This week’s tablehopper: carbs and crab. (free)

what’s cookin’

Hi there! What day is it? I know, I know, I was already sending this a day later by observing the long holiday weekend, and an invitation to attend Atelier Crenn’s 15th anniversary celebration on Tuesday night won out over staying home and writing my column, can you blame me? I had to heed the siren song of Billecart being poured all night! Many thanks to the Crenn team for such a playful celebration of high-low: mac and cheese with black truffles, cheffy hot dogs served in the kitchen, and a spin on Frito pie, but with salt and vinegar chips, egg yolk jam, smoked crème fraîche, and caviar. Pastry chef Juan Contreras set up a chocolate fountain in his pastry room in true Willy Wonka fashion, and chef Crenn was in truly exuberant form. Merci beaucoup! It got me excited to celebrate tablehopper’s upcoming 20th anniversary.

Exuberance was also bubbling in our Bay Area culinary world when the semifinalists for the James Beard Foundation Awards were announced this week. There was a strong showing of Bay Area chefs and restaurants and bars (including Kim Alter of Nightbird, Kosuke Tada of Mijoté, Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski, Srijith Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar, Foreign Cinema, The Happy Crane, Kevin Diedrich, The Valley Club, and many more), take a look here. Congrats, everyone! Final restaurant and chef nominees will be announced March 31st, and the JBFA ceremony is in Chicago on June 15th.

Are you planning to visit the FOG Design + Art Fair this week? (Here’s my writeup/preview from last week’s newsletter.) Also kicking off this week (as part of SF Art Week) is ATRIUM, a free alternative art fair at Minnesota Street Project (the public reception is Thursday; I’m excited to see She Bends will be in Skylight Above with neon installations). Go see some art and lift your mood.

Another cool thing happening tonight (Thursday January 22nd) is Club Curiosity, the annual Art Week bash from Ken Fulk and Saint Joseph’s Art Society. It will be a night of “artful wonder and creative play,” with their latest art exhibition, a lighting installation by Illuminate, music from all-vinyl DJ collective Room4Improvement, a bounce house and ball pit (maybe take the Louboutins off first), snacks, cocktails, and Mister Softee ice cream! Come gussied up in your most whimsical finery. VIP patrons 5pm–7pm; GA 7pm–10pm. $50/person (free for members). 1401 Howard St.

A lil’ something for you stay-at-home types (who happen to have a thing for anchovies) is this online presentation from Bay Area Culinary Historians with Christopher Beckman: A Twist In the Tail: How the Humble Anchovy Flavored Western Cuisine. Sunday January 25th at 5pm. Free. RSVP here.

I also have a couple more deals for you (last week was my offer for a free month of ClassPass, I was happy to see some of you sign up!). I previously mentioned I help keep costs for grocery basics down by placing an order with Imperfect Foods every few weeks (I shop local for produce and fresh items in between deliveries). They’re running another special discount right now, so I wanted to share it again: use my code and we both save $25 on groceries (from now through January 27th). 

Imperfect carries organic pastured eggs for $6.99, and I recommend the big 12 oz. bag of smoked salmon trim from Acme Smoked Fish (it’s such a deal for $11.99, and great for bagels). Do you like Ka’Chava smoothies? I blend it with a banana and a shot of espresso for an energizing meal before my yoga classes. (This seven-serving bag is an easy way to try it.) I also like to stock up on Heyday Canning’s harissa lemon chickpeas when they have them on sale.

Another thing to try out: I was using Ridwell for a few months in an attempt to properly and truly recycle plastics (did you see this recent and depressing article about how little is actually recycled in California?), and I then switched to Ridwell’s mail-in program since their white bin was too cumbersome for my studio apartment life. It’s sobering to see how much plastic packaging you generate in a month, ugh, but it’s also satisfying to know you can sort it and actually get it into the right hands to be recycled. You gotta start somewhere! Get 20 percent off of a starter kit with my link any time in January.

This week, I have a bounty of delightful French pastries for you to try at a new patisserie, even more wonderful Dungeness crab dishes (I really hope you lurve crab), some Valentine’s Day dining ideas, and other goodies. Let’s dive in.

In butter we trust,
~Marcia

the chatterbox

Ooh La La! Behold All the Buttery Magic at the New Le Carousel Patisserie at Union Square

Back in 2024, young couple Claire and Jeremy Mullet reached out to me about their new online French baking business, Le Carousel Patisserie, and after doing special orders and pop-ups over the past year, they have now opened their first brick-and-mortar café in the renovated and recently reopened Tilden Hotel (previously the Mark Twain Hotel) near Union Square.

It’s wonderful to see the couple be able to bring their business to the next level and have their classic French creations more accessible to the public (six days a week!). Claire and Jeremy met online during the pandemic, fell in love, and a few years later, they took a big step to launch Le Carousel together (chef Jeremy has always dreamed of having his own patisserie).

