Delfina Pizzeria in the Mission, San Francisco

Last night I had a terrific pizza after being a guest panelist at the SF SmugMug (a professional photographer's) meeting in San Francisco. I was there to give tips about image and copy SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for websites and blogs.

I had carpooled up from the South Bay with my friend and colleague Andy Mark who was also on the panel. After, we dropped in at Pizzeria Delfina for a late dinner. He had heard about them through another colleague and friend and had been wanting to give them a try.

The first thing that caught my eye on Delfina's menu was the pasta and sunchoke soup with olive oil.

I would order this again. It reminded me of a squash soup but without the squash flavor. The pasta was al dente and the soup was mild in flavor, rich and warm which was perfect on a slightly chilly evening in San Francisco.

I also ordered a "Panna" pizza. It's the one with the tomato sauce, cream, basil and shaved parmigiano.

I think you can see how delicious it was. The crust was really wonderful too. Thin and slightly chewy but very crisp on the bottom. The closest crust we have to this in the South Bay is at Pizza Antica in Santana Row but the ingredients in this pizza really sang. Everything about it was fresh and flavorful. It's funny how when you use good ingredients, less really is more. No need to build up flavor with too much seasoning or a multitude of ingredients. Each of the 4 ingredients on this pizza stood on their own.

Andy had the Margherita pizza. A classic tomato sauce with fior di latte mozzarella and fresh basil. Yum! (BTW he took this photo)

Like I said earlier, the space is small with only a handful of tables but it has a nice character to it. Right next door is the Delfina restaurant that has many other options beyond pizza. We also went there, by accident, before realizing the pizza is only served one door down.

I was surprised by the size or the pizzas. I thought they would be on the smaller side but they weren't. They were full size so having eaten the sunchoke soup I could only eat two pieces of pizza. We both had plenty to take home with us and I'm eating cold leftover pizza right now as I type this post that I can honestly say is as tasty cold as it was hot. I'll definitely be returning to Delfina Pizzeria in the future.

The location we visited was on 18th Street between Dolores and Guerrero. Coincidentally it is across the street from Bi-rite, the famous ice cream shop. I was too full for ice cream but maybe next time...

Pizzeria Delfina
3611 18th Street, San Francisco, CA
(415) 437-6800