Marcia Gagliardi

With the departure of pastry chef Luis Villavelazquez from ~ABSINTHE BRASSERIE & BAR~ and Arlequin Café, the new executive pastry chef is the talented Bill Corbett, who is coming over from Daniel Patterson’s Coi and Plum. He was formerly at MICHAEL MINA restaurant, and prior to that, was at…

I was curious about ~STRAW~, a new Twitter follower I got last week, and then SFoodie broke the story: it’s going to be a 30-seat restaurant opening in the former J’s Pots of Soul (and the subsequent and short-lived Soul). Partners Ari Feingold, chef Naomi Beck,…

There aren’t many places in the Mission to get Mexican food and margaritas (and mezcal), but by next spring or summer, ~TACOLICIOUS~ will be opening a second location in the former New College building on Valencia Street. Chef Telmo Faria will be overseeing both locations. Highlights: an adjoining tequila…

On a quiet stretch of Brannan in SoMa, there’s a new café that has opened called SHOWPLACE CAFFÈ—it has opened in a previously vacant office area of The Showplace Motor Works. Owner Catherine Twardos, a resident of the neighborhood, was unhappy with the dearth of coffee places in…

There are some changes afoot at North Beach’s ROSE PISTOLA over the next few months. Mark Gordon (Terzo, Rose’s Café) will be taking on the executive chef responsibilities (Rose Pistola, Rose’s Café, and Terzo are all in the Nice Ventures group). Gordon will be working with the…