The Chatterbox

As part of  the celebration of a new exhibition of medieval sculptures from Dijon, France at the Legion of Honor, five chefs from Dijon (and their four shiny Michelin stars) are coming to SF’s Fairmont Hotel, where they’ll be creating a culinary feast straight from Burgundy with the…

~AMERICANO~ is now in its third year of the Sound Check series, when up-and-coming artists perform acoustic sets in the early evening on the patio. Coming up on Wednesday August 17th is the Brooklyn-based Body Language (I dig their synth pop sound), and Wednesday September 21st is Penguin Prison. There…

Exciting news at ~THE DINING ROOM AT THE RITZ-CARLTON~: after 20 years of a fine dining format, the esteemed location will be closing to undergo a makeover and a total re-concepting. The new space will be more approachable, contemporary, and less formal—the publicist for the property emphasizes the feeling…

QUATTRO STAGIONI, the recently opened pizzeria from Pino Spinoso of Tiramisu, is now PACHINO and under new ownership: Spinoso is now partnering with Gabriele Originario, previously the opening manager and wine director at Farina, and most recently the GM at Hubert Keller’s Burger Bar. Pachino is a 35-seat pizzeria,…

74-year-old LOUIS’ RESTAURANT, the kitschy restaurant out by the Sutro Baths, has finished its renovation, approvals, and permits, and is reopening this Wednesday August 3rd. The family-owned restaurant almost lost their lease with the National Park Service, but fortunately the community rallied to help the Hontalas family keep it. Part…

SoMa workers have been lining up for sandwiches from DELI BOARD on Howard Street for months (it’s like they’re giving away sandwiches or something). But what’s funny is the line is at the door of their catering kitchen, and not an actual sandwich shop. Well, not for…

Nope, it’s not just pizza and burger places dominating our local culinary scene: banh mi is quickly proving to be the “it” sandwich of 2011. Not too long ago, Eater announced the closure of 33-year-old Indonesian Java Restaurant in the Inner Richmond (the owner reportedly retired). Now open in…

The Inside Scoop broke the story about the upcoming HAYES VALLEY BAKEWORKS project coming to the corner of Gough and Fulton (I’ve been wondering what was going in there since it’s on one of my bike routes). Alice Cravens (previously at Modern Tea) is working with the local…

Lots of groovy baked goods are coming onto the scene lately. Just found out Oakland’s STARTER BAKERY will now have some of their fantastic pastries available at super-cute farm:table in the TenderNob. Sadly, no kouign amann, but they will carry some of Starter Bakery’s mini croissants, mini…

Pig continues to be the new black. First up, both Grub Street and Mission Mission have been tracking what is going into the former Discolandia space in the Mission: PIG AND PIE. One of the owners handily wrote in some comments on the MM post, so here are the details,…