Delivery from Pizzeria Delfina

Delfina.  Definitely a San Francisco institution.

When I first moved to San Francisco, I remember a friend telling me that the Delfina Restaurant was his favorite place for a nice, but casual, night out with his wife.  I remember going once or twice myself, and liking the pasta, but not having a particularly strong opinion otherwise.  My hipster group of peers of course frequented Pizzeria Delfina in the Mission, long waits on the cold sidewalk no hinderance.  I joined in from time to time, and enjoyed the pizza, but never quite understand the hype.  I was personally happy when a second Pizzeria opened in Pacific Heights, with substantially shorter lines, and, uh, more appealing sidewalk ambiance.  Since then, the restaurant group has seen great success and expansion, with more pizzeria locations in Palo Alto and Burlingame, and Locanda, a second restaurant in San Francisco, focused on pasta (which I have another friend who says is his favorite place in the city).

My strongest memory of Delfina however isn't of any of the restaurants, it is of attending a cooking demo at Macy's by the chef/owner, Craig Stoll, where he talked about the restaurant, told amazing stories, and cooked 3 of the most famous dishes.  I was so impressed, I wrote it up on my blog, and vowed to go to Delfina for dinner immediately (which, uh, I never did).  But the memory of those dishes, a seemingly simple salad, basic spaghetti, and panna cotta (seriously, probably still the best panna cotta I've ever had ... and I've had a lot) remained strong.

Fast forward several years.

Update Review, September & October 2022

Early in the pandemic I splurged once and had Delfina delivered, as you may have read about then (see below if not).  For some reason, nearly two years later, I had a sudden craving for their fantastic tricolore salad.  So I splurged again, when my random browsing of the current menu showed they also had a chicken liver special, and, swoon, I love liver.  The mood struck again a month later, when I also snagged the last of the season beautiful heirloom tomatoes (and burrata).

I was happy with my orders - the food really was good, although the prices really do seem high, even without the extra delivery charges.  It stays in the "splurge" category for me as a result, but one I'll likely return to in the future.

Ordering online was easy with Door Dash, although Delfina doesn't allow any notes or substitution preferences, like "leave out the goat cheese" or "dressing on the side", which makes it less compelling for me, as I guess I am picky and usually have some kind of note I'd like to make.

Insalata Tricolore. $15.40.

"Arugula, radicchio, endive, lemon vinaigrette, grana padano."

I adore this salad.  To its core.  It is so simple, but always, so perfect, as you've seen in my previous reviews (below).  Bitter radicchio, juicy endive, peppery arugula, sharpness from the cheese, and their addicting vinaigrette (and I don't even like vinaigrettes!).  Just add some fresh pepper and you've got a killer side salad.

I do like to add something for crunch, like walnuts or pepitas or candied pecans, and sometimes add on grilled/roasted brussels sprouts or squash if I want to make it more of an entree salad, but, it works well just as it is for a side salad.

****.

Update: I got it again the next month, but forgot to get a photo.  Again, I loved it for its simplicity and balance.  ****.

Fryer Creek Tomatoes. $19.

"Pane strappato, burrata, Delfino anchovies."

This salad sounded like such a winner, as, well, I really do like anchovies, and burrata can be pretty fantastic.  I wasn't exactly sure what form it would take overall, as it was listed as a salad, but I didn't think there would actually be salad greens involved.  And, it was mid-October, so the tomatoes were definitely going out of season ...

The answer was a bread salad, which I should have known given the first ingredient, besides the tomatoes, was pane strappato.  While it may be the end of tomato season, these were still delicious, ripe and juicy, assorted colors of local heirlooms from Fryer Creek farm.  They really were incredible.

The pane strappato was turn into jagged chunks of assorted sizes, and had soaked up plenty of tomato juices, and the generous slog of quality olive oil that had clearly been applied.  The bread was soft and flavorful, and a great component alongside the tomatoes and burrata.  I loved this too.

