Food & Drink
“Back to Back” and “Xica”: Two new restaurants you don’t know, but should
One restaurant, a buzzy pizza-meets-global-plates and natural wine spot on Nob Hill; the other, a sunny Mexican newcomer on peaceful Levi’s Plaza.
By Virginia Miller
One restaurant, a buzzy pizza-meets-global-plates and natural wine spot on Nob Hill; the other, a sunny Mexican newcomer on peaceful Levi’s Plaza. They may have slipped your notice, but don’t let them. They may not be getting a lot of press, but they’re two delightful new San Francisco neighborhood restaurants.
“Back to Back” — Nob Hill
On a sleepy block of Nob Hill, Back to Back quietly opened October 2022, spinning vinyl in a split-level space with wood-burning oven for Neapolitan-influenced pizzas, natural wines and a range of dishes influenced by Italy, Japan and beyond. Early on, I tried their pizzas for delivery, knowing how this stretch of Nob Hill is some of the toughest parking in the whole city. But finally making it in, there is no replacing Back to Back’s scene-y neighborhood energy.
Opened by siblings Monica and Randall Hom, it’s a full-circle story as their parents opened Gaetano’s, a 1980’s restaurant in the same location, then soon after Venticello, which was a Nob Hill staple for 29 years. Inheriting such a space is a rare privilege, perched on a quintessential San Francisco hill with cable cars clanging by and a street view straight down to the Bay and Bay Bridge. Inside, the split-level space starts with intimate mezzanine, bar and turntable station gazing down over a lofty-but-snug dining room packed tightly with tables. Let’s get one caveat out of the way: even on a weeknight, it gets loud in here. So loud decibel levels are at almost ear-splitting levels (yes, my partner Dan, “The Renaissance Man,” tested them). You have to shout to be heard, though it gets more manageable as tables clear out later in the night.
But the buzzy vitality and youthful crowd exude such energy for a residential block restaurant, you feel as if you’re in the coolest place in town. Thankfully, Back to Back is not merely hip. It’s rustic-hip and cozy with high quality food in generous portions and a killer natural wine list, including a good number by the glass.
Turntable at Lord Stanley wine director, Louisa Smith, consulted on a menu of a good 50 natural wines, offering profiles from funky, natty wines to elegant and lean, grouped under sparkling, petillant naturel (pet nats), white, rosé, orange and reds. We started with pet nats: a yin-yang of the refined, floral, sour beer-esque 2021 Oro di Diamante Sorbole Pignoletto from Italy’s Emilia Romagna, to the stone fruit and “banging acidity,” as it’s cheekily described, of Pivnica Cajkov Vulcanica Pesecká/Pinot Gris from Slovakia.
Letting Monica steer our wine pairing ship was the right call. We veered from acidic minerality and green apple-pear in a 2020 Margon Albarin Blanco from Leon, Spain, perfect with our endive salad, to the funky joys of a chilled red 2020 Le Sot de l’Ange Malolactix Gamay/Grolleau from France’s Loire Valley, good times with beef tartare and potato.
Toronto-based Moeen Abuzaid, a Jordanian chef who had a residency in SF at Turntable by Lord Stanley last October, designed the menu, while the kitchen is run by gracious, young chef Aline Bueno, who hails from Sao Paulo, Brazil. She came to the U.S. cooking in San Diego at 3 Michelin-starred Addison, the only restaurant at that level in Southern California. As she told us, Bueno soon realized the limitations of SD’s dining scene, so wanted to move to SF to hone her skills in our long globally competitive scene.
You’ll find the likes of a decadent wagyu burger and honey fried chicken sandwich on the menu. But there are more interesting options, starting with four discs of golden potato yaki topped with garlic confit aioli, katsuobushi (Japanese bonito flakes) and wild salmon roe. They’re hearty comfort. A generously-portioned veggie section is more exciting than it reads on paper, like an endive beet salad, laden with green apple, pears, walnuts and slivers of aged cheddar. It’s crisp, fresh, flavor-packed, just what a salad should be. Ubiquitous beef tartare here is wagyu beef happily enlivened with capers, colatura (Italian anchovy sauce), lemon and mini-potato chips on top for crunch.
