Hard to believe, but there was a time when there wasn’t arugula or goat cheese or prosciutto or blackened shrimp on pizzas. The country went nuts in 1980 when chefs Jeremiah Tower (Chez Panisse, Berkeley) and Ed LaDou (Spago by Wolfgang Puck, L.A.) started putting farmers market ingredients on pies and christened it California-style. A statewide pizza identity came to life, eventually culminating in a massive chain dedicated to the idea.
Now San Diego chef Maxwell Senescall—who worked under a few of New York’s most iconic chefs (Daniel Boulud and Andrew Carmellini), then locally at Juniper & Ivy and Mastiff Sausage Company—wants to reimagine what California-style actually is when he opens Far Corner at 410 Tenth Ave. in East Village this month.
It’ll take the iconic space near Petco Park long occupied by Basic Bar & Pizza (who’ll relocate to the Park 12 development on the other side of Petco).
“For me, California style is derived from New York,” he explains, pointing to the similar texture of the cornicione on the bottom of the crust, which gives NY-style pizza its signature grittiness on a chewy, but solid slice. Using that base, Far Corner’s pizzas will tinker with more creative toppings than a standard East Coast-style slice—like California specialty, barbecue tri-tip.
“Tri-tip is California steak,” he says, calling his barbecue pie a nod to LaDou’s original barbecue chicken pizza at Spago. Smoked tri-tip will sit atop housemade barbecue sauce with jack cheese and a sprinkle of Thai basil.
His pizza-centric menu will have classics like a margherita (mozz, tomato, basil, confit garlic) and creatives, like “Oh Fennel” (golden fennel, mustard sauce, chervil). Guests can build their own pies with red or white sauce and toppings ranging from mushrooms and olives to anchovies, arugula, and banana peppers. There’ll be Caesar and Cobb salads, plus side snacks like roasted potatoes with crispy pancetta, aioli, and scallions.
This’ll be Senescall’s first shot at running his own restaurant. He says working in the high-end, fast-paced, from-scratch kitchens schooled him well. He’s enlisted other experts, including Frederico Santos from Square Pizza as a pizza and dough consultant and Tony Coxum (The Grass Skirt, Searsucker) to head the bar program. Joan O’Haver of Advantage Design Partners reimagined the 4,000-square-foot space with three distinct areas: lounge, dining area, and bar. The checkerboard patterns and ultra-shiny VCT flooring harken back to ’90s-era pizzerias.
Senescall says he hopes to continue the space’s standing as a Padres-game destination. It’s more of a sit-down restaurant, but the bar area and lounge cater more to those who prefer to drink more than eat. And for them, there will be beer, wine, and creative Coxum cocktails—like a root beer Old Fashioned.
Far Corner opens March 27 at 410 Tenth Ave.
