SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A San Francisco pizza joint was named one of the best places to grab a slice in America, according to a list released by Trips to Discover.
Del Popolo has been offering wood-fired pizza since 2012, according to its website. It originally launched as a mobile restaurant but opened its brick-and-mortar location on Bush Street in Nob Hill in 2015, the restaurant stated.
Del Popolo was ranked on the list among three other restaurants in California, both in Los Angeles: Mulberry Street Pizza in Beverly Hills and Pizzeria Mozza in L.A.
With 980 reviews on Google Reviews, Del Popolo has 4.4 stars. Reviewers rave about the food, service and atmosphere of the place and recommend making reservations for dine-in.
“Hands down some of the best pizza I've ever had. Classic Neapolitan pizza with a soft chewy dough and crust. Tried the Asparagus pizza and loved the slight hint of pesto and lemon. Topped off with the Basque cheesecake which was truly sublime,” Sana shared on Google reviews.
“And i thought innovations with pizza are over. Surprise!! Del Popolo is no regular pizza,” said Kushal on Google reviews. “Mouthwatering flavours with perfect textures to the bite. I can't wait to go back and try the rest on the menu. I think my favourite pizza place in SF. Great interiors, warm and friendly service, Nice date spot too.”
From the heart of the beautiful Le Marche region of Italy, the Ramazzotti story began in 1958 when Ramazzotti Wines owner and winemaker Joe (Giuseppe) Ramazzotti immigrated to the Dry Creek Valley with his mother, Yolanda, father, Germano, and two sisters, Maria Lucia and Romana. A few years later they had two more children, Adriano and Linda. They brought with them a deep love of Italian farming, winemaking, traditions and appreciation of life to the Dry Creek Valley. La terra—the earth and its gifts—is a tradition that has passed to our generations and guides everything we do in Sonoma County.
This concern is based on the Wine Country in northern Sonoma County, of which there are more wineries founded by Cisalpine families that I could begin to feature here. I just added one, the Ramazzotti Winery, above. Some of these families go back to the 19th century, however some are much newer, or even relatively recent. This region is large, including the Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, smf Russian River Valley.
This is a large brochure, including a map of this wine country which is actually along California's central coast. Again, numerous old and even new wine families of Cisalpine origin. I just happened to add Sarzotti Winery above, a name of Piemontese origin. The following related link is not associated with the brochure, but a different effort for the same region apparently.
Santa Maria is also along the central coast of California. In north Santa Barbara County. I wasn't aware that it's the largest city in the county. It's known for its wine industry and the Santa Maria–style barbecue.
*************************
Castello di Amorosa
Napa Valley
Tour the authentic, 13th century inspired Tuscan castle-winery where you may taste world-class Napa Valley wines made by a fourth generation winemaking family in tradition of over 130 years.
Dario Sattui, owner of Castello di Amorosa and V.Sattui Winery in St. Helena, California reflects on his inspiration to build the Castello. Speaking from his monastery and estate in Sinalunga, Sattui describes how he studied medieval architecture in Italy and across Europe and how Castello di Amorosa came to fruition.
Dario Sattui introduces his signature wine, Sinalunga, which received 94 points from Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, a leading international wine critic.
Castello di Amorosa is located at 4045 St. Helena Highway in Calistoga, California. We offer a variety of wine tasting and wine education touring options which can be found here: https://castellodiamorosa.com/tour-tasting2/
Please call 707-967-6272 to book your tour of Castello di Amorosa.
*************************
Sterling Vineyards
Napa Valley Elevated
Enjoy sweeping and noteworthy views of the Napa Valley from our one-of-a-kind aerial tram.
There wasn't any name, address, or website in this brochure/map, although I assume that it was from one of several country tourist boards. I thought I would add one more location which I didn't see any brochure for, that being Fort Ross near Healdsburg. Constructed in 1812, it was the southernmost post of Russian colonialism of North America.
This Russian fort has been on old (Alta) California soil since the very early 1800's. At the time, Spain owned this area and named it Alta California. Some years later, it came under the control of Mexico before finally becoming U.S. territory and then a state. The name Fort Ross was 1st documented around 1842 - Ross derives from the Russian word russ (or ros).
The original idea was to establish a Russian settlement in the area, with the Russian-American Company being one of the main forces at the time. In addition to these settlers, other nationalities eventually began living there, along with various Indian tribes in the vicinity.
After the heyday and eventual abandonment of the fort, there has been constant re-modeling, repair done due to the extreme wetness and ocean winds of the area that affected the fort.
Today it is a national monument on the historic registers and also a state park. Many events & pilgrimages are held there annually.
For a change, I was the one doing all of the camcorder monitoring, while Ed was doing the narration you hear (reading from the park brochure about the history of the fort)
************
"Fort Ross (originally Fortress Ross ) was the hub of a number of smaller Russian settlements which were located in California, north of the limit of Spanish occupation in San Francisco, from 1812 to 1841 and were spread over an area stretching from Point Arena to Tomales Bay." -- Алексей Мишин
Enjoy the sunny terrace and delicious food at Cioppino's Restaurant on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf . Our specialty is Cioppino; made with a rich broth of tomatoes and fish stock, fresh cracked crab, and the finest fish from the day’s market. Our chefs season it with a special blend of spices and just the right amount of garlic. In addition to our signature dish, Cioppino’s offers a full menu of seafood, pastas and pizzas.
************
"Cioppino is a fish stew originating in San Francisco, California. It is considered an Italian-American dish, and is related to various regional fish soups and stews of Italian cuisine.
