Flour + Water Hospitality Group has opened its new flagship Flour + Water Pizzeria and Flour + Water Pizza Shop concept in San Francisco’s North Beach, a community known for its Italian cuisine.
The 4,000-square-foot restaurant is divided into three distinct spaces. Flour + Water Pizzeria offers a complete dine-in experience, while Flour + Water Pizza Shop provides quick-service, delivery and carryout. There’s also a glassed-in Dough Room, providing guests with a glimpse into the dough-making process.
Co-chefs Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow have used hand-selected grains from Central Milling to refine their signature dough recipe, creating a culinary canvas for both classic and non-traditional toppings, while also considering portability for the to-go program. Pizzas, antipasti and salads are composed with ingredients that highlight the chefs’ long-standing relationships with Northern California producers and farmers.
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Guests can also anticipate the return of fan favorites like the hand-rolled mozzarella sticks and Double8 Dairy buffalo gelato soft-serve. New additions include head-on shrimp scampi, Hawaiian pizza with chili crisp, and the dine-in-exclusive bone marrow pie (a nod to Flour + Water).
As part of the pizzeria’s evolution, Samuel Bogue, Flour + Water Hospitality Group’s beverage director, has debuted a beverage program with wine, beer, cocktails and non-alcoholic options. The wine list features predominantly Italian producers as well as domestic offerings that reflect Bogue’s mission to champion small-production, organically farmed family wineries. The list includes Flour + Water’s Pasta Water and Pasta Sauce “house” wines, a collaboration with Subject to Change Wine Co. in Richmond, California.
Bogue worked alongside North Beach cocktail expert Elmer Mejicanos to curate a list featuring classics such as negronis and daiquiris, as well as crushable creations like the aperitif-inspired Boozy Slushy. Wine and beer selections are also available for grab-and-go from the Flour + Water Pizza Shop.
The team collaborated with Lundberg Design and project architect Gavin Knowles to bring the pizzeria to life, while paying tribute to the legacy of the restaurant’s predecessor, Rose Pistola. A fixture in North Beach for 21 years, Rose Pistola is credited for its defining role in the community’s Italian culinary scene, while also influencing the trajectory of restaurants such as Flour + Water. Lundberg composed a palette around the restaurant’s original Italian-inspired mosaic tile floor, selecting bright, high-contrast materials to complement the black, white, gray, yellow and orange tones of the pattern.
Design features were constructed to celebrate the evolution of the dough. A dough-stretching counter greets guests entering the pizzeria, while the glassed-in Dough Room, situated at the heart of the restaurant, provides a window into the production process.
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By night, the space transforms into a private dining room for gatherings of 12-14 guests. At one of the entrances, a wall of to-go pizza boxes is displayed in a custom steel rack crafted by Lundberg’s in-house fabrication studio. The removal of boxes throughout the day provides visibility into the active Dough Room from the 12-seat shop.
Meanwhile, “The Big Slice,” a daily-changing giant slice exclusive to the Pizza Shop, and a fully restored vintage Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game provide further impetus for impromptu walk-ins. For locals picking up, a robust retail program of beverages and products rounds out the to-go experience.
Additional references to retro pizza culture are reflected throughout the 75-seat Flour + Water Pizzeria space with touches such as pendant lights made of corrugated cardboard. Two dedicated bars—a pizza bar overlooking the ovens, and an anterior bar showcasing the restaurant’s new cocktail program—offer ample options for walk-ins. Custom banquettes, die-wall paneling, and Dough Room tables are made with a recycled paper composite material called Richlite, demonstrating Flour + Water’s commitment to sustainable practices.
Underscoring that ethos of environmental consciousness, the new Flour + Water Pizzeria location joins all Flour + Water Hospitality Group restaurants as a member of Zero Foodprint, an organization that funds grants for farmers switching to regenerative practices.