NOVEMBER 18, 2008 | SAN FRANCISCO So,
let’s get to some news around town. I heard that Jessica
Gorin is no longer the executive chef at ~BAMBUDDHA
LOUNGE~, and is now at Thirsty
Bear in SoMa. She will be launching a new menu there shortly,
stand by. In the meantime, I didn’t hear back from the Bambuddha
folks in time, but will let you know who the new chef is, or what
their plans are once I get the details. 601 Eddy St. at Larkin,
415-885-5088.
And
literally just before my deadline, I got word that Ryan Scott
is leaving ~MISSION
BEACH CAFÉ~ on
December 1st to focus on his catering business, Ryan
Scott 2 Go, and is reportedly “weighing
several compelling job offers.” Things are on good terms
between Scott and proprietor Bill Clarke—Scott is planning
to return to MBC for special events throughout the rest of the
year and into 2009. Clarke has hired a new executive
chef, Thomas Martinez, age 22, to head up the kitchen—Martinez
actually worked previously at MBC, and left to try private cheffing,
so now he’s back
(and will be keeping things seasonal). He has also worked at Soluna,
Greens, Aziza, Roots, and Foreign Cinema, as well as with Heirloom
Organic Gardens, where he worked directly with the produce and
restaurant chefs as a purveyor. 198 Guerrero St. at 14th St., 415-861-0198.
Who doesn’t love grilled cheese sandwiches? I guess you
lactose intolerant types aren’t big fans, but as for the
rest of you… I had a tablehopper reader tip me off to a
cool project that recently started up in the Chan Chan Cafe Cubano
space, tucked up off Market Street near the Castro. During the
day Monday through Friday, ~FEELGOOD
CAFÉ~ takes over and cooks up a variety of
grilled cheese sandwiches, with 100 percent of the proceeds going
to The Hunger Project and to programs ending hunger. In case the
name is familiar, the FeelGood Cafe is normally on university campuses,
but this is the first non-campus location. You can get organic
breakfast items, like Greek eggs or huevos rancheros or egg sandwiches,
and their unique spin on grilled cheese sandos include the Cheese
Louise! (cheddar, brie, apple, Dijon mustard) and the Sexy Mexy
(mozzarella, beans, avocado, pico de gallo, mango, jalapeños).
There are also coffee drinks available, made with organic coffee
grown by a women’s cooperative in Costa Rica. At night, Chan Chan’s Cuban
menu returns (Tue–Sat)—oh, and they also do weekend
brunch. So do your part in helping the FeelGood Cafe with their
mission to “end world hunger, one grilled cheese at a time.” And
support Chan Chan, who so kindly offered to host the project! The
café opens at 6:30am. 4690 18th St. at Danvers, 415-864-4199.
~TROPISUEÑO~ is
opening this Saturday in Yerba Buena Lane, serving taqueria fare
during the day to the lunch and daytime crowd, and will start dinner
service in December. Modern renditions of tequila-based cocktails
are also available, made with fresh ingredients, arriba! Starting
December 1st, dinner service will begin, and the restaurant actually
has a physical transformation as well: the taqueria line will disappear,
and other touches will happen to make it more restaurant, less
taqueria. During the switch to dinner, the menu will expand to
include antojitos and Jaliscan seafood specialties—there
will also be two signature moles, eventually four. The food is
geared toward authenticity, but is not high end like some other
SoMa Mexican places. The chef is Antelmo Faria, most recently at
La Salette in Sonoma, and Montrio in Monterey. Hours are 10:30am–5:30pm
daily, and dinner will be eventually 5:30pm–10:30pm. 75 Yerba
Buena Ln. at Market, 415-243-0299.
Time to dial up your heat tolerance: I got a call from the ~HENRY’S
HUNAN~ folks, and their Noe Valley location is opening
this Saturday the 22nd in the former Pescheria spot. This will
be the fifth Henry’s location, and will
have a similar menu (gotta love the meat pie and Marty’s
special, oh yeah)—they said delivery will eventually be
available, just not right now. Hours are slated to be 11:30am–9pm.
