As we mentioned last week, the opening of Chris Cosentino’s latest project, COCKSCOMB, is here. Dinner service at the SoMa restaurant started last night. The appealing menu includes updated interpretations of San Francisco classics, ranging from celery Victor to tetrazzini (prepared with quail), and you’ll find Green Goddess dressing on Little Gems with crispy pig’s ear and radishes. Another SF classic: oysters, which you’ll find a variety of at the raw bar.
Since the space’s original wood-fired oven is still blazing, expect some dishes to have that special smoky kiss as well. The menu is not Italian, but you will find Cosentino’s extensive background in butchery and his love of offal apparent (yup, there’s a wood oven-roasted pig’s head on the menu). There are also some playful dishes, including Eggs, Eggs, Eggs (with chicken and duck eggs, trout roe, and tarragon aioli). Vegetarians, fear not: there are Cali-influenced dishes like toasted oats, with mushrooms, kale, and a poached egg.
This detail remains unconfirmed, but based on some social media tips, it looks like Ross Wunderlich—who was most recently the chef de cuisine at Charles Phan’s The Coachman (previously a sous at Hard Water)—is also in the kitchen. Cosentino’s business partner is Oliver Wharton, whose extensive background spans both back of house and front of house on both coasts, including director of restaurant operations for Michael Mina’s Aqua Development Corporation, and most recently partnered with José Andrés in Las Vegas for the opening of his two restaurants at The Cosmopolitan: China Poblano and Jaleo.
There’s a full bar, which includes Negronis on tap (and wine) and a focus on local gins, plus a dozen beers on draught and some ciders on the list (you can check it out here). And how handy, there are two bars: one is on the main floor, and there’s another on the upstairs mezzanine (there are 109 seats total). The loftlike space (designed by Celano Design Studio) has a clean and eclectic look, with an open kitchen and a long wood counter flanking it, artwork from local artists Jeremy Fish and Sam Flores, plus plenty of taxidermy, from roosters to a buffalo head. It’s great to see a new chapter for this special location. When it was Zuppa, and prior to that, Monk, it always had such a cool feeling—industrial and a bit edgy. Dinner is served Mon-Sat 5pm-12am. 564 4th St. at Brannan, 415-974-0700.
One more thing to note: a reader wrote in to let me know that PORCELLINO, owner Mark Pastore and Cosentino’s replacement for Incanto in Noe Valley, has closed. 1550 Church St. at Duncan.
The entrance to Cockscomb has a rooster to greet you (naturally). Photo: © tablehopper.com.
