Opening in the former Venticello Ristorante on Nob Hill is BACK TO BACK, serving pizza, small plates, and natural wine. It’s from siblings Monica and Randall Hom, who were born and raised in SF, but have returned from New York to open this project. They’re first-time restaurant owners: Monica has been in the art world doing curation and sales, while Randall has been a product designer in tech. Their family owns the building (although to be clear, the siblings have nothing to do with building management), and it ends up 35 years ago, their mother ran a restaurant in the space for six months before she “got fed up,” and later leased it to Venticello.
The brother-and-sister duo are excited to bring their passion for music, pizza, natural wine, and dining out to this project, and will be playing vinyl (they’re inspired by the hi-fi listening bars they’ve enjoyed in Paris, New York, and Bar Shiru here in Oakland). The name “back to back” can refer to back-to-back DJs, and also as a nod to interaction in a busy place. They really want to create a community hangout, and adore the communal/shared nature of pizza. (And wine.) They also envision Back to Back as a great second or third date spot, since shareable food usually makes for a fun date.
They fell in love with Naples, and the restaurant will be centered around their wood-fired oven. They are currently hiring for a pizza chef and an AGM. They hope to open end of summer, but they have some renovations to do first—the space is going to have lots of wood and will look more modern, plus there will be a wall of vinyl. You can follow @backtobacksf for updates, I’ll keep you posted on the opening as it gets closer! 1257 Taylor St. at Washington.
Back to Back is coming to the former Venticello space on Nob Hill. Photo courtesy of Back to Back.