As for the burrata, it wasn't the star element (Delfina also serves an appetizer that is burrata focused, served just with arugula and crostini), but here it played a supporting role, with just three hunks.  The burrata was ripe and creamy, basically, quality burrata, as you'd expect.  It was good, complimented the rest of the dish well.

And then, the anchovies.  These were really excellent anchovies, so briny, and I loved the anchovy flavor infused throughout the dish.  Anchovies and tomatoes, anchovies and bread hunks, just great parings.  The only letdown?  My dish had exactly 3 fillets.  That was it.  Yes, these were high quality anchovies imported from Italy, but, just three small fillets?  I loved them, briny and funky as they should be, and I loved the flavor they added, but, I was shocked by the tiny portion.

Overall, this was a very tasty salad of sorts.  Every ingredient was high quality, everything went well together, and it was quite flavorful and satisfying.  I did find the $19 price a bit high though, given the small portion of both burrata and anchovies.  Still, it was far above average compared to most tomato/mozzarella inspired dishes.  ****.

Chicken Liver Crostini. $17.60.

I was really craving liver.  Super random, but when I saw it on the Delfina menu, I was pretty excited.  I didn't know what form it would take, a smooth liver mousse, a chunky pate, etc, I just knew it was going to be liver, and I was in the mood for liver.  I wanted to ask for the bread to be untoasted, so I could toast it fresh at home, but, Delfina does not allow any notes or modifications to takeout orders, so I wasn't able to request that.  I hoped the bread would at least be on the side, but, alas, it came all assembled.

The crostini was thick slices of what I think was likely good bread, but it was toasted hard, and was really, really, really crunchy.  The crust in particular seemed like it was going to cut my mouth when I bit in.  I feel bad complaining about it, but, wow, it was just too crispy, it actually felt, um, dangerous?  It was also highly oiled, on both the top and bottom, which didn't seem necessary with the rich liver.  So the bread element of this, not particularly good, and I found it really difficult to eat.

Also in my box was 3 chunks of radish, one of which was extremely dried out, 2 olives, and a few sprigs of arugula.  The garnish felt odd, hopefully it worked better when plated in the restaurant.  It was just kinda haphazard and not very good here.

But I was most interested in the liver of course.  It was ... fine.  Not a mousse or creamy pate as I had hoped, but not a super course style either, something in the middle.  Decent liver flavor.  A touch of herbs.  I'd say it was highly average, and left me wanting for a sweet compote to pair with it, as it felt just a bit plain like this.  I wanted something to give it some oomph.

So, fine liver, but, the dish felt unfinished, had uninspired garnish, and crostini that was just too crispy.  Not really a winner for me, and at $17.60 for 4 slices, really not a good price either. **+.

Update Review, March 2020

Ah, Delfina.  A San Francisco classic, one that I had fond memories of (the restaurant, and more commonly the pizzeria, in the Mission were both big parts of my initial introduction to San Francisco).  I've since had Delfina food more times than I can count, and one dish always continues to stand out to me.  And no, it isn't the pizza.  It is ... a salad.  Yup, a salad.  One of my favorite, ever.  I've reviewed it before.

During the recent Shelter in Place I had a night where I had part of a meal leftover at home, but I wanted something to pair with it, and, well, I was craving salad, and craving something I could rely on.  It was also cold and rainy, and even going a few blocks away to the grocery store or easy option like Sweetgreen wasn't exactly appealing.  Thus, yup, another delivery review.  I was thrilled to remember that Pizzeria Delfina was delivering via several services - happy to support them, and also happy to order something I knew would cheer up my dreary night.

It ... partially cheered me up.  My food was good.  Ok, it was great.  It was delicious.  Don't get me wrong.  But the portions were very, very small for the price, and, of course, with Door Dash fees and delivery, my side dish and salad were ... $35?!

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Caviar ($20 off, $10 off your first 2 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
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• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
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• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

I have no complaints about Door Dash, online ordering was simple, my food was delivered quickly, but, it felt very expensive, even for the joy of Delfina in my home.

