Cox: Campo Fina all in the family

If you love Scopa, Ari and Dawnelise Rosen’s wildly popular restaurant on the square in Healdsburg, then you’ll love Campo Fina around the corner on Healdsburg Avenue.

That’s because the Rosens also own Campo Fina. It serves similar great Italian food as Scopa, but without the pasta dishes, which according to Ari keeps them from competing. Scopa is so small and so popular with locals and tourists alike - TripAdvisor rates it number two of 81 Healdsburg eateries - that Campo Fina functions like Scopa II. Chef de cuisine Michael Degen cooks in both kitchens as well.

Scopa opened in 2008, Campo Fina in early 2012. The new place has some advantages. While Scopa doesn’t open until 5:30 p.m., Campo Fina serves food from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day, meaning you can get some of that delicious menu for lunch or a mid-afternoon snack. It also has a bountiful backyard with a bar, outdoor seating, a wood-burning oven, and a bocce court.

The inside room is long and narrow, with original hardwood floors and brick walls north and south. It was once a saloon called The Palace and in its current incarnation, is still a relaxing place for a drink, with both house cocktails (anyone up for a Hot Monk?) and classics. The wine list includes 21 white wines and 44 red wines by the bottle, mostly from California and Italy, and mostly in the $30-$50 range. Corkage is $20, waived if you buy a bottle from the list.

Service can be a tad sluggish when the restaurant is full, but not impossibly slow. Music might be classic mid-century Sinatra, but if the place fills up, you won’t be able to hear it over the din.

The bread they serve here is worth every penny. Larry Pacini’s Ciabatta with Dry Creek Valley Extra Virgin Olive Oil ($3.50 ???) is exceptional. According to the staff, Larry Pacini, a local guy, kept this recipe a secret until he lay dying, when he gave it to a friend of the Rosen family, whereupon it ended up on Ari’s menu. Its salt-crusted surface and puffy interior are perfect for dipping in the accompanying oil or in the tomato-y sauces of dishes like The Old School in a Skillet ($12.50 ???½), which comes with a small loaf of the heavenly ciabatta. Four luscious, juicy, soft, spicy pork and beef meatballs sit in a skillet with a rich tomato and smoked mozzarella sauce. As they say in Italy, che fa gola. (Yummy!)

Five kinds of pizza issue forth from the fiery mouth of the wood-burning oven, each with perfect crusts, airy and light, crunchy and slightly burnt where the yeast dared to puff the dough up into the intense heat, yet soft where the dough kept its head down. The crust of the Pizza Salsiccia ($16.50 ???½) was given a swirl of fresh tomato sauce, mozzarella, thin slices of red nardello peppers, and house-made sausage that could have had more character - the only blemish on this pie. It’s a big pizza, too, 16 or 17 inches in diameter. If you want to add spice to your pie, the waiter will set a big cruet of red-pepper-infused olive oil next to it.

Save some of the ciabatta to wipe up the sauce in Nonna’s Tomato Braised Chicken ($18.50 ???). A big breast and leg are browned, then put into an iron pot with tomatoes, onions, sautéed chard, and soft polenta, forming an intensely-flavored Italian chicken stew.

In an earlier visit to Campo Fina, Slow Cooked Octopus ($13.50 ???), tender and sweet-tasting, was served with potatoes and celery, plus fruity green olives, sour caper berries, and a tomato sauce made with squid ink. Contorni, as side dishes are called in Italian, are priced separately. Crispy Fingerling Potatoes ($9.50 ??) was an expensive bowl of potatoes, and they weren’t crispy.

For dessert, the Shakerato Superiori ($10 ???) seemed appropriate. Shakerato is espresso poured over ice cubes, shaken, and strained into a glass. This was superior due to its extras: cocoa-nib-infused grappa, crème de menthe, and cream.

Ahhh.

To sum up: If you can’t get into Scopa, go to Campo Fina. If you can’t get into Campo Fina, go to Scopa.

Jeff Cox writes a weekly restaurant review for the Sonoma Living section. He can be reached at jeffcox@sonic.net.