It's hard to believe but Farina Pizza is very nearly ready for showtime. Today we notices the construction wall (fencing? advertising billboard that's periodically painted over?) was pulled down. And behold we finally get a look at what this long awaited pizzeria will look like.
The restaurant was c
onfirmed to be a Farina spinoff back in 2010 by SF Eater. More recently, the name of
Farina Pizza & Cucina Italiana was announced with a projected June 2012 opening. Let's hope they're ready to open by August or September, in time for a balmy San Francisco Indian summer. If there's one thing we've learned, getting a restaurant set up takes a long time, and opening date is normally 3-12 months later than expected.
We notice the white theme of
domed tiles (a la BART) goes beyond to hip backed white bar stools, and a ubiquitous white tiled theme, accented with a light faded green woodwork with natural wood accents on the tables and wine racks.
More importantly, what are all those faces on the ceiling? They almost look like illustrations of yearbook photos. Or are they some Italian or Sicilian traditional portrait illustration mosaic. We have no idea.
All we know is that we're happy this place is nearly opening day. The building began construction in early 2009, and was completed circa late 2010. Now we finally get the storefront retail, two years after the building was completed.
More history and photos after the break:
Below is an image of the room to the south of the corner. Both spaces have bar seating, table seating, and the strange portrait illustrations and mirrors in the ceiling.
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| Workers put finishing touches on Farina Pizza's interior. |
The building at the southwest corner of 18th St and Valencia St used to
be a used car lot known as World Auto Sales. However it was closed down
for several years before construction of the 700 Valencia condominium Based on
Dizzy Atmosphere's photo on flickr, it appears this corner was a used car lot for decades... at least from 1979 based on the date of the photo.
Construction of the building began in earnest throughout 2009.
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| 700 Valencia construction tops out. September 2009 |
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| 700 Valencia nears completion of housing units. April 2010. Note Valencia sidewalk widening competed on far side, but not near side. |
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| 700 Valencia in May 2012. Pizzeria still under construction. |
The door, while under construction was a faded lime green. Looks like it will be a shiny black.
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| Front door with dark wood stain. |
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| View of 700 Valencia from Cherin parking lot. |
More history and photos after the break: 
It looks gorgeous, beautifully Italian and I love the ceiling photos.
ReplyDeletejust what valencia needs! another place to eat expensive food!
ReplyDeleteLet's just keep eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating ad nauseam. Let's also forget how to cook our own food. Let's have all our personal services performed FOR us. We'll have one master app to track and control all these services. When the low-wage classes rebel and you'll have to do these things yourselves, you'll panic and pull out your i-something and try to look for instructions, only to discover that your data service is disrupted and you have no money to pay your bill.
ReplyDeleteCalm down anonymous...just calm down, stay sequestered in your little hovel God forbid cities or neighborhoods evolve. So tired of "so called missionites" complaining about vacant lots and empty storefronts being turned into something that makes our neighborhood a destination and a vibrant place live..and YES EAT..YOU would rather have boarded up shops? vacant corners? lets not forget the jobs this expansion creates... who are you people???
DeleteAnother BEAUTIFUL space by the Farina team. I don't even need to eat -- and pizza is without question my favorite food -- I just want to enjoy the space! Like it or not, this is good for the hood.
ReplyDeleteI finally had the pizza (as takeout), which was quite good - on par with the excellent Delfina Pizza. Still need to go have a pizza INSIDE the restaurant to capture the vibe. On a decent weather day, eating outside at a sidewalk table would be ideal.
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