Jeremy grew up in a small town on the west coast of France (Royan), and has been working in patisserie since the age of 15, when he started going to trade school (he studied pastry for seven years, including a one-year chocolate program). After traveling around Europe, he arrived in the Bay Area to work at Mademoiselle Colette in December 2019, and then worked in Carmel, and later was at Le Marais Bakery. Claire, who does technical design at Marine Layer, is behind the look of the café, which features her favorite shade of green.

At Le Carousel, Jeremy has a deep respect for classic recipes and flavors, but he also likes to create different shapes and new combinations. Everything is homemade, including all the fillings and jams and spreads, which are such a delight in the raspberry jam–filled bow, as well as a pastry topped with tangy cherry compote and pistachio frangipane (what a gorgeous combination), and the lemon curd inside a cruffin that looks like a pastry knot. On the counter, you’ll see jars for sale of his adult version of Nutella (made with dark chocolate) and passionfruit caramel (he says blackberry caramel is coming next).

The abundant case of viennoiserie classics includes a croissant au beurre (Jeremy currently uses beurre d’Isigny, and is bringing in Échiré next, which he used to bake with in France), and a pain au chocolat (with Valrhona).

On the savory side, there’s a ham and cheese croissant (with a fantastic touch of mustard), plus Jeremy’s new creation made with croissant dough with beautiful detail on top from the cuts he makes in the pastry, filled with spicy cheddar and coppa. There’s also a seasonal item that looks like a petite striated loaf, with truffle and porcini mushroom béchamel inside.

You’ll spot a morning bun (with orange zest), a kouign amann, and their roasted pineapple–mango flambé flower with rum and vanilla (which won Best Original Creation at the 2025 SF Croissant Competition). Everything is beautifully designed and formed, exhibiting classic techniques and quality ingredients—there is so much care and artistry and variety on display.

If your palate tends toward the sweeter side (and a love for chocolate), the chocolate-almond croissant features a luxurious layer of chocolate inside, and the chocolate pain suisse has marvelous texture from its striped exterior, encasing chocolate custard cream and dark chocolate chips.

There is coffee and espresso service, featuring Sunset Roasters (who the Mullets met through their pop-ups). There are also salads in the case that you can bring home for a healthy lunch after enjoying all the buttery treats. Open Tue–Sun 7am–2pm. 345 Taylor St. at O’Farrell.

New Openings on Both Sides of the Bay, and The Wild Closes

Now soft-open in the Inner Sunset is the first SF location of Berkeley’s Grégoire (last July, I wrote about this project opening in the former Jamba Juice). Come in for their trademark potato puffs with dipping sauce and the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich, as well as grilled bavette steak with port-braised onion and blue cheese cream on ciabatta, house gravlax with lemon cream cheese on toast, or tempura-fried cauliflower in lavash. There are also soups, salad versions of the sandwiches, and a couple sweets. More items are coming, like a muffuletta, and a breakfast pork patty with scrambled eggs in a bun. While most people are doing takeout, you can dine in at a counter or at a few tables outside. Soft opening hours for now are daily 11:30am–3:30pm. 1300 9th Ave. at Irving.

Another export from the 510 to SF is going to be a third location of Oakland’s Grand Lake Kitchen. This March, GLK Noe Valley is coming to the former Mr. Digby’s on the corner of 24th Street and Church. Owners May Seto and David Wasem will be serving brunch all week, as well as bistro-style dinner, bar bites, cocktails, plus outdoor dining and takeout. I will keep you posted. 1199 Church St. at 24th St.

And now, an export from SF to Oakland: today, January 22nd, Flour + Water opens a new location of F+W Pizza Shop at The Lark Uptown at 24th and Waverly in Oakland’s Northlake District. Co-chefs Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow—with chef de cuisine Elliott Armstrong—will be offering their lineup of West Coast–style, 13-inch pies (available in a gluten-free, Sicilian-style square crust, which is also offered for takeout as “The Big Slice” square).

There are antipasti, mozzarella sticks, salads, and unique to this location are dry-fried chicken wings seasoned with Oaktown Spice Co.’s Grand Lake Shake blend (served with green sauce), as well as Flour + Water’s “Dough Boy” house Kölsch (a collaboration with Temescal Brewing in Oakland), and a new Lambrusco Slushie. Open daily: Sun–Thu 11:30am–10pm, and Fri–Sat until 11pm. 271 24th St., Oakland.

Back in SF: I’ve had a couple people in my new neighborhood ask what’s going on at the former Toast Eatery on Polk Street (1601 Polk St.)—the location closed on January 4th for an update, and according to the sign on the front door, it’s going to return as Goldenette Diner.