1708 Church St. at 29th St., 415-826-9189.
I learned the
former chef of Moose’s, Travis Flood,
is back from his trip east helping to open Laurent Gras’s
L20 in Chicago, and is now the executive chef at ~PICCOLO
TEATRO~ in Sausalito, focused on Venetian cuisine.
Flood also mentioned he’s making most of the charcuterie
on the menu. Chris Whaley of Picco in Larkspur
was the opening consulting chef, and now Flood, who started as
chef de cuisine, has assumed the role as executive chef, and is
rolling out his own fall menu. 739 Bridgeway Blvd., 415-332-0739.
Here’s
an update on a few Mission spots: ~GEORGE'S
BBQ~, the affordable rotisserie and carved meats place
I mentioned last
month, is due to open this week. A hofbrau-style lunch and dinner
will be served daily. This place might scar vegetarians for life,
so take note. 3231 24th St at Mission, 415-550-1010.
And awwww hell, the one week I was finnnnnally going to be able
to hit ~MISSION
STREET FOOD~, and now they are closed until December.
From their site: “We apologize for the inconvenience, but
Mission Street Food will not be at Lung Shan this week (or next
week, which is Thanksgiving). We are working out the logistics
of a new prep location and hope to re-open in December. We're still
accepting proposals from guest chefs/cooks and at this point, we
also want to hire a part-time prep or line cook. The bottom line
is that we want to keep doing Mission Street Food, but we're outgrowing
our current kitchen and staff.” Le sigh.
Meanwhile, ~PHAT PHILLY~, the authentic cheesesteak
place, is delayed until early December, and ~ZAYTOON~,
the Mediterranean wraps and falafel spot, will be opening soon
thereafter. Phat Philly: 3388 24th St. at Valencia. Zaytoon: 1136 Valencia St. at 22nd St., 415-824-1787.
Thrillist
has some deets on ~MIDPOINT~, the restaurant that is opening in the former O’Reilly’s
Holy Grail space on Polk. The new owner turned the design around
pretty quick, so I’m not expecting a massive transformation,
but reportedly the Gothic church elements have gone the way of
the Inquisition. The opening is slated for this Thursday. 1233
Polk St. at Bush, 415-924-2493.
This is always fun for me: some rock star tablehopper readers
wrote in some insider info in relation to a few of my recent reviews.
First, for those of you who were salivating over the dim sum descriptions
at ~S&T
HONG KONG SEAFOOD RESTAURANT~, and were wishing you
had your very own Eddie to take you there and translate the menu,
well, check this out! A regular who been going since it opened
about 20 years ago (and said, “They are at the top of their
game right now, I think, both for dim sum and dinner.”) had
this to share: “If you ask at the front desk, they'll give
you a supplementary checklist with the English translations of
the un-translated part of the regular dim sum checklist. The Salt
and Pepper Tofu that you mentioned is on that list along with one
of my favorites, braised stuffed tofu skins—they are stuffed
with pork and are absolutely delicious. Also on that list are shrimp-stuffed
eggplant and shrimp-stuffed green peppers and some bargain items,
many of which are really quite good.” Okay?! Already plotting
my return. And you? 2578 Noriega St. at 33rd Ave., 415-665-8338.
And then another fab reader, Cara, had great suggestions for fellow
downtown desk-less fans of ~THE
SENTINEL~ who wonder where to eat their delicious
sandwich. Here’s more from her entirely helpful email: “I
recommend one of the two lovely public rooftop gardens accessible
from Crocker Galleria across Market. The nice one on the corner
of Post / Montgomery / Market (over the gorgeous old Wells Fargo
bank) has a prominent entrance from the top floor of Crocker Galleria.
If it's raining, you can snag a table inside Crocker Galleria.
Or go to the inside public space around the corner from Sentinel
at 55 Second St. There's a smaller, more hidden rooftop garden
that faces Sutter and the historic Halladie building. From the
top floor of Crocker Galleria, go to the unmarked staircase in
the NW corner of the building and go up. It's also accessible from
the Galleria Park Hotel. Excellent for good weather days when everywhere
else is busy. If you want to explore for a couple of hours, a great SF
City Guides tour to many of the public spaces in downtown (including
more rooftop gardens) is offered twice every Friday.” Thanks
ladies—brownie points to both of you!