While a yakitori-grilled striped bass suffered from drowning in otherwise delicious, rich jalapeno coconut milk as we cut into it, the fish is beautifully prepared down to crispy skin, accented with caramelized carrots and broccolini. With six different toppings, pizzas are a standout here — and that’s saying a lot in a city full of exceptional pizza restaurants. Yes, I’m uber-picky about superb pizza, having partly grown up in NJ just outside NYC, being Sicilian, having traveled across Italy over 20 years and dining at over 13,000 restaurants globally, hundreds of them for pizza.
While the housemade garlic salsiccia (sausage) pizza is striking, dotted with kale and neon pink pickled onions, the “That’s Hot, Honey” pizza is the most addictive. Though getting full, I could not stop eating its oozing tomato sauce, pepperoni, hot honey, mozzarella and Parmesan combo. While this type of pizza is ubiquitous these days, and a growing trend for years, their foldable, cheesy version with quality crust is one of the better around.
Chef Bueno’s desserts are worth saving a little room for, starting with a palate cleanser of yuzu and mandarin rind custard exuding gelato-like creaminess. Her sourdough doughnuts filled with blueberry/blackberry custard in raspberry sauce are understandably a house hit, especially once you learn she makes them with a sourdough starter from San Diego’s Addison. Divine when done right, flourless chocolate cake has been overdone on menus since the 1990s. But Bueno’s darkly chocolatey version is partnered with almond, hazelnut, walnut crumble, cherry puree and lacquered cherries in salt and sugar. It ended up being my favorite dessert with its play between earthy, nutty and tart-sweet.
While decibel levels would push me to dine here on a Monday at 5pm to avoid them, the Hom’s hospitable spirit and restaurant heritage handed down from their parents in this very corner spot permeates Back to Back’s walls. It’s a big win for Nob Hill and hipper than the neighborhood typically gets without being insufferable or pretentious. Chef Bueno cooks with care and ambition, giving comfort food a broader vision. Paired with that fab natural wine list, it’s the kind of restaurant I wish was in my neighborhood.
// 1257 Taylor Street, www.backtobacksf.com
Xica — Levi’s Plaza off the Embarcadero
You’ve been told: one of the sunniest, most delightful new lunch and brunch spots in the whole city is order-at-the-counter Xica, with extended menu entrees available at dinner. Opening at the end of December 2022, Xica quietly rolled into Levi’s Plaza, which you may not think of as a “neighborhood,” being near the Embarcadero. This water fountain-lined square is soothing, with a surprising amount of (metered) parking spots available.
Chef Maria Elena Esquivel and husband Ignacio Perez’s beloved Oakland restaurant, Chica, closed September 2022, but actually started in SF as a takeout window in Levi’s Plaza. So they’re back full circle off the same peaceful plaza flanked by towering FiDi highrises.
There are blessed daily breakfast offerings, including breakfast tacos, chilaquiles, gluten-free chicken and waffles and delish huevos rancheros with a choice — or combo, as I chose — of rojo (red) or verde (green) salsas. Note: Esquivel is working towards a fully gluten-free kitchen. There are also lunch items like an avocado huarache, carne asada fries, a range of tacos and bowls packed with quinoa, rice, black beans, cucumber, guacamole and your choice of meat, veg or seafood.
Colorful cocktails are surprisingly good, like a lively carrot margarita (“La Badd Bunny”) or subtly bitter-savory Alborotada featuring YOLA Mezcal, Yellow Chartreuse, lime and Aperol. The luminous, lofty space and patio facing Levi’s Plaza has room for a group of friends, not always easy to come by in the City. And it’s so casual and easy with counter ordering, whether you stop in for a quick meal or leisurely feast.
As I am mourning the loss of longtimer Padrecito in my neighborhood, Xica can’t fill that hole due to its location (no delivery, either). But as we lost one of SF’s great upscale-casual Mexican restaurants, Xica steps in in the same category. The food is high quality, with handmade tortillas and salsas and attention to quality and a bit of creativity. The weekday lunch/brunch hours and all day breakfasts give us options. Delicious, authentic Mexican options in an art-filled space with room for all. Welcome, Xica.
// 1265 Battery Street, www.xicasf.com
Virginia Miller is a San Francisco-based food & drink writer.
