Buona Forchetta feels like home

Neighborhood: Liberty Station

Price: $$

Vibe: Lively and bustling (there is usually a wait, unless you eat in the bar), large, open-air restaurant with great seating options both inside and out on the patio.

My love and I don’t always agree on where to go out to dinner, but we can always agree on Buono Forchetta. Once this option gets put on the table, it’s rarely taken off. To get our pizza fix, we visit the Officine Buona Forchetta in the Liberty Station neighborhood of San Diego. It can get busy, but our favorite table to post up at is in the bar, which is open seating. There is a tall-boy table pinned between the two cooking stations - the pasta station and the pizza oven —and this is where the action is! Sitting here, one must pay attention to the servers flying in and out of the two open-air kitchens! If you can handle the bustle, it’s a fun spot to watch these amazing chefs do what they love.

The Officine Buona Forchetta restaurant always welcomes us like a warm hug. I’m not Italian, but this lively, family-style restaurant just feels like home. It’s casual, the staff are friendly and happy, and the food (the pizza in particular) is just phenomenal.

So is watching them make the pizza — tell me this isn’t just mesmerizing!

This visit, we managed to share a pizza, which is a rare occurrence as we typically do not align on which pizza to get! We tried a special pizza that had a little of everything that we liked. It was delicious, but let’s be honest, there is not a bad pizza option at Buona Forchetta!

Don’t pass up the Specials Menu - constantly evolving and offering new seasonal ingredients.

Lucia: Sausage, Artichokes, Arugula, Sundried Tomatoes, Truffle oil and Provola.

I really love their appetizers, but my favorite is the calamari. It’s quite possible that this is because of the homemade marinara that it’s served with, which is fresh and vibrant, just like Italy.

Calamari Fritti

I also adore their salads here. My favorite is the Fattore, a perfect accompaniment to your Buona Forchetta pie.

Fattore Salad: Mixed greens, grape tomatoes, walnuts and shaved parmigiano

The above video is a view from our favorite table in the house. I don’t know why but I always love sitting in or near the kitchen so I can watch the magic happen. There is nothing better than eating delicious food cooked by people who just love cooking it for you.

If you’re looking for some real good Neapolitan-style pizza, and a fun, lively atmosphere (who isn’t?), check out Buona Forchetta.

Officine Buona Forchetta

2865 Sims Road

San Diego, CA 92106

(Liberty Station)

When you mix love with pasta, you get Cesarina

Neighborhood: Point Loma

Price: $$

Vibe: Charming and cozy, this adorable little location is tucked away off Voltaire Street, with seating both inside and out on the patio (p.s. if it’s cold, they have blankets and hot water bottles that make the colder temps a non-issue). The romantic lighting and ambience are perfect for a date night or an intimate dinner with friends.

I’m amazed by any restaurant that can obtain and hold a 5-star rating on Yelp. Even some of my favorite restaurants sit at 4 stars (usually because someone didn’t like their serving staff or the reservation wasn’t timely, anyway, I digress!), so Cesarina has been on my radar for some time. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know anything other than that regarding this little hidden gem, snuggled away off Voltaire Street in Point Loma, but I am so happy to finally dine here. I have been missing out — and you have too is you haven’t been here yet!

Charming Italian decor is bright, joyful and feels like a warm hug

Cesarina opened in 2019, by three Italy natives (Niccolò Angius, Cesarina Mezzoni and Giuseppe Capasso). The muse and chef is Cesarina (obvi), and the love and care she puts into these homemade dishes is unbeatable. Just try the pasta!

We were celebrating our anniversary, and immediately upon sitting down, the waiter brought us each a glass of prosecco and wished us Happy Anniversary. It was a great start to our celebration. The server also brought us a variety of homemade breads and crackers and the most delicious marinara sauce to dip it in. Yum!

The pasta options are plentiful, with a number of “choose your own” options and some rotating baked pasta specials that also looked divine. We perused that menu for some time as it was not easy to choose, but I don’t think there is a wrong answer here. If our sampling was any indication, everything on this menu is fabulous.

We started with the Caprese Invernale and added Proscuitto de Parma, (which they did not skimp on by the way) beware if sharing this you will fight over the last bite!

Caprese Invernale with Prosciutto de Parma

For our main courses, we chose two very different pasta dishes, which was fun to have a little variety, except we really only shared one bite with each other, we were each so enamored with our dishes! The portions were perfect - very Italian-style - where instead of getting a plate heaped with pasta for 2-3 people, it was the perfect amount of noodles for one. And yes, we both finished every last bite!

