The Chatterbox

Just a little something for your spice alert system: the SF branch of ~MISSION CHINESE FOOD~ will be closed starting Wednesday May 30th for their annual summer vacation, when the owners of Lung Shan go back to China. The restaurant will reopen Thursday June 14th, when you can get your…

After GREAT CHINA suffered a terrible fire, the owners have decided to move from the original location on Kittredge Street and will be reopening one block away at the former location for Looney’s Smokehouse on Bancroft Way. I originally heard Great China was going to open a dumpling shop…

A few new projects on the way: first, SALTWATER OYSTER DEPOT AND WINE BAR is opening soon in Inverness. Luc Chamberland, formerly at Hog Island Oyster Company, is the key person behind the crowd-funded venture. The website mentions an oyster bar (they have a special relationship with Pickleweed Point Community…

Wow, with so many fantastic authors gracing our fair Bay Area bookstores, it’s hard to know which book events to attend. Why dontcha use this handy list to cross-reference with your reading-and-eating calendar? Anne Willan, founder of LaVarenne Cooking School, will be in town June 2nd-4th for her new…

Those of you looking to sharpen your epicurean edge this summer will have no trouble finding classes to sign up for. We’ve got a good number to get you started right here. Tim Nugent of ~SCALA’S BISTRO~ will show you the Secrets of Desserts on Wednesday June 13th…

Here are a few special dinners for your consideration. If you’re feeling flush, a few upcoming OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD dinners in the Bay Area have tickets available. Some of them (like a dinner with AQ’s chef Mark Liberman in Watsonville on Monday June 11th) offer a good…

Opening on Thursday May 31st is SALUMERIA, the project opening next door to Central Kitchen from the flour + water team. I took a tour of the space a couple of weeks ago, but sadly wasn’t allowed to take pics. Anyway, here are the details: this delicatessen is taking a…

A couple of weeks ago, I heard word about the Bon Vivants opening a new bar in the Renoir Hotel at 7th and Market streets called Rio Grande (although I had to keep quiet about it), and I saw signs for FoodLab on the side of the hotel; now a…

Chef-owner Charlie Kleinman and the rest of his ~WEXLER’S~ team are launching Wexler’s Back, a new barbecue shack and smoking truck on wheels that they will be parking on Commercial Street alley (behind the restaurant) for lunch Mon-Fri. Kleinman writes: “Gone is the ‘clever twist on BBQ’ from…

A random roundup of projects that are coming soon: first, chef Loretta Keller (COCO500) is partnering with Bon Appétit Management Company to create the menus and food for the two cafés planned for the upcoming Exploratorium location at Pier 15. The new location will open in 2013. Embarcadero at Green…