Flour + Water Hospitality Group

About

Flour + Water Hospitality Group is a culture-driven San Francisco-based hospitality company dedicated to creating stand-out culinary experiences that reflect the leadership’s shared commitment to quality, community impact and transparency. Led by Co-Chefs Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow, along with Kara Bratcher, Vanya Shekell, David Steele, and Dan Nestojko, the core group collectively operates Flour + Water, Flour + Water Pasta Shop, Penny Roma, Flour + Water Pizzeria, Flour + Water Pizza Shop, and partners in Trick Dog. Since the opening of the original Flour + Water in 2009, the group’s passion for cultivating community through genuine hospitality and memorable experiences has established the company as an industry leader. Co-chefs McNaughton and Pollnow’s creativity and expertise is on display across the group’s concepts with offerings reflective of regional Italian traditions and Northern California inspirations with their hand-crafted pasta at the center. Throughout the years, their approach has had an indelible impact on the Bay Area’s culinary landscape, the restaurant spaces often functioning as incubators, expanding Flour + Water’s influence beyond 20th Street.

In all we do, we strive to create a meaningful impact on our community – not just in how we treat our team but also in how we work with our purveyors, neighbors and the hospitality industry. We do this through forward-thinking employment practices, championing small suppliers, creating opportunities for those in our neighborhood, and by promoting and lobbying for meaningful changes in our industry.

Our Team Our Board Press

Restaurants

Co-chefs Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow’s creativity and expertise is on display across all of Flour + Water Hospitality Group’s restaurants with their hand-crafted pasta front and center in all of them. Throughout the years, their approach has had an indelible impact on the Bay Area’s culinary landscape, with their restaurants often functioning as incubators, expanding Flour + Water’s influence beyond 20th Street.

Currently FWHG operates Flour + Water, Penny Roma, Flour + Water Pasta Shop, Flour + Water Pizzeria and partners in Trick Dog.

Opening the doors in 2009 in the heart of the Mission District in San Francisco, Flour + Water continues to showcase a menu influenced by regional traditions throughout Italy with Northern Californian inspirations led by Co-Chefs Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow.

www.flourandwater.com

Penny Roma features an outdoor courtyard with a truly Californian vibe, complete with dimly lit lights, a large open kitchen and festive whole-album playlists. We want to throw a dinner party every night and invite you, all of our friends, to come share a meal and feel welcome in our space.

www.pennyroma.com

Serving as a lunch destination and bottle shop, Flour + Water Pasta Shop is also the home of all pasta production for Flour + Water and Penny Roma. Each evening the space turns into an extension of the Penny Roma dining room with a communal table and pasta bar held for walk-in guests. For those who aren’t looking to dine out, we stock over 12 shapes of fresh pasta, house made sauces and beverages to enjoy at home.

www.flourandwaterpastashop.com

Flour + Water Pizzeria is our group’s first venture outside of the Mission District, bringing our obsession with dough to a community long-recognized for its history of Italian cuisine, North Beach. With nods to classic pizza culture like a vintage TMNT arcade game and to-go slices served on paper plates, we want this space to inspire epic pizza parties for years to come.

www.fwpizzeria.com

From The Bon Vivants team – a kick ass, well made, no bullshit, neighborhood cocktail bar with great music, delicious drinks and food ’til the end.

www.trickdogbar.com

Consulting

Flour + Water Hospitality Group brings a depth of expertise and a range of resources to consulting. We provide expertise in many aspects of development and operations to ensure our clients reach their goals and vision. The Consulting Team, led by our Co-Founder and Executive Chairman David Steele, has over 20 years combined experience in the Bay Area restaurant industry and has successfully helped clients grow their business from inception to fruition. We have helped clients from concept development, restaurant design, financial modeling, menu development, culture building as well as building a brand, training staff in both the front of house and back of house systems, all of the way through to opening day.

Please email us to discuss your project.

