Here are a couple quick sneak peeks of upcoming restaurant projects, and both involve chef Nick Balla, of Smokebread, and previously Duna, and Bar Tartine. He has been busy with his lunchtime Smokebread pop-up at The Perennial in SoMa, but according to this Forbes.com article, he has also been consulting on the menu for the upcoming BERBER supperclub in Russian Hill. Look for a North African-inspired menu, and they will offer live entertainment and performances in the back dining room (from belly dancers to aerialists). They’re targeting a November opening. 1516 Broadway at Polk.
In this article in the Chronicle, it mentions Balla is also planning a restaurant concept that will have the utilization of imperfect and surplus food/food waste at its core. Here’s more: “For his new business, Balla plans to have a central commissary and processing facility called Duna Kitchen, and to run Smokebread within it. The menu will have dips, spreads, soups and what he calls spoon salads — chopped vegetables bathed in vegetable-juice dressings (pureed from extra produce) best eaten with a spoon. The space will have to have room for equipment needed to juice, dehydrate and jar the tons of food he hopes to go through. There will also be a bakery for incorporating leftovers into bread, with out-of-the-box ideas like using dehydrated, oxidized (as in blackened) avocado to color and flavor a dark rye bread.”
Amazing, right? He’s considering a location in Bayview, stand by for updates and be sure to read the article for more details on this cutting-edge concept.
Smokebread (by Duna): it’s like your dream flatbread sandwich. Photo courtesy of Nick Balla.