This is where Cesarina truly sets itself apart. We have a whole district of San Diego dedicated to Italian food (Little Italy, for those not familiar with the area) and it’s hard to find a restaurant there that compares to the authenticity of Cesarina. I am mentioning this again for anyone not paying attention to my earlier comment - you must get the pasta! They have their own open-air Pastificio (pasta factory) at the back of the restaurant where you can watch the creation of these gorgeous pastas being made with the utmost care.

Tonnarelli Cacio e Pepe

We got the Cacio e Pepe, which is a simple and beautiful pasta - the sauce basically consists of fresh ground pepper, parmesan cheese, butter and pasta water. When done right, this dish really highlights the homemade pasta. Simple and just delicious.

Tonnarelli pasta with Arrabbiatissima Sauce and meatballs

My love is a spice-fanatic and as soon as the waiter mentioned this spicy sauce, he was all in. He created his “own” pasta dish with Tonnarelli noodles in the Arrabbiatissima sauce, and it was spicy! He added the meatballs, which as you can imagine from everything else I’ve talked about, were wonderful bites of deliciousness.

We finished our meal with a beautiful scoop of chocolate gelato. The other desserts looked wonderful, but we at every little bite of our appetizer and pastas so there was not room to try to Tiramisu on this visit.

Chocolate gelato

Cesarina also offers brunch, which I am really excited to come back and try — though I can’t really imagine coming here and not having pasta again! Good thing pasta is really intended for every meal. :)

Cesarina

4161 Voltaire St, San Diego, CA 92107

Matteo is pure heart and deliciousness

Matteo is a non-profit restaurant from the Buona Forchetta family

Neighborhood: South Park

Price: $-$

Vibe: Beautiful open-concept restaurant and bakery with seating inside and out. This warm and energetic neighborhood joint just feels like home with a bit of an edge. Dine here on Sunday mornings with a DJ spinning great music.

I love the South Park neighborhood of San Diego. This charming urban neighborhood is home to some fantastic restaurants in San Diego (a couple of really great vegan restaurants which we will blog about later!), not to mention some of the coolest indie boutiques and vintage stores in the city. Situated in the heart of the ‘hood’ is Matteo, a beautiful open concept eatery with a little market inside, in case you want to take home some homemade Bolognese sauce and fresh pasta for later. The staff at Matteo just bubble with warmth and smiles, and immediately make you feel happy you stopped in. And did I mention that it’s a nonprofit restaurant from the Buona Forchetta family, with 100% of the profits benefiting community-based charities and causes? I haven’t even gotten to the food yet, and already, I love it here.

Love the indoor/outdoor vibe of this amazing spot

Patio seating outside is perfect for San Diego weather, and you can bring your furry friend

To make things even more amazing, the food is just fabulous at Matteo! The menu focuses on breakfast dishes and Italian baked goods — so try the bread! Do it, you won’t be sorry.

As I tend to do at a new restaurant, I asked our friendly waiter what dishes he likes best and I’m SO glad I did. Though, based on our first meal here, I don’t think there is a bad item on this menu, I’ll let you know, because I plan to go back as soon as possible. Here’s what we tried during our first brunch excursion at this lovely spot:

Breakfast combo

One of the recommended dishes was the Breakfast Combo which is perfect for someone that wants a little of everything for breakfast. Served with homemade sausage and fresh fluffy pancakes, even the potatoes were flavorful with fresh herbs and rosemary. This was a big hit at our table as half the group got this option!

Porchetta panini

The dish that I ordered was another recommendation by our fabulous sever - the Porchetta Panini. The focaccia bread and the porchetta were both made in-house — I cannot recommend this enough, try the baked goods here. Just, wow! The panini was served with arugula, provola cheese and fresh sliced tomatoes. I don’t think pictures can do this panini justice because there isn’t really a way to capture the deliciousness of these ingredients in an image.

Not only did we love our food and enjoy the indie vibe of the South Park neighborhood, but there is also something so special about this being a restaurant 100% dedicated to giving back the community. A huge kudos to the Buona Forchetta family for this thoughtful and truly enjoyable experience, and for doing something we don’t see often enough — showing love for your city and the people in it.

Matteo

3015 Juniper Street

San Diego, CA 92104