Buona Forchetta Opening New Eateries South Park and Coronado

A hit with local diners since it first opened in South Park in 2013, Buona Forchetta has since opened an offshoot in Liberty Station called Officine Buona Forchetta and has another Buona Forchetta planned for Encinitas that should open by January 2018. Owner Matteo Cattaneo is returning to South Park for his next venture, which will land just a few steps west of his flagship restaurant at 3011 Beech Street. Calling it Enoteca Buona Forchetta, Cattaneo told Eater that the 950-square-foot space should launch at the beginning of December. The bottega, or workshop-styled market, will sell everything from the fresh pasta and sauces served at the restaurant to gourmet Italian items and meals ready-to-go; if he’s able to obtain a wine license for the site, it will also function as a tapas bar, offering drinks and a light menu that might include cheese plates, salads and sandwiches.

Cattaneo says that the Enoteca Buona Forchetta will also feature two variations of Roman-style pizza that will be cooked in an electric oven, one is baked in a pan for a thicker and crisper crust while another, pizza al teglia, is a square pie which is snipped into pieces with special scissors and sold by the pound.

While the South Park, Liberty Station and Encinitas restaurants will remain focused on Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, a new restaurant dubbed Garage Buona Forchetta that’s just been announced in Coronado and due to debut in early 2019 will offer both the Neapolitan and Roman styles of pizza in addition to a full rundown of Italian specialities. Ruland Design Group, a collaborator on Officine Buona Forchetta and the incoming Encinitas location, will help transform a 2,900-square-foot corner section of a historic 1940s garage in downtown Coronado at 1000 C Avenue into a 150-seat restaurant that will include an outdoor patio and showcase one of Buona Forchetta’s vintage pizza trucks. Cattaneo, who lives in Coronado with his family, says that he’s planning to pair the restaurant with a bottega/market component that will stock fresh ingredients, prepared meals and more for the surrounding neighborhood.