The Chatterbox

Damn it, I hate hearing when a place from good operators closes, and in this case, it’s the nine-month-old ~VOLTA~, the French and Scandinavian beauty from Umberto Gibin and Staffan Terje. Scoop reported they closed on Sunday September 25th. A note on Volta’s Facebook page states: “We thought…

Unfortunately I won’t be in town to have a table at Litquake’s Eat, Drink, and Be Literary event this year, but you should totally swing by to listen to and meet a variety of food writers, chefs, personalities, and more, including Novella Carpenter, Martin Cate of Smuggler’s…

Did you see the weather forecast for this Sunday September 25th, the day of our SF AMATRICE event? No? It says APERITIVO WEATHER, people. That’s right, it’s going to be 81 degrees as we’re on the ~54 MINT~ patio drinking Aperol spritzes, Americanos, and Negronis courtesy of…

After running our little teaser about THE ELITE CAFÉ reopening very soon, it ends up that they are targeting October 3rd for the opening. To recap, Andrew Chun of Schroeder’s (Sidecar Hospitality) took over the 35-year-old restaurant space earlier this year. The chef is Sidecar’s executive chef and…

Some openings around town include WAXMAN’S PIZZERIA, which opened next to Waxman’s restaurant in Ghirardelli Square. The menu includes some fried apps and some main dish salads. There are also sandwiches like the JW chicken salad sandwich (which includes Jonathan Waxman’s famous chicken), a meatball sandwich, and…

Some closures to report on, starting with  PAMPALASA in SoMa. Back in May, we mentioned owner Jennifer Villamin was going to have to move (the rent is too damn high), and it looks like it’s closing any day now. Here’s hoping she finds another location for her Filipino…

For those who like to think about their food and drink, you won’t want to miss this next installment of La Cocina’s F&B: Voices From the Kitchen, which is all about Brains. The storytelling event includes Jessica Koslow of LA’s Sqirl, Kat Kinsman (senior food…

PLEASE NOTE WE HAVE CHANGED THE VENUE TO 54 MINT! SEE YOU ON THE PATIO! Hasn’t it been amazing to see how the restaurant industry has rallied to help donate funds to Italy after the horrific earthquake near Amatrice? So many lives lost, so many buildings destroyed. As San…

Fans of ~SOUVLA~’s awesome fine-casual Greek gyros and salads with spit-roasted meats, evil Greek fries and potatoes (so good), and soft-serve Greek yogurt will be able to indulge at a third location coming to the Mission in early 2017. Founder/CEO Charles Bililies will be opening the Souvla Valencia…

Over in the Outer Richmond, FIORELLA has all kinds of new things to announce, starting with their talented chef, Dante Cecchini, who came over from Marlowe, where he was chef de cuisine. His new menus are in place, and based on the really delicious brunch I just had this past…