The Chatterbox

A report from Dana Massey-Todd: As previously mentioned on tablehopper, the large vacant space at 680 Valencia has become ~AMBER DHARA~, from Vijay Bist of Amber India. They are now open for dinner, and brunch on weekends is coming soon. I had the chance to stop by and chat with…

A report from Dana Massey-Todd: It seems the fancification of beer has come to stay, and I’ve got no complaints if beautiful places to drink it keep popping up. This time, from co-owners and cellarmaster Christian Albertson and chef Adam Dulye of ~MONK’S KETTLE~ comes ~THE ABBOT’S…

There are some exciting details about a new restaurant in an executive summary from a conditional use permit hearing to convert a retail space in Laurel Heights to a restaurant. It looks like CHEZ NICO (the name is subject to change) will be opening on Sacramento Street where the Blu…

After all the hullabaloo that ~PRESIDIO SOCIAL CLUB~ found a loophole to keep serving foie gras (the restaurant is on federal land, so they were exempt from following state law) … but not so fast. It ends up PSC’s landlords, the Presidio Trust, weren’t happy with the foie-serving fracas,…

The San Francisco Cooking School has announced plans to open January 2013, and they are currently accepting applications for full- and part-time students. In the meantime, they will be hosting a variety of events, demonstrations, and classes for the recreational public, most of which sound pretty freakin’ cool. At the…

Now open on Geary is MEN OH TOKUSHIMA RAMEN, part of a Japanese ramen chain known for housemade noodles and extra-rich Tokushima-style, tonkotsu-shoyu broth. Lunch Tue-Fri 11:30am-2pm and dinner Tue-Fri 5:30pm-10pm; Sat 12pm-10pm; and Sun 12pm-9pm. 5120 Geary Blvd. at 15th Ave., 415-386-8802. More Geary action: the Genki…

The Inner Richmond is about to get another bakery, this time in the form of PRETTY PLEASE BAKESHOP on 3rd Avenue. The shop is a brick-and-mortar location for pastry chef Alison Okabayashi’s pastries and special event cakes. She previously did special orders exclusively through Two for Two Cakes, but…

This is some very sad news: SOUL FOOD FARM, home of some of the best chickens (and eggs) around, has announced their plans to close. This is particularly devastating news after Alexis and Eric Koefoed worked so hard to come back from a fire in 2009, but they have cited…

According to Eater, SURIYA THAI has closed its second location in SoMa (the number is disconnected). Based on a website redirect, another Thai restaurant may be taking its place. For now, no pumpkin curry for you. 1532 Howard St. at 11th St. And a tweet announces this is RICE BROKER’…

There are some new hires at the Daniel Patterson Group (DPG)—the press release mentions the hiring of Brick Loomis and Peter Birmingham, who will serve as DPG’s service director and wine director, respectively, and Andrew Miller, who is the new chef de cuisine at ~COI~. Miller has spent…