You no longer need to travel to the edge of the Mediterranean to experience the cuisine of one of Italy’s smallest regions. Founding owners Luca Minna and Laura Garrone present incredible Ligurian pansotti (triangular stuffed pasta) and focaccia di Recco (thin layers of warm bread dough oozing with stracchino cheese) right in the heart of San Francisco’s Mission District. The restaurant’s open exhibition kitchen is lined with a battalion of chefs, stretching and molding the dough that will soon become center stage in one of the city’s most talked-about and addictive pasta dishes: Farina’s pesto mandilli, “silk handkerchief” pasta. And while the house pesto pasta and focaccia are certainly the stars of the show, do not overlook the menu’s ever-changing selection of antipasti or its awe-inspiring saltimbocca with prosciutto and shaved black truffles. The friendly and knowledgeable waitstaff transit seamlessly among diners enjoying the sun on the front patio, posted up at the marble countertop, or seated at the communal table directly under the bright red, ultra-modern double octopus chandelier. And although you aren’t gazing at the Mediterranean Sea, it still is a dolce vita experience even with a bit of fog.

Caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella
Handmade mandilli (handkerchief) pasta with basil pesto
Focaccia di Recco (stracchino cheese inside bread)
House-made ice cream or granita
*menu changes daily
view full menu here

Not a bad seat in the house. The front patio is tough to beat for people-watching in the Mission.

In April 2008, a Farina chef won the Pesto World Championship in Genoa using the house recipe. That pesto is available on the menu every day.

dinner: Mon.–Thurs. 5:30 PM–10 PM; Fri.–Sun. 5 PM–10 PM
brunch: Sun. 9 AM–3 PM

$20 (pansotti in walnut pesto) to $34 (saltimbocca)