San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Former La Ciccia owners open wine bar
A new Italian wine bar coming to San Francisfrom the former owns of beloved restaurant Ciccia.
Binu Bonu — “good ine” in Sardo, the lanage of Sardinia — will en in late April at 230 est Portal Ave. The ace’s current occupant, ue Syrah wine bar, will main open through the d of March. Owners Massimiliano nti and Lorella Degan e known for the soulful rdinian dishes they rved at La Ciccia, like ttarga spaghetti and icy octopus stew. But nti emphasized that BiBonu will be a bar, not restaurant. “We’ve done the resurant already,” said nti. “We wanted to do mething that wouldn’t volve staying there all
day like we did at La Ciccia.” Besides, the space doesn’t have a kitchen. They plan to serve snacks like cheese and charcuterie.
The selection of about 50 to 60 wine producers will be mostly, but not entirely, Italian, favoring
small-scale winemakers that practice sustainable farming. There will be some Sardinian wines but, unlike at La Ciccia, that won’t be the focus. There will also be a wine retail component.
“We need to have wines that you can enjoy without food,” Conti said, “so we cannot have something that’s too austere.”
Conti and Degan sold La Ciccia in 2022 to Cheryl Maloney, a regular who was also the restaurant’s real estate broker. After 16 years of running the Noe Valley institution, the couple said they were feeling burnout and needed a break. Degan finally got the foot surgery that she’d been putting off for years, and they spent extensive time in Italy with family.
But they feel ready to take on a new project now, Conti said, and they’re excited about the West Portal neighborhood. Elena’s, a new Mexican restaurant from the family behind the popular Original Joe’s resta rants, recently open across the street fro where Binu Bonu will b and a high-end doughn shop from an acclaim pastry chef is in t works.
Conti recalled his ear years in San Francisc when he frequented Za zuela in Russian Hill a would have a drink Bacchus wine bar near while he waited for a t ble. He hopes for a simil synergy in West Port “We’re going to try have a good relationsh with all the restaurant in the neighborhoo Conti said. “West Port is one of those places th will keep evolving in t next few years.”