The team at luxe Marina Italian restaurant Norcina is opening a moody artisanal bar with lime-washed walls and a huge oven in the middle of the space.
Frankie’s will open later this year in early June at 3219 Pierce Street. Chef-owner Kaitlinn Bauman says she has always felt the need for an upscale, sexy cocktail bar in the area. Seating about 30, the business will play host to a double parklet with a cozy, intimate vibe. The name is a nod to Franklin, an English labrador that pads around Norcina and greets guests, a main character of sorts at the restaurant.
The menu and vibe here will skew Italian like Norcina, a La Marzoco espresso machine, and loads of Italian-influenced craftsmanship on display. Customers can expect a robust martini program with a special olive menu, and negroni flights.
Meg Stone Photography
Meg Stone Photography
There is also a big Mugnaini brick oven inside the new space. The Healdsburg-based company imports bricks from Italy to reassemble in Northern California. Instead of more pizzas like those at Norcina, diners the restaurant will serve baked oysters and mortadella piled high on buttery brioche. “You never know,” Baumann says, “maybe a late-night pizza will come out of there once in a while.”
Baumann is no slouch in the kitchen, even before her time helming Norcina. She cut her teeth at the Culinary Institute of America, then at Green’s in the Marina, and Michael and Lindsey Tusks’ Cotogna. After staging at various restaurants in Copenhagen she came back to San Francisco to open Norcina. Angelo de Lorenzi, who has worked with Norcina as general manager, will be the GM and beverage director at Frankie’s.
Norcina opened in 2021, a pandemic baby with just beer and wine offerings. Diners have grown to rely on Norcina for hand-made pasta and oven-roasted prosciutto pizzas. The Frankie’s space became available just a few doors down from Norcina, between Monaghan’s Bar and the Verizon store on the corner. The team at Norcina are handling all the design and build-out for this new operation. As the marble tiles take shape on the bar top, light fixtures taking place above, Baumann says she feels ready to roll out this next chapter. “It’s fun to see it all come together,” she says.
Frankie’s (3219 Pierce Street) will open in early summer 2025.
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