Antipasti: Roasted Brussels Sprouts. $10.

"Fresh chilis, garum, almonds, torn herbs."

I started with a wildcard dish, something I added on at last minute to my order, totally randomly.  I'm honestly not sure why I did.  I was just planning to get the salad (and a side of their famous sauce for my partner, who had some meatballs to eat), but the brussels jumped out, from the antipasti section.

I have a very mixed review of this dish.

On one hand, it was pretty delicious.  On another, it made me grumpy.  Grumpy because I could tell that it would be *extraordinary* served fresh at the restaurant.  I didn't want to settle for just delicious!

The sprouts were perfectly cooked, a hard caramelized sear on the cut side, not too soft.  But they were lukewarm, and, sadly, the outer leaves, which I am certain would have been crispy when served fresh, had basically be steamed with the warmth in the container, and thus, I could only imagine how great they were.  I was able to roast them up a bit in my toaster oven to restore some of the goodness.

There was only one slice of chili that I found in my portion, but I loved the heat it added.  I would have loved to have more chilis.  The almond slivers added a nice additional crunch.  I never found any "torn herbs", perhaps there were a few small bits that were softened in the warm container and just kinda hid in the leaves?

They seemed to have been cooked with a fair amount of oil, which didn't translate that well for delivery, as the pool of oil in the base of the bowl was a bit off-putting, and since they weren't crispy when they arrived, it almost made the oil, that I know is necessary to get awesome-crispy, not quite worth it, health-wise.  There also was some balsamic I think, and a pretty addicting backsplash of the garum (fermented fish sauce!).  The complex flavor from the garum was really what set these apart for other very good versions of brussels sprouts.  I loved that touch.

The portion was shockingly small for the $10 price - I was picturing a portion that would be like a side dish or starter to share with another person at the restaurant, and what I got was a very shallow bowl with just a few sprouts ... more like a single side portion that was part of a composed entree.

So overall, I was left with mixed feelings.   I liked the dish, quite a bit.  When I re-roasted the sprouts, and got the bite with the chili, it was pretty amazing.  But, as delivered, and without the chili throughout, it was just good, and really felt overpriced for the serving size.  I wouldn't get it again, unless I was dining in. ***+.

Insalata Tricolore. $13.

"Arugula, radicchio & endive with lemon vinaigrette & Grana Padona." 

And then, the main attraction for me, the Insalata Triocolore.  It came with the dressing separately packaged, but inside the container.  Much like the brussels sprouts though I did feel the serving size was a bit small for the $13 price (the size was fine, just, the price seemed high for a simple, little prep on their end, salad), particularly compared to the slew of other salads I had in my couple weeks (at that point) of sheltering in place ...

That said, this salad is just ... well, fantastic.  I always adore it.

Fabulous Base.

The base is really simple.  3 colors: red radicchio, white-yellow endive, and green arugula.  All fresh, decently crisp, and quality ingredients.

The combination is magic though, with the peppery arugula playing against the bitter radicchio, all balanced out by the juicy endive.  The flavors and different textures just work in a way that is perfect.

The shaved grana padana was a generous portion, more than I wanted in my salad actually, but I just saved some to use the next day with something else.

But really, at this point, I'm just describing some greens and cheese.  Very basic.  Where is the *real* magic?

Lemon Vinaigrette.

Yeah, it is in the dressing.  This dressing is the magic. I'd say they should bottle it up and sell it, except, well, they do :) (protip: order a bottle).

Again, it sounds simple, lemon vinaigrette, but, they've nailed this recipe, and when combined with this exact set of salad greens, and the salty sharp cheese, it just ... is perfect.  I have no better way to describe it.

The final touch, always needed in this salad, is a very generous grating of fresh ground pepper (oh, and a nice glass of wine).  Seriously, one of the best, deceivingly simple, salads out there. ****.