And one more tidbit I plan to put to use: the groovy folks at REBAR have
even created an interactive map of downtown privately owned public
open spaces, check
it out here.
Executive chef Richard Corbo of ~DUCCA~ has
prepared a special five-course squash menu paired with regional
Italian wines imported by Stefano Biscotto of Trilussa Wines. The
dinner will be held in the private dining room this Wednesday November
19th. 7pm, $79 per person, and includes the wine. The squash menu
will continue to run for the next couple months while squash is
in season (but without Wednesday’s nice wine deal). 50
Third St. at Mission, 415-977-0271.
Slow Food Nation wanted
to host a few more events before the Victory Garden closes up December
6th. This Saturday November 22nd there will be a ~COMMUNITY
EAT-IN~ from noon–3pm. Here’s more: “An Eat-In is
a group of people gathering in a public space in order to share
a meal. Come to the Victory Garden in front of City Hall to represent
your community and break bread with others who want to make sure
everyone has access to good, healthy, real food. The
meal is a potluck and free of charge. Please bring your own plate,
cup, and silverware, and some home-cooked food to share with your
neighbors. It is free of cost and open to the
first 200 who
register. Organizers will provide tables and chairs.” I
heard there are still some seats remaining, get on it! And no,
don’t show up with a bucket of KFC.
I
swore I was not doing any more Thanksgiving coverage, but I had
to let you know about one more thing, because it really sounds
that good. Well, really bad for you good. Yats, the New Orleans-style
po’ boy shop in Potrero Hill will not only be selling ~LOUISIANA
FRIED TURKEYS~ for Thanksgiving, but they will be doing
an open
fry on Wednesday November 26th from 7am–10pm
and Thanksgiving morning from 7am–12pm! Which means you bring
your own turkey, choose your marinade, and they fry it for you,
so you don’t have to deal with a vat of scary hot oil. Read
the details on
the site, and if you’re interested, be sure to call and
reserve your spot! $32, cash only. At Jack’s Club, 2545 24th
St. at Utah, 415-282-8906.
More bird news: ~THE
LARK CREEK INN~ is doing Southern Fried Chicken
Sundays for $19.95, which includes three pieces of sesame-crusted
fried chicken, mashed potatoes, braised organic greens, and
a buttermilk biscuit served with sides of honey butter, house-made
red chili jam, and chili vinegar for the greens. Leave the
gun rack at home. Served for dinner from 5pm–9pm. 234
Magnolia Ave., Larkspur, 415-924-7766.
This one is
a bit out of city limits, but it’s your chance
to visit the gorgeous grounds of McEvoy
Ranch during harvest (the ranch is usually closed to guests)!
Sunday, December 7th is the ~COMMUNITY
OPEN HOUSE~, with guided ranch tours,
music, refreshments, and your chance to stock up on some olio nuovo
in the gift shop. The event is free, but reservations are required.
5935 Red Hill Road, Petaluma.
Down
in San Mateo, ~ESPETUS
CHURRASCARIA~, the Brazilian restaurant known for its
parade of meat on skewers, has opened its second location. Turn your
dial to green, and try 12–14 different types of meat that will
be brought and carved directly on your plate.
The menu is offered on a set-price basis ($49.95 for dinner, $23.95
for lunch Monday–Friday, $32.95 for lunch Saturday–Sunday)
and includes access to the Brazilian-inspired salad and hot plate
bar with rice, beans, and a varied choice of fish, chicken, stroganoff,
lasagna, sushi (hmmmm—how’d that get in there?), and
other dishes, plus many vegetarian selections. Dessert
is served a la carte. My best advice is don’t bother eating
the entire day before going there. There is also a full bar and lounge
area. 710 South B St. at 7th St., San Mateo, 650-342-8700.
Got
a hot tip? You know I'd love it (and you). Just reply to
this email! 
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