OUR STORY
Founded on San Francisco’s Chestnut Street in 2004, A16 is an award-winning restaurant named after the Italian autostrada running from Puglia, the home of burrata, in Italy’s South to Napoli, the heart of pizza country and rich terroir of the Gulf of Naples.
We take our pizza craft seriously, traveling to the birthplace of pizza napoletana to bring the techniques of making pizza to San Francisco. Our salads, pizzas, and main courses are inspired by Southern Italy. Think San Marzano tomatoes meet Jimmy Nardello peppers, Mediterranean oregano meeting California basil, and the richest, creamiest mozzarella and burrata—and so much more.
Owned and operated by award-winning wine director Shelley Lindgren, A16 has long been a family-owned, family-friendly restaurant. Our Corporate Chef is Yosuke Machida.
It’s both a neighborhood spot and a wine- and food-lovers’ destination, where people come for meatballs and pasta as well as seasonal specialties and Neapolitan traditions.
In 2012, we opened on College Avenue in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood. Each restaurant offers seasonal menus and award-winning Italian wine lists including Italy’s most renowned producers. A16 also has partner restaurants in Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan.
We make all of our pizzas according to Vera Pizza Napoletana requirements, the gold-standard for Neapolitan pizza. We source local produce and work with local artisans on our ceramics, paintings, and murals. We are your corner of Southern Italy in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The classic recipes of A16 are captured in the cookbook A16 Food+Wine, an IACP Book of the Year and winner of the Julia Child First Book category.
MEET SHELLEY
In a remarkable career of pioneering new concepts in food and wine, Dot.ssa* Shelley Lindgren opened A16 in 2004, A16 Rockridge in 2013, A16 La Pala in 2023 - and, with Japanese partners, opened A16 Tokyo in 2009, then A16 Yokohama in 2016. A16 San Francisco has garnered Michelin Bib Gourmand status since 2019. A16 Napa is scheduled to open in 2025.
In 2007, she founded and owned SPQR, moving the Roman-based menu from flat pricing to Michelin-starred for 7 of the 12 years of her involvement.
Lindgren brought modern Italian cuisine and wine into a new, fresh focus, so much so that she was knighted by the Consulate General of Italy in San Francisco, receiving the “Cavaliere dell’Ordine Della Stella Italia”designation (Dott.ssa) for her service to Italian viniculture.
Shelley’s involvement in the local community extends beyond the walls of her restaurants, having served as a board member for La Cocina, Guild of Sommeliers and Marin’s Slide Ranch.
Shelley’s newest book, “Italian Wine”, with Kate Leahy, released in August 2023, details the regional wines of Italy and their histories, while framing a fresh perspective around the more modern natural wines.
“A16 Food + Wine” won “Cookbook of the Year” and “First Book/The Julia Child Award” at the 2009 IACP Cookbook Awards. In 2012, she co-authored her second book, “SPQR: Modern Italian Food & Wine”.
Lindgren certifies Italian sommeliers for the Italian Trade Association, and is a regular judge for international wine awards, also teaching classes worldwide- from New Zealand to Mexico and across the US.
A Bay Area Native, Shelley is a graduate of Tante Marie Cooking School and USF.
EXECUTIVE CHEF YOSUKE MACHIDA
"My cooking philosophy reflects my japanese heritage and life in california. I enjoy creating simple yet well-made dishes, balanced to perfection." - Yosuke
I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. While in college, I started a part-time job in the kitchen as a dishwasher at a Spanish restaurant with an international paella contest winning chef. I fell in love with cooking right away, and after graduating decided to pursue a career as a chef. I moved to the U.S. in 2009, and worked as a line cook at Casanova and its sister restaurants in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
I then moved to San Francisco, where I began working with Chef Jan Birbaum at Epic Roasthouse and later Chef Roland Passot at La Folie. In 2012 I began working with Chef Hiro Sone as an Executive Sous Chef at Ame at the St. Regis Hotel, and later was promoted to Executive Chef. I left Ame in 2015, when I took the Executive Chef position at Chambers at the Phoenix Hotel. In 2018 I joined the Big Night group, and worked as a CDC at Leo's Oyster Bar and Park Tavern.
CHARLIE GUYARD
Guyard arrived at A16 in 2019, elevating our authentic Italian dolce with his elegant presentation. His traditional French techniques bring a light, seasoned hand to play with our seasonal desserts; celebrating every part of Northern California’s organic local produce, from pit to stem.
The ingredients that build Charlie’s vision are humble: telling a story of living close to the land, the intimacy of meals shared with family, from every day treats to the celebratory- every detail counts, every ingredient calculated to balance the on-hand materials.
Guyard celebrates a traditional, simple take, elevated by modern techniques and seasonal close-to-the land experiences, as well as taking full advantage of A16’s wood-fired ovens.
Guyard was born and raised in La Rochelle France, where he trained as a pastry chef at Chambre des Metíers, continuing as an intern at La Mascote, a traditional French bakery, under the mentorship of Christian Turcot.
Guyard then moved to London, working in French restaurants, discovering quickly that he preferred the pace and energy of restaurants over bakeries. Picking up techniques and processes, this was the beginning of his restaurant journey.
With a move to the Bay Area to work with Perbacco, with Owner Staffan Terje, Guyard trained under lauded Pastry Chef Laura Cronnin (now at Eleven Madison Square), where zero waste from local produce was the in-house rule.
Guyard then moved into his first Pastry Chef position at Gibson; a contemporary global fusion featuring live fire cuisine.
Guyard finds many parallels in French and Italian cuisine, and specifically its treatment of fresh produce- all his training and experience is on full display here at A16.