Where does Craig Stoll like to shop and eat in the Bay Area? Stoll cued Bay Area Bites into his top picks via a recent email interview. He is the chef-owner of Delfina and Delfina Pizzeria(s), a growing mini-empire of San Francisco based Italian restaurants. He and his wife Annie Stoll live in the Mission in San Francisco with their eight year old daughter, Lucy. Stoll said,
"(We) love to be part of the neighborhood in which we work and own a business and where most of our staff live." He added that as a family unit, the Stolls like to hang out at home "when we can find the time," and that "family dinner is the best."
Speculation on the Stolls next restaurant venture continues to fuel the chatter; and the Twitterverse went into high alert mode when Craig tweeted "Waitin here at SFO for our flight to Mexico for a little R&D...Did I say that? I meant R&R" on April 3rd. It was later revealed on various outlets that the Stolls are definitely taking over the Ramblas space on Valencia, for what may be a Roman food concept, expected to open in late spring or early this summer.
The Stolls opened Delfina together in 1998, and have attracted prime time crowds, as well as later adding two Delfina Pizzeria locations. Chances of getting a coveted sidewalk table or even parking spot in front of the 18th Street Delfina Pizzeria vary wildly, but the promise of a gourmet Napoletana (tomato, anchovies, capers, hot peppers, olives, and oregano) pizza pie with a side of greens in a Insalata Tricolore salad with Grana Padano cheese generally make it a worth the effort. If you can't afford that trip to Rome or the East Coast, this is a nice staycation meal City option. The service and Italian fare are a combined effort for the couple, with Craig running the food and kitchen operations and Annie handling everything else. This blogger does occasional catering for Bi-Rite Market, and prepped with some of Stoll's cooks for the 18th Street Block Party in 2008.
Here are Craig Stoll's picks for where to shop and eat. His main source for food may be the one with the easiest access. Stoll confessed that "I often shop out of the walk-in cooler at Delfina," which sounds like as good a FIFO (first in, first out) inventory system as any. Stoll's comments have been edited for content and brevity.