San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Datebook, July 2, 2000 – Michael Bauer

"Ask me to name a perfect small restaurant and it wouldn’t take long to come up with Jianna in North Beach. The interior is sophisticated and whimsical, the service is casually efficient and the food borders on spectacular…

It’s almost as if designer Nancy Irish translated the creativity found in the food into the décor. The stylish interior is tasteful and understated with shades of blue. The restaurant is small…but the look is enhanced with impressive copper leaf on the mottled columns and the ceiling of the bar."

"Irish created graceful, sweeping light fixtures and sconces by finishing old woks and metal tubing in copper. The large pictures on the wall offer moody scenes of San Francisco, and the polished concrete floors and open kitchen keep the restaurant from being stuffy."

"The designer also created a small private dining area beside the black granite bar left over from when the place was Fuzio. The walls in that area are covered in a deep blue fabric, stitched and padded to form squares. It gives a tailored look and helps muffle the noise from the main dining room, which is loud but not unpleasant."