Tamalpie Pizzeria Opens Friday

A town with enough pizza joints to serve up , and varieties is about to get one more.

After a buildout process that began more than 7 months ago, Karen Goldberg’s Tamalpie Pizzeria is set to open Friday. And while Mill Valley has no shortage of pizza places, Goldberg said hers will aim to please everyone.

“It’s all things to all people,” Goldberg said. “From the families to the couple on a date to foodies to bicyclists and people who are delighted by design and people who love hand-selected wines. It has a different energy and feeling than most places.”

Tamalpie had a soft opening last weekend for friends, family and curious passers-by. Starting Friday, Goldberg plans to be open for lunch and to-go pizza slices Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the first week. After that, Tamalpie’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

“It’s been great,” Goldberg said. “Everything was more expensive and took longer, but I have been so happy with the process. The city has been great to work with and the community response has been amazing. We’re thrilled.”

Goldberg, whose sister Susan Griffin-Black is the co-founder of EO Products, which plans to in March, describes Tamalpie as “authentically innovative,” and she means that in both the food and the design.

For the former, Goldberg and consulting chef Luke Wetzel have created a pizza using a traditional recipe “with super creative and innovative ingredients” and “only Neapolitan-style pizza dough aged for three days.” The two-ton “wood burning” oven is powered by infrared flames and thus “better for the environment,” Goldberg said. The menu (attached at right) features a number of pizza varieties, as well as appetizers and salads.

As for the latter, a number of design elements jump out at guests – some literally. A massive redwood beam spans from the back of the restaurant and through the façade to serve as a horizontal sign post near Tamalpie’s five outdoor picnic tables. An indoor fireplace serves as the centerpiece of a dining room that seats 70 and features tables that slide on a I-beam, allowing easy accommodation of different-sized groups. There’s also a small private dining room.

spent several weeks last summer creating a massive mural for Tamalpie but Goldberg said it didn’t end up being a good fit for the space. Instead, a bicycle motif dominates the room in a variety of creative ways, from bicycle handlebars and seats in the form of deer heads on the wall to bicycle shapes on huge sheets of copper.

“She has done such a nice job with that room,” said Patrick Seidler, the owner of the building as well as the adjacent . “Karen really has an eye for design.”

That eye for design dates back more than two decades to when Goldberg opened Rustico restaurant in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill district. A native of Pittsburgh, Pa., who has lived in Mill Valley for more than 25 years, Goldberg closed Rustico in 1996. She then bought Annabelle’s, in the space that is now on Throckmorton Ave. at Bernard Street in downtown Mill Valley.

“I only had it open and running for a year and then I got pregnant and I couldn’t stand the smell of food,” Goldberg said with laugh. She sold Annabelle’s to chef Chris Majer, who then opened Vasco predecessor the Frog and the Peach.

In 1998, Goldberg started flipping homes – buying houses, remodeling them and selling them. When the bottom dropped out of the real estate market, she eyed a return to the restaurant business.

“The real estate drop forced me to go back to what I really know,” Goldberg said.

She eyed the space at 475 Miller Ave., which was occupied by Mill Valley Art and Paper for five years until early 2010 and by furniture store Ini Itu before that.

“I just loved the space and the high ceilings,” Goldberg said.

She connected with Seidler, who liked her concept and emphasized his interest in making the place as bike-friendly as possible. In addition to owning a renowned bicycle products company, Seidler is the founder of Transportation Alternatives for Marin (TAM), which has been an advocate for bicycle- and pedestrian-centric accessibility within the .

“When that project comes in and connects Miller to the north-south greenway from Almonte (Blvd.), it will be a big boost for pedestrians and cyclists in this area,” Seidler said. “We want to get both tourists and locals riding their bikes in Mill Valley.”

To that end, Goldberg plans to offer water and air to cyclists stopping by before or after a ride, and she still hopes to follow through on her plans to offer valet bike parking at Tamalpie.

“We’ll accommodate bike riders where other places don’t,” she said.

Seidler said city officials had been supportive of the project throughout while making sure it complied with all zoning and accessibility regulations.

“They were supportive of getting a good project on this part of Miller Avenue,” he said. “They wanted to make sure the city has a thriving business environment down here.”

The 411: Tamalpie Pizzeria opens Friday, Feb. 3 at 475 Miller Ave. Hours for the first week are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. thereafter. Call 415.388.7437 or go to Tamalpie’s website for more info.