Crabby Bish: Even More Stellar Local Dungeness Crab Dishes You Don’t Want to Miss

With local Dungeness crab season in effect, you know I had to go out and do some tasty recon this past week. The crabs are big and sweet this year!

On Saturday, friends visiting town joined me for a crabby lunchtime feast at Popi’s Oysterette in the Marina, which I mentioned last week in my crab dish roundup. Chef Abel Padilla (who has been at Popi’s for the past year) wanted us to start with his special of Dungeness crab on wonton chips (they are delicate, eat them carefully over your plate; $32), with avocado, watermelon radish, and citrus aioli, and even though we were on a crab mission, the other special of albacore tostadas (with avocado) was a stacked and delicious starter (two for $20).

It was time to roll up our sleeves and get cracking. I adore the purity of chilled crab (half for $38, whole for $72) with brown butter (it also comes with house cocktail sauce). The fresh crab meat was so sweet and juicy and cooked perfectly, and Padilla wins for the cheekiest crab presentation (see above—I cracked up, LOL).

The stellar cioppino ($38.50) is made with delicately cooked mussels, clams, shrimp, squid, and tender rockfish in a beautifully seasoned tomato broth—I always appreciate it when places don’t overcook the seafood, it’s the art of cioppino. You can order it with a quarter crab for $15.

You can also swing by for crab cocktail, crab Louie, and their crab roll. End the meal with the refreshing persimmon panna cotta. Popi’s is a fun spot to hang out at on a sunny day, with lots of light in the corner location, outdoor tables, and friendly service. Meet up with a friend for lunch this weekend! 2095 Chestnut St.

Some recent additions to my running list of places serving badass local Dungeness crab dishes (for subscribers only) include the newly opened and stylish Arquet at the Ferry Building Marketplace from Sorrel’s chef Alex Hong and Joel Wilkerson.

One of the most memorable dishes from my dinner was the Dungeness crab brioche ($28), which is pure decadence and elegance—it’s like an open-faced crab roll, with a thick, golden slice of housemade buttery brioche slathered with a Meyer lemon béarnaise sauce (that was practically the texture of lemon curd!) and topped with dollops of fresh-picked crab, anointed with scallions and fresh dill. The kicker: get the supplement of 12g of Tsar Nicoulai kaluga for $48 to really dial things to 11. You deserve it. 1 Ferry Building.

You definitely want to grab a crabby friend and head over to Lily in the Inner Richmond for my buddy chef Rob Lam’s seafood “chaupino” for two ($88). He has created a uniquely SF spin on canh chua do bien, a Vietnamese sour soup that is made with catfish, tamarind, tomato, pineapple, bean sprouts, fish sauce, and vinegar, served with rice.

At Lily, Lam swapped out the catfish and is giving the dish the cioppino treatment, serving it with half of a Dungeness crab that is poached in the broth and then butter-steamed (just wait until you see how the kitchen trims the claw shell away so you can effortlessly extract the crab meat with your fingers, and how have I never eaten crab with lime until now?), plus New Zealand mussels, tender squid, baked sea bass, and smoked salmon collar to balance the sour notes and bring some heft and weight.

The complex broth is downright symphonic, with just enough heat from the bird’s eye chiles, plus tangy notes (with thin slices of pineapple and pickled mustard greens), and funk (I see you, shrimp heads), punctuated with two kinds of fresh basil (Italian purple basil and Thai basil) and ngo om (rice paddy herb), plus texture from the spongy-yet-crunchy elephant ear (taro stems), bean sprouts, and crispy garlic and shallots.

The pièce de résistance is...

225 Clement St.

the lush

A Splash of Events and Updates

A cool wine event for you: next Wednesday January 28th is Shaping California Wine: Asian Cultural Influences at Donkey & Goat Winery in Berkeley. There will be a panel discussion (moderated by Matt Wood of The Indie Wine Podcast), a wine tasting, and Chinese food pairing by James Yu of Great China. 6:30pm–8pm. $20; link to RSVP. 1340 5th St., Berkeley.

According to this post from Bottle Bacchanal in the Castro, which sadly closed earlier this month, a new bottle shop named Full Proof will be taking over the 18th Street shop. It’s due to open in February, and will offer a curated selection of spirits, beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages. 4126 18th St. at Castro.

the socialite

Valentine’s Day Dining

Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday this year, so you really should reserve your table soon, like, right now! Here are some ideas for you that have crossed my desk that I would book; I will continue to post options in my Instagram highlight.

Da Flora in North Beach has such a warm, bohemian-romantic vibe. Take a look at their Valentine’s Day menu here ($125/person), which includes osso buco and their fabulous butterscotch pot de crème (you’ll be too full to do anything afterward besides make out, LOL). 701 Columbus Ave.

Please note all of these prices don’t include tax, gratuity, and wine pairings.

the archivist

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