Seafood on display at San Francisco's new California Fish Market Restaurant - San Francisco Chronicle

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In the middle of the pandemic, restaurateur Francesco Covucci started to reassess his three North Beach restaurants: Il Casaro, Barbara Pinseria and Pasta Pop-Up.

Not only were they all in the same neighborhood, the businesses all served pasta. Feeling the need to diversify during an exceptionally challenging time for restaurants, Covucci opted to close Pasta Pop-Up and replace it with something better suited for the coronavirus era. The result, California Fish Market Restaurant, opened this month with a seafood-centric menu and a retail shop, as first reported by Tablehopper.

“San Francisco is famous for the seafood,” Covucci told The Chronicle. “I always say to people, when you go to Naples, you have to have pizza, and when you go to San Francisco, you have to have seafood.”

Covucci, with partner Pete Fazio, built a parklet out front that seats 24 diners and remodeled the interior. Now, about 30% of the space is dedicated to an enormous seafood display. The restaurant sells some local sustainable seafood, such as halibut and salmon, as well as delicacies like oysters and octopus from further afield.

The bet on retail follows what Covucci has observed at his other restaurants during the pandemic, where diners will often buy large quantities of takeout as well as ingredients like pizza dough to maximize their outing.

“Even after things go back to normal, which will be in a long time, I think most people will keep the same habit,” he said. “After they go out, they’ll still buy things to bring back home and cook.”