We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on Friday! Where does the time go?? 5 YEARS?! WHAT?! My parents watched Cooper while we had an amazing dinner at A16 in San Francisco. I ate a little too much…and I think I might have had too much dairy, but damn it was sooooo good!
OK let’s get started! Prepare your eyes for a LOT of food. Loosen your belt too!
This is A16. It’s an Italian restaurant known for their amazing pizzas & exceptional wine list. Their description: “The cuisine of Campania and the wood fired pizzas of Naples brought to San Francisco’s Marina Neighborhood.” They have a fantastic/rustic Southern Italian menu and their cookbook is absolutely stunning. The restaurant is a charming & welcoming space that’s beautifully decorated with artwork of Kelly Tunstall. (I was kind of obsessed with her work when I was in college!)
All of the tables in the restaurant are topped with clean brown paper. Last time I was there, my mom drew something on the table while we were waiting for our pizza. We always end up making our own art work with all of the oil spills. On Friday night, the table next to us was set up for a kid’s birthday party. There was a super cute kid’s drawing in the center just waiting for the birthday girl. Impressive! I was surprised to see how many children were there, but I guess that’s because we went on the early side. I think we’ll take Cooper for lunch next time. He’s going to love the pizza!
My dad gave us this fantastic bottle of wine to take with us! It went so well with the food. Thanks Dad!
Burrata. A MUST. We can’t NOT order it when we go. Creamy goodness topped with an amazing green/fragrant olive oil. Burrata is a combo of fresh mozzarella and cream…with a harder outer shell. It’s my favorite and it’s a staple at the restaurant.
With the burrata, we ordered a side of roasted sunchokes. WITH CAPERS!
#12 on my 31 comes before 32 list is—-Try a dish with capers and like it!
I DID!!!!!!
Yup. That’s my plate. I ate about 8 capers. Aren’t you proud?
Here’s the FIRST pizza we ordered. I say first because we had to send this one back because it wasn’t cooked enough. The dough was so wet that you couldn’t tell the difference between the cheese & dough in the center of the pizza. Drats! Although I always feel weird about sending food back, I’m totally glad we did.
They made it right!! It was totally worth the extra wait because the crust was crunchy and PERFECT. This was also the first time I had egg on a pizza and it won’t be the last! I was able to dip my crust in it! They pair their pizzas with a spicy chili oil. It’s SPICY!! It burns your lips so be careful. That didn’t stop me…
And here comes dessert….we went with something “simple.”
Something chocolaty….
And something citrusy. Here’s the star of the show!! Vanilla and orange gelato that tasted just like spring & orange blossoms. Although it wasn’t as creamy as the chocolate gelato, the flavor knocked the chocolate gelato out of the park!
The cookies & biscotti were paired with a dessert wine (I’ll have to ask Casey what it was). I took sips of the wine after bites of the vanilla & orange gelato and it was swoon-worthy. Such a good way to end dinner!
Another exceptional meal at A16. Next time I think I’ll go lighter on the dairy!
Thank you for the past 5 years, honey! You are my favorite person to eat with. Happy Anniversary!