Private Dining

In addition to restaurants, FWHG offers several distinct settings for private events and special occasions, including the Dough Room and Test Kitchen, which are both above Flour+Water, and The Upstairs, the large airy industrial space above Penny Roma and Trick Dog.

To book an event with us:

Submit Inquiry Email Us

The Dough Room at
Flour + Water

Guided through the Flour + Water dining room, guests are led to a private oasis behind the restaurant, the Dough Room. During the day our team uses this space as a prep kitchen, forming pizza dough and preparing other dishes that are served on our menu. At night the space is transformed into an intimate private dining room with a behind-the-scenes vibe.

The Test Kitchen at Flour + Water

Part of our 2022 remodel, the Test Kitchen is the home to our cookbook library where members of our culinary team are encouraged to learn and create new recipes. At night, the space turns into an intimate private dining space that resembles an elegant home kitchen.

The Upstairs
at Penny Roma

Our first free-standing event space, The Upstairs is an industrial chic space for culinary adventures, knowledge exchange, private dining experiences as well as cocktail-style events for up to 45 guests. With large windows overlooking 20th street, the space is transformative in nature, with the availability for the space to take on many different forms and seating arrangements. The menu is created by Penny Roma and utilizes seasonal ingredients with Northern California and Italian inspirations.

Careers

Flour + Water Hospitality Group takes great pride in having a strong company culture and unique, diverse workforce. We highly encourage BIPOC and LGBTQ+ to apply. Our highest priority is to foster a safe, positive, healthy and inclusive working environment, and provide the resources and support to help each employee succeed and feel valued.

We offer competitive compensation packages, including medical and dental benefits, 401k, and dining discounts. Every non-management employee in our restaurants shares in our tip pools.

Want to join our team? We are continually seeking team-oriented, enthusiastic, positive individuals who want to join our family and contribute to evolving our company culture in a meaningful way. Experience is less important than passion and alignment with our company values.

Apply Here Aplicar Aquí

Community + Culture

Our Culture

As a modern hospitality group, we are passionate about crafting delicious, innovative, and sustainable experiences + products that contribute to the well-being of our employees, guests and the planet. We aim to create an exceptional work environment where employees feel valued, engaged, and empowered. Our culture is our foundation, and we are dedicated to providing an inclusive + collaborative environment that encourages growth, creativity, and personal fulfillment.

Inclusivity + Individuality

Inclusivity is not just a buzzword, but a fundamental value that defines us. We recognize that each individual brings unique skills, perspectives, and experiences that contribute to our success, and we believe in a setting that supports personal freedom, autonomy, and self-expression. By cultivating a culture of individualism, we empower our employees to be their best selves, pursue their passions, take risks, and challenge the status quo.

Community

We foster a culture of community by supporting local farmers and producers, contributing to charitable causes, and championing those partners at our restaurants, as well as through events and our social platforms. We believe that by supporting local communities, we can create a more sustainable and equitable food system that benefits everyone. Learn more about some of our collaborators below.

We Support:

Sustainability + Regenerative Agriculture

We embrace a future-focused mindset that considers sustainability and social responsibility. As a founding member of Zero Foodprint, a nonprofit mobilizing the food world around agricultural climate solutions, we believe regenerative agriculture is essential for reversing the climate crisis. We aspire to be a vocal supporter and a conduit of information, emphasizing the importance of practices that return carbon to the soil. All of our restaurants, as well as our Flour + Water Foods division, contribute to Zero Foodprint’s mission.

Beyond our work with ZFP, we continuously identify ways to eliminate waste and source directly from purveyors who share our commitment to the health of the soil. Our definition of sustainability has evolved as we’ve broadened our knowledge and risen to the challenge of what it means to be a leader in this space. Our in-house butchery program was conceptualized according to that ethos, while also presenting an opportunity for education among our staff. Cooking is a political act and food has an enormous impact on our environment, climate and labor. We align our approach so that our restaurants are not just places for memorable meals, but vehicles for positive, lasting change.