Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Reunion Recipes

Place

Petrini's

610 W. Ash Street, Suite 100, San Diego




Ahhh... Slurp, burp, slurp again. Pinky finger raised, of course. I clink my cawfee cup down in its saucer. Sitting like a captain of industry here at the corner of Ash and India. Behind yellow and blue flowers, under a maroon umbrella, eyeballing a sapphire San Diego Bay twinkling in the morning sun at the bottom of Ash.

A Carnival Cruise liner’s white superstructure peeks out from behind the still-purple jacaranda trees.

We’re in Little Italy, technically, but really a couple of blocks south of where the main LI action is. And yet, I’m thinking, as I slurp my first cawfee of the day — and what a beautiful cuppa it is — where else in Little Italy can you catch a view down to the water from a café?

This morning, tramping up India, I noticed Petrini’s big red, white, and green banner reading “Breakfast, lunch, dinner” and saw what a great little patio they had beneath it. Four tables, three umbrellas, and a real coziness. I crossed over and headed in to see if I could afford it.

Inside, there are fountains, and mustard walls packed with bright paintings of, like, bulls, guitars, horses. They have maroon-cushioned benches along the side wall and blond wood chairs at the tables, and a half dozen fat stools front a kind of wine bar on either side of the open kitchen. Classy...maybe too classy.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Still doing breakfast?” I asked this gal dressed in black. This was about 10:00 going on 11:00. “No problem,” she said. Cami. “I’ll sit outside,” I said.

And I’m sure glad I did. All that view down Ash to the Bay — you never notice it when you’re hustling up India. Plus, surprise bonus: traffic, Little Italy style. A guy pulls up in his Smart Car cabriolet. Like a standard auto with its rear end chopped off. Very Euro. Then a bunch of perky gals come beetling along aboard Vespa scooters. So La Dolce Vita. Plus, people walking up Ash pass so close they all say “Good morning” to you over the flowers. Nice.

So I’m downing my coffee ($2.50, endless refills) in its classy cup and saucer and checking the menu. Wow. We’re in luck. My kind of prices. Panini — sandwiches — go from $5.25 for the Formaggio (cheese) to $8.75 for the Hot Torpedo (stuffed and baked with capicola, salami, and provolone cheese). In between is the $8.50 Georgie Burger, named after the owner’s mom because sexing up the basic burger with garlic-grilled mushrooms and provolone was her idea. Oh boy, the Caponata ($8) looks good, too: sautéed eggplant with lots of other veggie ingredients, such as onions, bell peppers, celery, and tomato on an Italian roll. Okay, the cena — dinner — items are all up there, from $10 (for a basic pasta and sauce) to $19.75 for a flatiron steak. But you can have at least half of them for half price (from $5–$9) at lunchtime, which means till four in the afternoon.

But, of course, this is still mawnin’, ain’t it? A man has to break his overnight fast first. Breakfast goes till 11:30 (midday on weekends), so we’re good. The specialties include Italian toast (grilled Italian egg-battered bread with berry compote, $7.25) and focaccia with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and capers ($8.25). But under “Piatti dell’Uovo” (egg plates), the one I like is the frittata with meat and veggies — baked eggs with capicola ham pieces, plus provolone and mozzarella ($7.25, or $6.50 with just veggies).

The frittata comes in a cute little ceramic bowl, egg covered in stretchy cheese, either the provolone or mozzarella. A couple of chunks of peeled orange, and two slices of toasted Italian bread are served alongside. It’s not a vast, sprawling frittata like you get in some places, but it’s tasty and filling. And it feels, well, sophisticated. I must have asked for four coffee refills to help it down. Cami doesn’t complain.

“It’s been hard work,” says the chef and owner, David Petrini, of the first couple of years here. “We have to work to draw our customers. But food has always been part of my life. My father and uncles had five Italian restaurants in the Santa Barbara area, and my mother and brother and I had a place in Scottsdale.”

Turns out he was also in Hollywood for a while, acting (then getting an M.A., then in the landscaping business), but came to San Diego to start this place so he could be his own boss. “Our family is really strong,” David says. “We have reunions every two years. Maybe 120 of us gather, and eating is a big part of it. We even created a family recipe book. I use that a lot. We have our own salad dressing that my uncle makes and bottles. My cousin smokes the salmon we use for our smoked salmon pizza [$13.75–$19.75].”

