by Joe Bonadio

In 2012, Tony Gemignani opened Capo’s on Vallejo Street, just a few blocks away from his flagship, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana. Tony’s had opened to a respectable buzz just over three years earlier, and while the neighborhood was grateful for a Chicago pizza option, many didn’t understand the logic behind it. Why open a pizzeria right around the corner from your pizzeria?

The truth is, Tony opened Capo’s because he had to. The reason lies in the fire times: that’s the term for how long a pizza spends in the oven. As we know now, Tony’s goal was to serve the very best, most authentic version of every style of pizza. And naturally, the pizza maker had the mighty Chicago Deep-Dish dead in his sights.

The problem is, a Deep-Dish pizza can take 45 minutes to bake. Compare that to Tony’s Margherita, which might spend 90 seconds in the oven––it’s just a completely different animal. Trying to serve both in the same dining room would be nothing but chaos, both for the kitchen and the servers. As anyone who has visited Giordano’s or Malnati’s in Chi-Town knows, you don’t order Deep-Dish when you’re in a hurry.

The distinction is evident the moment you step into Capo’s. The vibe of the place is dictated by its slower pace, and the room exudes a serenity and calm that is almost the opposite of the high-energy vibe at Tony’s. Capo’s speakeasy atmosphere, red leather banquettes, stamped tin ceilings and Prohibition-era brick walls attract regular customers like a warm campfire. Whether it’s to post up at the bar to explore the extensive whiskey selection, or grab a table with friends for a relaxed and satisfying meal, people like to take their time at Capo’s.

Of course, the business has changed since Capo’s debut, and one of the biggest changes is the rapid rise of Detroit-Style pizza. A step ahead of that trend, in 2020 Tony expanded the Capo’s concept to include Detroit, at that time the new star of the pan pizza world.

Of course, the most important ingredient at any great restaurant is the people. Last week, I had the chance to sit down with the woman behind Capo’s relaxed and welcoming energy: their supremely hospitable manager Grace Fentress. Edited for length and clarity, our conversation is below.

Joe Bonadio: So where are you from, Grace?

Grace Fentress: I’m from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. A very small one-road town off the beach. A tiny little sandbox, pretty much.

JB: How long have you been in California?

GF: I moved out here when I turned 22, so coming up on 12 years now. I had never been to San Francisco, and I just hopped in the car and came out here.

JB: Were you quick to get into the restaurant world when you got here?

GF: I wasn’t—but I’ve been in the restaurant industry since I was 15. You could kind of get away with that in North Carolina in a small town. But I wanted to take a break from it when I got here, so I got a customer service representative job at Google actually…..and I hated it.

I really missed the fast pace and volume of restaurants. And I went to school for accounting, so in the job I have now, I can use that a little bit while still being in the restaurant environment, so it’s nice.

JB: How did you make the shift back to restaurants?

GF: I lived over on Church and Market in the Mission, it was my first apartment here. I just pounded the pavement and dropped off resumes. Luna Park on 18th and Valencia was my first serving job in the city. It’s something else now.

JB: So you started out as a server?

GF: Yes. I also taught myself bartending over the years. Especially when you’re managing, you have to be able to fill every role—because you never know what’s going to happen! I’ve never actually had a bartending job, I’ve always stuck to serving and managing. But I’ve had to jump behind the bar plenty of times.

After Luna Park I went to the Boxing Room, which is part of the Absinthe Group, in Hayes Valley. That was their New Orleans restaurant, and that was my first managing job. I was 23.

JB: Wow, you made the jump into management quickly.

GF: Yes.

JB: What do you think accounts for that?

GF: One of my best skills, I’m very observant. I have  the ability to notice a lot of little things that other people I’ve worked with don’t really focus on. For instance, here I serve and I manage, so I’m typically doing the two roles. I’ll have a full section, but I’m still keeping an eye on everybody. So I’m good with multitasking and problem solving. I’m good at figuring stuff out, and I think that really facilitated my move into management.

JB: So how long were you at Boxing Room?

GF: I was there for about a year and a half. Then one of my friends that I knew through Boxing Room, their dad was a manager at Tony’s—Kevin Nusso. He brought me in, when Jaime (Wong) was the manager and all that. So for a while I tried to do both, Tony’s and managing at Boxing Room, which was impossible. So I made the move to Tony’s full time.

I served there for like seven years, and then I went on to become the GM at Elmer’s restaurant, Red Window. I was the GM there for about a year. But it was a lot of hours, and I wanted a break. I wanted to get back into serving a little bit, and something with less hours–it adds up when you’re GM, because you’re just always on.

That’s when Tony approached me about  coming over here. And it was kind of the perfect fit, in terms of what I was looking for. I’m still able to serve; I’m still able to be on the floor. And we’re a little family at Capo’s. It’s a very small staff, and everybody works together so closely, because we have to. I really like that.

It’s a nice transition from Red Window to here because I’m managing, and I’m still on the floor serving.

JB: It keeps you interested.

GF: Yeah. It keeps me moving, and out of the office a little bit. I like that I’m able to wear multiple hats when I need to. It’s just adding more and more stuff that I’m able to learn, especially working with Tony. It’s just such a great opportunity.

