Chef Ari Rosen of Healdsburg’s much-missed Campo Fina and Scopa restaurants will host a one-night-only dinner at The Parish Cafe (60 Mill St., Healdsburg) on Sept. 27.

The menu includes arancini, meatballs, cotoletta (an Italian-style schnitzel), salad and beignets. Kids get their own dinner seating from 5 to 6 p.m. (parents can stick around inside, but the meal is focused on peer-to-peer noshing). Tickets on OpenTable are $25 for children and $65 for adults. Reservations required.

Throughout the fall, the Healdsburg restaurant will offer other specialty dinners, including Parish Nights (Oct. 24 and 25) with an a la carte menu featuring Parish favorites and new Cajun dishes, including crawfish etouffee, Yaka Mein (Louisiana-style ramen), Louisiana blue crab cakes and fried chicken frisée salad.

Chef Ralph Tingle (of Bistro Ralph) will continue his evening appearances featuring his signature Chicken Paillard from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 14 and 15, and Dec. 12 and 13. $75 per person.

More info at opentable.com/r/the-parish-cafe-healdsburg.

You can reach Dining Editor Heather Irwin at heather.irwin@pressdemocrat.com. Follow Heather on Instagram @biteclubeats.

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Just shy of its ninth birthday, Healdsburg’s Scopa Restaurant has announced plans to shutter in April.

The popular Italian restaurant (109A Plaza St.) features Chef Ari Rosen’s Old World takes on everything from ravioli and pizzas to Nonna’s Tomato-braised chicken with polenta. When it opened in 2008, critics and foodies were immediately impressed with the menu. But it was Scopa’s notorious 6-seat bar, intimate tables and no-frills attitude that keeps the restaurant popular with locals.

From spontaneous group sing-alongs to patrons sharing family recipes and playing Italian card games, Rosen said the restaurant was part social experiment and part destiny from the start. “I would say that Scopa was an organic community experiment, and welcomed whatever was happening, and just whatever walked in the door.”

Former bartender and longtime patron Iain Rizzo, 46, of Healdsburg, expressed sadness at the news, saying: “It’s a magical place. I’ve worked at a lot of bars, but here people would come in and share. If you were by yourself you instantly became part of the group. Night after night it was just the same thing, It brought out the best in people.”

“It’s so hard to put into words, it’s just.a feeling when you know something works,” Rizzo said.

The decision to close was a painful one, said Rosen, who also owns nearby Campo Fina (330 Healdsburg Ave.) with his wife Dawnelise, especially since the restaurant continues to be a popular hangout. But with a six-year-old daughter and a baby on the way, the Rosen said they felt a need simplify their lives.

“We were holding it together, running two restaurants for the last five years, and it was one of those things. When you have a second kid, you’re looking at your life, and you realize how little time you have for family. It forces you to make hard decisions,” Rosen said.

The seemingly-abrupt decision to close had also lot to do with the seasonality of the restaurant business, according to Rosen. He plans to absorb all of the 15 Scopa staff into his 50-plus workers at Campo Fina while things are busy, rather than at the end of summer, when restaurants slow down.

“When we looked at calendar, and how we could take care of our staff and the community, the time to make the announcement was now, We just didn’t want to leave anyone high and dry,” he said. Rosen also said that the strain of finding good kitchen staff in an increasingly competitive landscape, as well as rising food costs contributed to the decision.

With ten years remaining on their lease, the couple are still figuring out what to do with the space. One idea, said Rosen, would be a simpler enoteca-style wine and small bites spot. The other would be leasing it out to another restaurateur, something he’s seriously considering.

“My daughter cried when I told her because she wanted us to keep both restaurants,” said Rosen. As a compromise, she agreed to the closure of Scopa on one condition, that Rosen sells to someone he knows. Though he isn’t elaborating publicly on who that could be, Rosen said that he’s had some inquiries from friends he thinks will keep the community spirit alive and thriving.

“We relish in the memories and stories that all of you have shared with us, all beginning with ‘You won’t believe what happened the other night at Scopa’s Bar’,” said Rosen. “Those moments will be immortalized in Scopa folklore.”

The restaurant closes for good on April 8. Until then, the restaurant will operate on its normal schedule.

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Looking for a local urban-feel dance party to avoid the nighttime commute to the city, the extreme San Francisco hills and the competitive parking? Super Saturday, an event at outdoor bar-meets-Italian restaurant venue Campo Fina in Healdsburg, serves up killer cocktails to DJ beats — with a side of bocce ball to break the ice.

Last Saturday, Campo Fina DJs kept the crowd happy by bringing a mix of dance-disco nostalgia and contemporary electronica-hip hop to the deck. First time Super Saturday attendee and Healdsburg resident Kelsey Walsh enjoyed the atmosphere. “It’s a really fun thing for the community,” she said.

Although the Super Saturday crowd consisted of mostly locals, Marline Trevino, in town visiting friends, said she enjoyed the friendly environment. “So far, just being here in the last 15 minutes, it seems really cool…I love the atmosphere,” she said.

Part of Super Saturday’s appeal is that it offers a little something-for-everyone — a relaxed California-backyard-vibe, but with an urban edge. And the something-for-everyone extends to the drink menu: for a little sophistication in your shaker, try Campo Fina’s Moscow Mule — a pink vodka cocktail with angostura bitters and Fever Tree ginger beer, served in a tall glass — and for the down-to-earth brew crowd, its the $4 Pabst Blue Ribbon.

For more information about upcoming Campo Fina events, visit: facebook.com/campofinahealdsburg. 

Check out the weekend vibe at Campo Fina in the gallery below… 

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With all the wood-fired restaurants cropping up in Wine Country, it’s clearly a good time to be familiar with a Mugnaini. And there  are few who know their way around big ovens, 00 flour and a pizza peel like Liza Shaw.