I started yakkin’ with David when I came in to pay my tab. The cash register’s right beside the open kitchen. He stands there talking away, hands flying. He’s making up a salad now. It’s loaded with salami, olives, and shredded cheese. “The Numero Due salad,” he says. “ ‘Number Two.’ [$7.50] Our family has been making this since 1958. Never change a good thing.”

I can’t hold back a pang of regret. Why wasn’t my family like that? Big, boisterous, loving, inventing dishes, big reunions, lotsa music, singing, cousins, food, some of those straw bottles of Chianti, more food…

Sigh. I swear. Gonna round up some cousins, bring them down here when the sun’s setting, make a Rodney King speech: “Can’t we all just get along?”

The Place: Petrini’s, 610 West Ash Street, suite 100 (at Ash and India), 619-595-0322
Type of Food: Italian
Prices: Italian breakfast toast, $7.25; focaccia with smoked salmon, $8.25; frittata with meat, veggies, $7.25 ($6.50 with just veggies); formaggio panini, $5.25; torpedo (with capicola, salami, provolone cheese), $8.75; Georgie Burger (with garlic-grilled mushrooms and provolone), $8.50; Caponata (sautéed eggplant, onions, bell peppers, celery, tomato) on Italian roll, $8; fettuccine Alfredo, $7.50 ($15 at dinner); cannoli, $4.75
Hours: 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., Monday–Thursday; 8:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. Friday; 9:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m., Saturday; 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., Sunday
Buses: 83, 810, 820, and most downtown
Nearest Bus Stops: India and Ash (83, 810, 820); Broadway and India (downtown buses)
Trolleys: Blue Line, Orange Line
Nearest Trolley Stop: America Plaza

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Melissa Etheridge, The Imaginary Amazon

Events April 1-April 3, 2024
Place

Petrini's

610 W. Ash Street, Suite 100, San Diego




Ahhh... Slurp, burp, slurp again. Pinky finger raised, of course. I clink my cawfee cup down in its saucer. Sitting like a captain of industry here at the corner of Ash and India. Behind yellow and blue flowers, under a maroon umbrella, eyeballing a sapphire San Diego Bay twinkling in the morning sun at the bottom of Ash.

A Carnival Cruise liner’s white superstructure peeks out from behind the still-purple jacaranda trees.

We’re in Little Italy, technically, but really a couple of blocks south of where the main LI action is. And yet, I’m thinking, as I slurp my first cawfee of the day — and what a beautiful cuppa it is — where else in Little Italy can you catch a view down to the water from a café?

This morning, tramping up India, I noticed Petrini’s big red, white, and green banner reading “Breakfast, lunch, dinner” and saw what a great little patio they had beneath it. Four tables, three umbrellas, and a real coziness. I crossed over and headed in to see if I could afford it.

Inside, there are fountains, and mustard walls packed with bright paintings of, like, bulls, guitars, horses. They have maroon-cushioned benches along the side wall and blond wood chairs at the tables, and a half dozen fat stools front a kind of wine bar on either side of the open kitchen. Classy...maybe too classy.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“Still doing breakfast?” I asked this gal dressed in black. This was about 10:00 going on 11:00. “No problem,” she said. Cami. “I’ll sit outside,” I said.

And I’m sure glad I did. All that view down Ash to the Bay — you never notice it when you’re hustling up India. Plus, surprise bonus: traffic, Little Italy style. A guy pulls up in his Smart Car cabriolet. Like a standard auto with its rear end chopped off. Very Euro. Then a bunch of perky gals come beetling along aboard Vespa scooters. So La Dolce Vita. Plus, people walking up Ash pass so close they all say “Good morning” to you over the flowers. Nice.