And Tony’s is a buzzsaw, from the moment you walk in until you clock out to leave. It’s just that volume, and that busyness. Here, with the styles of pizza that we do, things take a little longer. People sit down and have an hour-and-a-half meal. A  Margherita pizza cooks in 90 seconds, whereas here, a deep-dish can take 45 or 50 minutes on a busy night. So people have a couple of cocktails, some appetizers, maybe a bottle of wine.

A really nice, full dining experience—that’s what I think we do best here. We also get a lot of large groups. We get parties of like 20 that come in a lot, and we can do full buyouts. These are things that we’re able to hone in on at Capo’s that Tony’s is just not set up for.

JB: But much like Tony’s. it seems like you also see a lot of regulars.

GF: Yes. We have such a great regular clientele. People who come in three times a week, they sit at the bar, and we all know their order. People always comment that it’s kind of like you’re in your living room, and that they can sit here for hours. I love that we’re able to provide that. And I think that’s what has made Capo’s what it is over the last 11 years.

JB: So tell me about the first time you met Tony.

GF: I was so nervous when I met him the first time. I think he was cooking in the kitchen that day, and I was so scared I was going to mess something up. (Laughter)

You know, this is Tony, and his name carried a lot of weight. And I’m this 23, 24-year old girl, who is just totally intimidated. And I’m working with all of these people who have been there since they opened…

But he was so nice. As soon as he met me for the first time, he was just generous, right off the bat. It really dispelled that intimidation that goes with a name like Tony Gemignani. He’s just an awesome, supportive person. He jokes around with you, and laughs, and he’s just happy. With how busy he is, and how much he does, especially now with the franchises and everything. He can be shooting a tv show in Texas—just like he was a couple of weeks ago—and he still texts me everyday, checking in. “Hey Grace, how are you?”

To work for someone who is as successful as he is, but still cares, is the best. To work for somebody who cares about their employees and their well-being—I wouldn’t want to work for anyone else.

JB: So you started here at Capo’s just as the city really began coming back from Covid. Do you feel like your timing was pretty good?

GF: Yes. Business lately has been great. We’re doing live music, and a lot of big groups. We have a lot of birthday parties where they’ll bring in their own band. We’re able to do so much more now, and it makes it more fun.

JB: Since you’ve come in, what sort of changes have you made?

GF: We’ve changed the music, we’ve made some changes in staff. We’ve changed a lot of our menus, like our Happy Hour, which we’ve really beefed up. Having lived in North Beach for coming up on 11 years now, I think we do one of the best Happy Hours in the neighborhood, for both food and drink. So I really amped that up, and we do it five days a week. I took over the music and the booking, and we’re doing a lot of full buyouts for groups of like 50—wedding rehearsals, receptions, things like that.

JB: And that’s another big difference between you guys and Tony’s, is that Capo’s takes reservations.

GF: We do. Most of the reservations come directly through me, on my email. But I book parties for months in advance, so I’m able to sit down and build a calendar, and map things out. We really have to plan ahead, especially before a busy night. Because you have to take into account the style of food that we do, and the times on everything.

And I like that part of the job, the meticulous planning. Because it just makes me feel better.

JB: (Laughter)

GF: You know? It calms me down a little bit.

JB: So we’ve got a lot coming up this year. We’ve got the Pizza, Bagel & Beer Festival coming up in August, which was amazing last year.

GF: That was fun. I worked the Capo’s booth last year.

JB: Are you doing it again this year?

GF: Yeah, I liked it. Matt (Molina, longtime Capo’s Chef) and I worked it together, and it was fun.

JB: What a great event.

GF: And they’re doing it bigger, too, Tony was saying that they’re going to be able to use the full (Washington Square) park this time.

JB: The interior too? Wow.

GF: That’s great, because it needed more space in order to grow.

JB: Right, there are probably going to be twice as many people this year.

GF: Tony just jumped in on it. That thing was a well-oiled machine, which makes me even more excited for this year.

JB: So what do you have coming up here at Capo’s?

GF: Well, we just restarted live music; we took a break during the rainy season. We’re on our third week of music now after our little hiatus. We were doing music inside, but with the space that we have it’s less than ideal. It’s just better to keep it outside.

And now that Matt’s come back over, we’re going to be changing up some things. We’re changing up our cocktail menu soon, so we’ll be bringing in our Spring/Summer stuff. We try and rotate every few months, and we’ll do a whole new cocktail program, which is always fun—because everybody throws their ideas in.

JB: Speaking of Matt, how does it feel to have the prodigal son back in the kitchen?

GF: I’m really excited, it’s really nice. He came in for a few pick-up shifts at first, and now he’s back as the Kitchen Manager.

I’ve worked with Matt for a very long time, and we work so well together, so it’s fun. And he’s so good when it comes to communicating, that it just makes everyone’s shift easier.

JB: Thanks for taking the time, Grace.

 

Next time we’ll be talking with Matt Molina, the two-time World Pizza Champion, about his recent return to his first San Francisco home, Capo’s.