The Chatterbox

A party at MAC last week was all atwitter with this big hunk o' news about ~ZUNI~: long-term partner Vince Calcagno has sold his share of the biz to Gilbert Pilgram; a number of folks know Pilgram through his 20 years at Chez Panisse. Pilgram has a pretty…

Okay, the biggest hoopla on the industry's lips as of Monday morning was of course the release of the ~MICHELIN GUIDE'S~ ratings for San Francisco, which is scheduled to hit bookstores this Wednesday, 10/4 (check out the release event in the starlet). To recap, here…

Whoa, big changeup at ~JARDINIÈRE~: this is why I go out practically every night, because you never know what you just might stumble across! Oh, and it's fun to go out. Anyway, while swilling at CAV's first anniversary party, I found out acclaimed Executive Chef ~ROBBIE…

Folks in the Dogpatch area are gonna be stoked about this news, and pizza lovers just might make the trek cross-town for this one: a tiny pizza place will be opening (optimistically) by the beginning of November called ~PICCINO~ (it's an endearing Italian diminutive of the word…

This town seems to have baked goods on its mind lately (glad it's not just me): Potrero residents/Dogpatchers are starting their morning with fresh (organic) breakfast pastries and tarts at ~PETITE PATISSERIE~. Rachel Leising is behind this new venture, with over 20 years of baking experience, including…

Attention cheeseheads. (And I don't mean Green Bay fans.) We can enroll in a number of schools in our life: culinary school, dental school, driving school (that's what you get for rolling stop signs). Now, how about the dreamiest of them all, Cheese School! Sara Vivenzio,…

Fans of ~TABLESPOON~ on Polk Street (present company included) will be happy to hear they scored a liquor license! After weeks of waiting for the permit, it finally went through last week. Which is dreamy, because the space already has a great bar. Swing on by for a cocktail, and…

I am a bit bummed to not be in town for the opening, well, not totally bummed since Lake Tahoe is pretty darned dreamy, but checkity check it: ~THE FRONT PORCH~ opens today! You can see my previous mention of this fab new gastropub here, and they'll even…

So after some remodeling and a repainting, the old Julie's Supper Club on Folsom location is reopening within a week as ~CLUB J2~ (as in Julie's Two). The former business office was transformed into a dance floor, and the tented back room is currently closed until…

Just after ~ROOSEVELT'S TAMALE PARLOR~ was lovingly restored and reopened, there are some changes to report. One of our local tamale queens, Karen Taylor, is no longer consulting with Roosevelt's—the commute from Sonoma was a long one, and she is going to keep her attention…