Original Review, May 2017

One afternoon, the admin for our team sent me a message, saying she'd mistakenly ordered too much food from Pizzeria Delfina.  I'm not entirely sure how this happens, but, I was happy to receive the message, and pass it on to my colleagues.  And then I got pulled into a conversation, and wasn't able to go running for the food.  By the time I got to the food, a mere 15 minutes later, the large pile of pizza had been decimated.  There were tons of pizza boxes, all completely empty, on the table.  Doh.  Pizza in general doesn't last long around my office, but, pizza from somewhere like Pizzeria Delfina really doesn't last long.  I learned my lesson: get things for me first, then tell others!

Anyway, the masses all seemed to have gone for the pizza, leaving behind TONS of salad and appetizers (including meatballs and burrata), so I still got some Delfina food.  And I remembered that salad as shockingly good from the demo ...

Insalata Triocolore.

"Arugula, radicchio & endive salad w/ grana padano cheese & lemon vinaigrette."

Insalata Triocolore.  Such a classic Delfina (and many Italian restaurants) salad.  So deceptively simple, but oh so good.  The salad of three colors.

Yes, it is just a mix of three colors of leaf vegetables (green arugula, purple radicchio, and pale yellow endive), topped with grana padano, and served with lemon vinaigrette.  No other veggies.  Nothing for crunch.  Boring sounding dressing.

This salad shouldn't be great.  But it really is.

The arugula is my favorite element, so peppery.  I'm not sure where Delfina sources arugula from, but this is quality stuff.  Then there is the endive, chopped into slices, juicy and refreshing.  The radicchio, julienned, which provides a different sort of bitterness than the arugula.  Mix them together, and you have a blend that not only looks great, but also has perfectly complimentary tastes.  For a base of leafy vegetables, this is far more interesting than most.

The cheese I actually didn't love, as the shreds were huge, and the nutty flavor from the grana padano somewhat dominated the eating experience.

And then the dressing.  Simple lemon vinaigrette.  I'm definitely a creamy dressing type, and rarely like vinaigrettes.  This dressing looked like nothing more than olive oil, honestly.  And, it isn't much more than olive oil actually (olive oil, champagne vinegar, lemon, shallot, and black pepper), but wow, it was good.  And somehow, that dressing just went so amazingly well with the leafy vegetable mix.  I'm clearly not the only one who loves this basic dressing, as Delfina even sells it by the bottle now.

What this salad proves is that sometimes you don't need more than a few simple high quality ingredients, well chosen for their complimentary nature. ****.

I believe this was the large, family-style portion, designed to serve 10 people, for $85.

At the demo, I had an enhanced version, the Insalata di Campo, with the same base mix of greens and cheese shreds, but it also included pancetta and walnuts, which added crunch and an additional salty component.  I preferred that version, but, this basic salad was also fabulous.

Neapolitan Meatballs in Sugo.

"Pork, beef & veal meatballs w/ tomato sauce & crostini."

I have a memory of getting the meatballs once a long, long time ago.  I think I liked them.  But this was, literally, 10 years ago.  So I was happy to see the meatballs go unclaimed, as I'd get to try them again.

The meatballs are huge, and all had a nice crust on them, if you know what I mean.  I like a meatball with a bit of a sear on it like this.  Inside was quite moist, and the mix of proteins (pork, beef, and veal) created a fairly complex flavor.

The sauce was not my favorite.  It was rather sweet, in a way that I didn't want it to be, if that makes sense.

Overall, I didn't actually care for these, but they were well made. **+.

[ No Photo ]

Burrata.

I also was able to try the burrata appetizer, but failed to take a photo.  It was served over a bed of arugula, with crostini on that side, and a separate container of extra virgin olive oil to drizzle on top.

I appreciated everything about the dish.  I love having creamy burrata with bitter arugula, and always like to drizzle olive oil over my burrata.  This was exactly what I want in a simple burrata dish, although I didn't want the crostini, which I was happy to leave for the others, who don't find it appropriate to just eat cheese drizzled with oil by the spoonful.

As much as I acknowledged the goodness of this dish, I didn't love it.  The burrata itself just wasn't as ripe and creamy as it can be. ***.