A year in the making, the new home of pizza-with-style - Hot Italian at the corner of 16th and Q in the downtown Sacramento Grid - will be opening inside of three weeks. The owner's self-declared deadline: the Amgen Tour of California on Feb. 14.

"That's Valentine's Day as well," says Andrea Leport, the woman who has managed this eatery from concept to near-fruition. "And the next day is St. Faustino's Day, the holiday for the single."

Sounds like they're expecting business those days. And tying it to the big international bike race fits perfectly the theme of Hot Italian.

“We’re all about the two wheels,” says Andrea Lepore.

Hot Italian is a concept place that aims to serve lifestyle as well as food, says Lepore. The business really wants to serve cyclists and bikers of all stripes, and beyond its layout and such details as barstools made of old bike rims, has gone out of its way with the city to make it’s parking bike-friendly. The city has changed a couple of car lengths of parking into parking for motorbikes only, with more parking for bikes on the sidewalk.

And eventually, the pizza will be delivered – perhaps even on two wheels.

Hot Italian is also punnily named for charming head chef Fabrizio Cercaione, an Italian immigrant with a quick smile who was there when a group of us from SacramentoPress.com stopped by. He didn’t hesitate to toss a pizza up (literally) and fire it in the wood stove in a flash.

My interns got a taste, but I wasn’t quick enough; they assured me it was delicious.

But there will be plenty of chances to try Hot Italians’ pizza; the place opens in mere weeks, and is a very good bet to turn into one of the key hangouts in what is still a booming downtown Sacramento.