Though NBA All-Star Weekend is still a day away, the dedicated dough room at Che Fico Pizzeria is already claustrophobic with stacks of white, plastic dough-proofing bins, as the scent of yeast suffuses the air.
Che Fico’s sourdough recipe requires 48 hours to make, and culinary director Evan Allumbaugh says the restaurant has prepped enough to bake 1,000 pizzas daily from Thursday to Sunday. It’s easily the most it has ever produced.
Call it the big leagues. The new location of the celebrated local Italian brand has never dealt with such a high-profile event. But the operators were able to do some pizza math using as a guide a packed pop-up with James Beard Award-winning chef Chris Bianco. They’re prepping around 15% more dough than they think they’ll need.
The goal is simple: Don’t sell out. “For a pizzeria, that’d be tragic,” Allumbaugh says.
For the handful of recently opened local restaurants at Thrive City, the retail and dining plaza surrounding Chase Center, All-Star Weekend will push operations to the limit. Unlike established tenants like Gott’s Roadside and Dumpling Time, which can lean on experience from high-profile events like the 2022 NBA Finals, the newer restaurants are going into the affair with a short runway and bitten-down fingernails to prepare for what could be their busiest four days of the year.
Che Fico Pizzeria, which opened a few days ahead of the Warriors’ season opener in late October, has had a few months to settle in. But opulent sports bar Splash threw open its doors Friday, giving it just six days to work out any kinks before players, celebrities, and thousands of fans descend on the entertainment complex.
“Is it ideal? No,” says Splash owner Andy Chun. “Even coming up on opening weekend, we had people up on ladders. It’s a three-ring circus.”
The mad rush of openings at Thrive City over the last six months is due to a “huge concerted effort” to get the venue ready for All-Star Weekend events, says Alex Sagues, the CBRE broker who helped lock in the lineup of food and beverage tenants.
Sagues says the Warriors organized a full-court press to get as many businesses as possible open ahead of the All-Star Game, though at least two failed to make the deadline due to problems related to the supply chain and permitting. Both hotly anticipated Indonesian barbecue spot Fikscue and Taco Primo, a new Mexican concept from the owners of popular Fillmore bar The Snug, will open in the spring.
Fikscue co-owner Reka Saleh says it’s disappointing to miss the target opening date. But she and her husband, Fik, will make the best of it by operating a pop-up outside their space next door to Harmonic Brewing, selling plates of smoked ribs and brisket sandwiches on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Since the Thrive City kitchen isn’t up and running, they’ll be cooking at their Alameda location, using a single smoker. This means they can produce about 195 pounds of brisket, 17 racks of beef back ribs, and 15 racks of dino ribs a day. “It’s a bummer,” Salah says of the delayed opening. “But we’re still optimistic and excited to be able to participate. Plus, it’s going to be an eye-opening experience.”
Señor Sisig, the Filipino-Mexican restaurant concept with six food trucks and restaurants across the Bay Area, opened its Thrive City outpost Jan. 21. Co-owner Evan Kidera says the staff spent much of the last three weeks steeling themselves for the big event. Though the restaurant has never had to pump out its sisig burritos and crunch-a-dillas for hordes of sports fanatics before, the team is drawing on its experience from Outside Lands.
“We’re packing that walk-in to the max,” Kidera says, who is also prepping most of his food at an off-site commissary kitchen. If ordering gets backed up, the restaurant will have two staff members with hand-held terminals on the bench ready to tag in. “It’ll be a balance between getting those orders in and the kitchen getting backed up,” he says. “But I think we’re ready to take it on.”
Even for Thrive City veterans, this event is a major milestone — and not just because it’s the first time the All-Star Game is being held in San Francisco. Gott’s Roadside President Clay Walker is cautiously optimistic about the restaurant’s projections. Though the All-Star events have the potential to bring record sales, he says, tight security around Thrive City could hinder business. But he believes the growing crop of neighboring eateries will boost foot traffic in the long term.
“There’s some bright, shiny new toys at Thrive City,” he says. “But we have pole position.”