"Cioppino is traditionally made from the catch of the day, which in San Francisco is typically a combination of Dungeness crab, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, mussels, and fish all sourced from salt-water ocean; in this case the Pacific. The seafood is then combined with fresh tomatoes in a wine sauce."
I had picked up a stack of tourist/travel brochures from the display at the motel in which I spent much of this year so far at. I just thought I would run through some of them which are applicable. Obviously I'm backdating this from September.
*************************
California Redwoods Information Center
"Avenue of the Giants"
Redcrest California (Humboldt County)
I remember visiting here with my family way back when..
Join Interpretation Manager, Willa Brock (and a surprise guest), on a tour of Filoli's historic House – AKA the Dynasty Mansion!
2021 marks 40 years since Dynasty entered prime time. We celebrate Filoli’s role as a backdrop to a show that helped pioneer compelling narratives around gender inequality and featured prime time’s first openly gay character and first Black female lead.
On your next visit to Filoli, look for the new exhibit to relive all the Dynasty drama!
And Join us for Summer Nights on June 3, when you're invited to dress up and have your own Dynasty Moment. Learn more at https://filoli.org/pride#dynasty
************
Traintown
Sonoma Traintown Railroad
Sonoma, CA
I remember visiting here and riding the little train with my mother. If life was fair, mothers would last forever..
Jon Bonné, Chronicle wine editor - January 15, 2012
In many cases, our Winemakers to Watch for 2012 deserve attention for what they don't do. It comes down to a strong streak of traditionalism, a willingness to innovate by eschewing intrusive winemaking and, instead, working smarter.
That includes the use of old-fashioned wooden fermenters and whole Pinot Noir clusters on the Sonoma coast. It means making Chardonnay by barely touching the barrels, and fermenting with indigenous yeast to highlight Lodi's old-vine Zinfandel. It means minimizing additions in the cellar, and innovating the historical practice of blending white wines.
In doing so, our five choices highlight the best of what California offers. .
For two people in love with America, Letizia Pauletto and Enrico Bertoz began their wine lives somewhat farther afield: the vineyards of Silvio Jermann, in Italy's northern Friuli region, where they were picking grapes to earn cash while attending the university.
They were already high school sweethearts, living just eight minutes apart in two villages north of Trieste. Bertoz's family had an unusual tie to wine: His father was the local tire dealer, an important man to every vintner with a tractor.
The tedium of harvest was not a kind initiation.
"We swore at the time that we were never going to do that again," Pauletto says.
Bertoz's family also had another tie, to the Nonino family, one of Italy's top grappa makers, who taught him about distillation. And he was familiar with the United States; his aunt lived in Woodhaven, N.Y.
So in 1998, at 24, Bertoz packed his bags for Los Angeles. The Noninos connected him to restaurateur Piero Selvaggio, and Bertoz began working in the wine cellar at Valentino, Selvaggio's restaurant. Pauletto followed a month later, to work as an interpreter and translator.
Valentino's cellar was full of rarities, like an 1892 Brunello from Biondi Santi, but Bertoz was drawn to a flourishy bottle sealed in wax: a 1994 Queen of Spades, the Syrah-based debut from Manfred Krankl's Sine Qua Non. Selvaggio let the young man taste it.
"That's when I think I had an epiphany of American viticulture," Bertoz says. "It was overdone, but I'd never had anything like it before."
Soon he was regularly visiting Sine Qua Non in Ventura, where he worked two harvests and paid close attention to Krankl's unconventional but fastidious winemaking.
Enrico and Letizia are natives of the Friuli region (Friùl)
The couple got married and in 2005 moved to Napa Valley, where Bertoz worked harvest at Joseph Phelps. Eventually he was hired as assistant winemaker at Girard, and then at Flora Springs.
But their Friulian roots still called. Recalling his work with Krankl, Bertoz found some Viognier in Russian River Valley and hauled it back to Napa in a decrepit 1972 El Camino. Then he discovered grapes familiar from their childhoods, Pinot Bianco and Malvasia, in Sonoma's fastidiously farmed Saralee's Vineyard. In 2007, he called owner Saralee Kunde and secured enough for a first vintage. Arbe Garbe - it means "bad weeds" in Friulian dialect - was born.
In Friuli, white wine is a way of life - as is blending, in part to fend off the challenges of ripeness in a cold climate. "The whole project was to make a wine that reminded us of Friuli," Pauletto says. "It would have been hard with a Napa Chardonnay."
Ultimately Viognier was replaced by Pinot Grigio and the Friulian grape Ribolla Gialla. But Arbe Garbe primarily showcases Bertoz's talents as a white-wine innovator. That includes his use of concrete fermentation vessels to enhance texture; soaking Pinot Grigio on its skins (a frequent technique in Friuli); and partially dehydrating Malvasia in a cold room to concentrate flavor (a trick learned from Krankl).
Now the couple live in a tiny pink farmhouse amid a Rutherford vineyard, where Pauletto runs the business and looks after their 5-year-old son. They have found their perfect hybrid of Friulian tradition and California bounty.
"The beauty of being able to do all of what we do here," Bertoz says, "to bring it all together, is priceless."
Ages: Both are 37
Wines with dinner: 2010 Abbazia di Novacella Alto Adige Kerner
Quotes: "Neutral barrels don't lie, so it was a matter of seeing what the fruit would say." (Bertoz) "They put it next to the Santa Margherita." (Pauletto, on selling a Pinot Grigio-based wine to restaurants)
From the notebook
2010 Arbe Garbe Russian River Valley White ($28, 14.3% alcohol): Mostly from Pinot Grigio and Malvasia, with some Ribolla Gialla. A few more months in the bottle have added apricot-like flesh to match the deep saline and snap-pea freshness. Complex and almost electric in intensity.
