some trimmings and a few permit approvals from the city.
Mangieri intends to keep the same restaurant name he had in New York, Una Pizza Napoletana, which may cause a bit of confusion after Farina’s Antica Pizza Napoletana comes online — however if all goes well, Mangieri should beat Farina to market by at least a month. And with another pizzeria slated for Mission and 24th, not to mention former Flour + Water pizza man Jon Darsky’s as-yet-locationless venture on the horizon, SF is about to ride the pizza wave that crashed over New York in the last few years in a big way.
But don’t expect Mangieri to compete on price. At around $20, his pies out-priced most of the competition in New York, and as a sign in his original joint read, “We have no quarrel with the man who sells cheaper pizza. He knows how much his is worth!”
Earlier: Chairman Anthony [NY Mag]
Anthony Mangieri Closes Una Pizza Napoletana, Hands Keys Over to Motorino [Grub Street NY]
It’s Official: Una Pizza Napoletana to Open in SF [Grub Street]
Una Pizza Napoletana [Official Site w/video]