So I’m downing my coffee ($2.50, endless refills) in its classy cup and saucer and checking the menu. Wow. We’re in luck. My kind of prices. Panini — sandwiches — go from $5.25 for the Formaggio (cheese) to $8.75 for the Hot Torpedo (stuffed and baked with capicola, salami, and provolone cheese). In between is the $8.50 Georgie Burger, named after the owner’s mom because sexing up the basic burger with garlic-grilled mushrooms and provolone was her idea. Oh boy, the Caponata ($8) looks good, too: sautéed eggplant with lots of other veggie ingredients, such as onions, bell peppers, celery, and tomato on an Italian roll. Okay, the cena — dinner — items are all up there, from $10 (for a basic pasta and sauce) to $19.75 for a flatiron steak. But you can have at least half of them for half price (from $5–$9) at lunchtime, which means till four in the afternoon.

But, of course, this is still mawnin’, ain’t it? A man has to break his overnight fast first. Breakfast goes till 11:30 (midday on weekends), so we’re good. The specialties include Italian toast (grilled Italian egg-battered bread with berry compote, $7.25) and focaccia with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and capers ($8.25). But under “Piatti dell’Uovo” (egg plates), the one I like is the frittata with meat and veggies — baked eggs with capicola ham pieces, plus provolone and mozzarella ($7.25, or $6.50 with just veggies).

The frittata comes in a cute little ceramic bowl, egg covered in stretchy cheese, either the provolone or mozzarella. A couple of chunks of peeled orange, and two slices of toasted Italian bread are served alongside. It’s not a vast, sprawling frittata like you get in some places, but it’s tasty and filling. And it feels, well, sophisticated. I must have asked for four coffee refills to help it down. Cami doesn’t complain.

“It’s been hard work,” says the chef and owner, David Petrini, of the first couple of years here. “We have to work to draw our customers. But food has always been part of my life. My father and uncles had five Italian restaurants in the Santa Barbara area, and my mother and brother and I had a place in Scottsdale.”

Turns out he was also in Hollywood for a while, acting (then getting an M.A., then in the landscaping business), but came to San Diego to start this place so he could be his own boss. “Our family is really strong,” David says. “We have reunions every two years. Maybe 120 of us gather, and eating is a big part of it. We even created a family recipe book. I use that a lot. We have our own salad dressing that my uncle makes and bottles. My cousin smokes the salmon we use for our smoked salmon pizza [$13.75–$19.75].”

I started yakkin’ with David when I came in to pay my tab. The cash register’s right beside the open kitchen. He stands there talking away, hands flying. He’s making up a salad now. It’s loaded with salami, olives, and shredded cheese. “The Numero Due salad,” he says. “ ‘Number Two.’ [$7.50] Our family has been making this since 1958. Never change a good thing.”

I can’t hold back a pang of regret. Why wasn’t my family like that? Big, boisterous, loving, inventing dishes, big reunions, lotsa music, singing, cousins, food, some of those straw bottles of Chianti, more food…

Sigh. I swear. Gonna round up some cousins, bring them down here when the sun’s setting, make a Rodney King speech: “Can’t we all just get along?”

The Place: Petrini’s, 610 West Ash Street, suite 100 (at Ash and India), 619-595-0322
Type of Food: Italian
Prices: Italian breakfast toast, $7.25; focaccia with smoked salmon, $8.25; frittata with meat, veggies, $7.25 ($6.50 with just veggies); formaggio panini, $5.25; torpedo (with capicola, salami, provolone cheese), $8.75; Georgie Burger (with garlic-grilled mushrooms and provolone), $8.50; Caponata (sautéed eggplant, onions, bell peppers, celery, tomato) on Italian roll, $8; fettuccine Alfredo, $7.50 ($15 at dinner); cannoli, $4.75
Hours: 8:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., Monday–Thursday; 8:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m. Friday; 9:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m., Saturday; 9:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., Sunday
Buses: 83, 810, 820, and most downtown
Nearest Bus Stops: India and Ash (83, 810, 820); Broadway and India (downtown buses)
Trolleys: Blue Line, Orange Line
Nearest Trolley Stop: America Plaza

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Reader 2024 Music & Arts Issue

Favorite fakers: Baby Bushka, Fleetwood Max, Electric Waste Band, Oceans, Geezer – plus upcoming tribute schedule
Next Article

Reader Music Issue short takes

Obervatory's mosh pit, frenetic Rafael Payare, Lemonhead chaos, bleedforthescene, Coronado Tasting Room
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.