The former A16 chef has been tapped to impart her doughy ways at the recently-opened Campo Fina, Reddwood as a consultant. But don’t expect the same pizzas at each spot. We chatted with Shaw, and she explained how she customizes the texture, dough and cooking time for each restaurant. For one, it’s a sturdy, lightly browned pie. For another a spongier crust and darker crust.

So far, BiteClub’s favorite is the pizza at her newest project–the forthcoming Pizzando with Spoonbar chef, Louis Maldonado. Crafted with imported flour, a two-day rise and a super hot 750 degree oven, they’re crispy and chewy at the same time with minimal ingredients. Crushed San Marzano’s, fresh mozzarella, torn basil, a little salt.

Want to check it out?  Spoonbar is previewing the pizzas and other menu items at the remaining  “Pizzando Pop-Up” dinners on Wednesday July 11 and Wednesday July 25.

Check out photos from the June 26 dinner: Tuna crudo with salsa verde, pickled carrots and mint, pizza Margherita, slow roasted pork ribs with lavender honey, spiced oxtail, and baked polenta.

Pizzando Pop Up at Spoonbar: 219 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, 707-431-2202.

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Healdsburg loves a restaurant opening. Even more so when it includes a bocce court, Mugnaini pizza oven and Chef Ari Rosen.

The popular Scopa owner opened his second restaurant, Campo Fina, this week, after months of secrecy over the design and concept. Turns out it was well worth the wait.

The food, of course, is Italian, but focused around small plates and pizzas rather than the heartier pastas and entrees at his original restaurant. Design-wise, the big reveal is a large covered patio in back that’s big enough for a bocce court, 65 seats (including a large family table), a wood-fire pizza oven and food-prep “shack” and even a bar. Even locals familiar with the space in previous iterations gasped at the transformation. “I didn’t even know this space was back here,” was most often repeated. Inside are reclaimed fixtures, rough brick walls and cozy red banquettes.

On the menu, Cichetti (little bites), Forna A Legna (wood oven) and Antipasti (small plates). Best bet is to start at the top and work your way down the list, nibbling here and there and ordering as you go. Carried over from Scopa is Larry Pacini’s ciabatta bread and DCV EVOO ($3.50), which is exactly what ciabatta should be with a crackling crust and moist, chewy inside. Honey roasted carrots with coriander and bread crumbs ($6.50) are sweet, almost to a fault, but with each bite yield with a perfect texture.

Wood-oven pizzas are all the rage in Wine Country, and there are as many styles as there are Mugnaini ovens dotting the vineyards. Too often crusts get blistered and burnt, and carbon is only delicious on campfire marshmallows. Here, simple mushroom, sausage or Margheritas ($12.50 to $15.50) get the kiss of the oven without being smothered.

Small plates are made for sharing, and are mostly 6-8 bite portions. Best bets: Smooth chicken liver pate (served in a mason jar) with peach relish and grilled bread ($8.50); charred octopus with wild chicory and potatoes ($11.50) and yellowfin tuno crudo ($13.50) served with tangy yogurt, fennel, radishes and sea beans. If you’ve ever questioned dairy with fish, the spritz of lemon and spanking fresh flavors in this dish will realign that thinking. Picnic chicken, pan-fried light and dark cuts, was good, but failed to reach the heights of the rest of the menu.

The best desserts are simple affairs, a brilliant buttermilk panna cotta with crumbles of biscotti, torn basil and cherries or sliced Dry Creek peaches in zinfandel.

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The wine list runs two pages, well-curated with ten by-the-glass sips and a full page of Sonoma County and Italian reds. Wine cocktails are beer are also available.

If there’s a complaint, it’s only perhaps that the outdoor chairs aren’t made for American derrieres, pinching and squeezing in all the wrong places. The patio can get boisterous with kids and families enjoying themselves–which is kind of the whole point of this uber-casual eatery. So if you’re looking for a quiet rendezvous, update your expectations.

Though the motto, “When you’re here, you’re family,” may belong to an Italian mega-chain that dreams of authenticity like Campo Fina, it certainly fits. So pull up a chair, grab a glass of chianti and manga, manga!

Open for dinner daily, beginning at 5:30pm. 330 Healdsburg Ave. at North St., Healdsburg, 707-395-4640.

The post Campo Fina: Chef Ari Rosen does Italian with an American accent appeared first on Sonoma Magazine.

Healdsburg’s favorite Italian cucina is about to get a sibling. Chef Ari Rosen of Scopa has been keeping his new project, Campo Fina, under wraps for months, but with a mid-June opening planned, he’s finally revealing the details.

Located just steps from his Plaza Street restaurant, Campo Fina is taking over the former Divine Affair space at 330 Healdsburg Avenue. The menu: Small plates in the $10 range focused around the restaurant’s wood-burning oven. Pizzas, yes.  All day service, no reservations required, and a bocce ball court and patio, yes. Pastas and large entrees, no.

Jamil Peden, recently of Petite Syrah in Santa Rosa, will be co-executive chef with Rosen. “The menu will be woven between our two different styles,” Rosen said by phone on Tuesday. Peden brings a focus on seafood and vegetable dishes. Rosen, a passion for rustic Italian, family-style eats. Rosen plans to split his time between the two restaurants he co-owns with his wife.

Like Scopa, the space is a long, narrow rectangle, making for cozy, unpretentious dining. The beverage program goes beyond just beer and wine, with playful summer wine cocktails in development by Erika Frey, who took over Cyrus’ bar from mixologist Scott Beattie.

Campo Fina, coming this summer, 330 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg.

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