New Eatery Opens Near Napa Airport

Foodshed Pizza & Pasta is open for business in a casual setting near the Napa Airport.

Located at.at 630 Airpark Road, it is in the fomer site of Francis Ford Coppola’s restaurant, “Mammarella’s.”

Foodshed is a new kind of restaurant in Napa that serves Roman-style pizza by the slice, hot sandwiches, fresh pasta and salads.

The restaurant offers a convenient cafe for a quick and healthy breakfast, homemade Italian staples emphasizing seasonal ingredients for lunch and an extensive takeout menu and prepared take-home dinners.

In addition, Foodshed offers beer and wine.

Breakfast options include freshly baked scones and muffins, Italian-style coffee drinks from the espresso bar and tempting fruit and vegetable combinations from the juice bar.

The lunch menu features pizzas topped with house-cured meats, a range of house-made pastas and satisfying salads and weekly specials inspired by seasonal ingredients.

Patrons can choose to dine inside or out on the ample patio. Additionally, a variety of fresh pastas by the pound and sauces by the pint are available from Foodshed’s “grab-and-go” retail case for those looking for an easy dinner option at home.

Beyond its regular weekday business, Foodshed offers both on- and off-site catering and is planning special events in the near future, such as “pop up” dinners on Fridays and cooking classes on weekends.

Besides its menu emphasizing freshly made dishes from scratch, Foodshed Pizza & Pasta differs from most other restaurants in its work to establish an internship program that offers job training to underserved community members.

“The idea is to teach healthy cooking while fostering leadership skills and economic self-reliance among those with barriers,” says Giovanni Guerrera, principal owner and head chef.

The program is made possible thanks to Foodshed’s collaboration with On The Move, a local non-profit service agency.

Foodshed Pizza & Pasta will donate all profits to On The Move to oversee and manage the Foodshed Internship Program, including identifying and screening candidates among at-risk and low-income youth and immigrants desiring entrepreneurial experience.

Once selected, Foodshed interns will work alongside culinary professionals for three months, learn the skills needed to be paid in the industry, and receive job coaching.

Upon successful completion of the internship, On The Move will provide graduates with stipends and job placement assistance.

The first group of interns is expected to begin this September, and all donations to the Foodshed Internship Program are tax-deductible.

“It’s an ideal initiative for us to endorse because it has the potential to make such a big difference in so many lives,” says Leslie Medine, co-founder of On The Move. “Together, we’re creating a mentorship program to help young people learn life skills and gain economic independence.”

A Napa native and experienced restaurateur, Guerrera was first inspired by the idea of establishing a teaching kitchen while working as a chef at the American Academy in Rome where he lived with his family from 2010-2012.

The Rome Sustainable Food Project (RSFP) was established by chef Alice Waters of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, to nourish the Academy community while promoting more sustainable culinary practices and inspiring interdisciplinary exchange among resident scholars and artists.

The RSFP relies primarily on the work of guest chefs and culinary interns and seasonal ingredients found in Rome’s Lazio region – and Guerrera’s experience as sous chef and instructor there provided him with the impetus to begin thinking about a new kind of business model upon his return home.

“It was truly life-changing for those who came through the kitchen – for cooks, interns and volunteers,” adds Guerrera. In fact, two of Guerrera’s former RSFP trainees were so inspired by his concept that they relocated to Napa to help him make Foodshed a reality.

Guerrera has again teamed up with Sean Pramuk, Foodshed’s co-director and a food service industry veteran, following their successful management of Uva Trattoria in downtown Napa from 2002-2009.

So why the name? A foodshed is a geographic location that produces food for a particular population – including the land where it’s grown, the markets and kitchens it passes through and the tables it ends up on. Like the flow of water defined by a watershed, a foodshed outlines the flow of food from production to consumption.  

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Phone: 707.265.7760
Reservations can be made for parties of six or more.

Hours: Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

For more information, or to make a tax-deductible donation to the Foodshed Internship Program, visit us online at www.foodshedpizza.org.