The Owners of the midtown cheese-centric eatery The Rind have announced they will open a new restaurant focusing on a different American food favorite — pizza.
“Honestly, who doesn’t love pizza?” said Sara Arbabian, co-owner of both The Rind and this new restaurant called La Crosta Pizza Bar.
La Crosta will be housed in a 1930s-era commercial building at 330 Third St., Arbabian said. The interior will have a 1930s art deco meets industrial motif.
The menu will feature artisan pizza and piadina sandwiches, said Arbabian, along with soups, pasta, salads and dessert.
Arbabian, who opened The Rind with her husband Steve Tatterson in 2013, said they are working toward a late spring or early summer opening, but an exact date has yet to been set.
The idea for La Crosta started to develop toward the end of last year, said Arbabian, and a location for the restaurant was secured in early January. A formal announcement was posted on The Rind’s Facebook page Monday saying, “The pizza rumors are true!”
For Arbabian, it isn’t a big leap from cheese to pizza.
The Rind has provided her with a vast knowledge about high quality ingredients that can also be found on most artisan pizzas, like meats and cheeses, said Arbabian. Plus, pizza was always her family’s go-to food when she was growing up.
While La Crosta will feature some traditional American favorites, Arbabian said the goal is also to mix things up and introduce patrons to variations on familiar dishes. This is something they currently do at The Rind with menu offerings such as African mac and cheese or a ratatouille grilled cheese.
“The tried and true are great for a reason,” said Arbabian. “There is a place for things that people love and inviting them to something new.”
But Arbabian said the main goal is to cater to the community and figure out what they want from La Crosta and then adapt to it. For example, she said, if the number one item ordered is pizza the menu will offer more types of pizza, or whatever the top selling dish happens to be.
“We are nothing without our community,” said Arbabian.
The West Sacramento neighborhood where La Crosta is opening has become increasingly lively in recent years as more people have moved into new housing near the Sacramento River waterfront. La Crosta will be near a satellite of Sacramento’s Burgers & Brew, which opened in a former fire station in late 2016.