what’s cookin’
Hey hey! Happy Thursday to you!
On Tuesday evening, I popped by the 48 Hills/SF Bay Guardian party at El Rio to celebrate the Bay Guardian’s 60th anniversary, 13 years of 48 Hills, AND their 52nd Best of the Bay winners, which included tablehopper as a 2026 Editors’ Pick, thank you very much! We noshed on empanadas from Chile Lindo (I was asked to help curate the party snacks) and owner Paula Tejeda sent me home with a few in my purse since I needed to scoot back to my desk to finish writing this beast of a column. Awwww.
I’m glad my deadline was running later this week, because this morning, I was sent a link to this The Last Word feature that just came out on the final page of the November issue of San Francisco magazine! Thanks to Katie Sweeney for the “Table Talk” Q&A (great job editing down all my long answers, LOL), and to Ashley Rose Conway (Craft & Cocktails) for the fabulous portrait from tablehopper’s 20th anniversary cocktail party at 15 Romolo. Go fempire!
After sending last week’s newsletter, I posted pics from tablehopper’s 20th anniversary PrimeBird dinner (take a look here), as well as a recap of the fab reception at Foodwise’s Sunday Supper. Let’s keep the party going! Tonight (Thursday evening), I’m kicking off my birthday festivities early with friends at The Peach Pit Cabaret with Lady Camden at Bimbo’s 365 Club, my favorite vintage venue in The City. Sunday is my actual birthday, which I’ll be celebrating with my sweet parents and sis over family dinner (my preferred table). There will be Champagne! (There already is, to be honest.)
Last week, I ran a teaser about a giveaway I’m hosting this week for supporting subscribers, so let’s do this. On Monday November 2nd, I’m honored to be emceeing the 20th anniversary cocktail party for Perbacco Ristorante + Bar! Another Vent’Anni celebration! 🥂 Eight tablehopper readers (and their guests) can join me in raising a glass to owners Umberto and Leslie Gibin for 20 years of top-notch Piedmontese cuisine and wines and outstanding service—total excellence for two decades. (Be sure to read below about their anniversary menu running from November 5th–7th.) This invite-only party...
Please don’t forget to vote this week! Election Day is coming on Tuesday November 3rd, and it’s time to return that ballot. Personally, I’m not returning my ballot by mail with all the shenanigans lately. You can drop off your ballot at any of the City’s 37 official drop boxes. Every drop box shows the City seal and the American flag (just look at Miss MORE! posing next to one so you know what it looks like, if you can manage to take your eyes off her for a second), and is accessible, outdoor, and open 24/7 until 8pm on Election Day. You can drop off your ballot at the City Hall Voting Center during Voting Center hours, and on Election Day, you can drop off your ballot at City Hall or at any of the 501 polling places in San Francisco from 7am–8pm. VOTE early, vote now.
This Saturday evening, all eyes will be on the Valkyries playing Game 7 of the 2026 WNBA Finals against the Atlanta Dream, back in Ballhalla! Winner takes all! SF is going to be LOUD. Let’s gooooooo!
Happy Halloween and Samhain and Día de Muertos and Scorpio SZN. GO VALKS!
🥂🥂🥂
~Marcia
the chatterbox
Flour & Branch Finally Reopens in Its New South Park Nest, Adding Brunch, Nostalgic Supper, and More to Its Lineup of House-Baked Goodies
Back in May, I wrote about the intended soft-opening of the new home for Flour & Branch; owner and baker Lauren Arnsdorff had to close the original SoMa shop after “severe flooding and building failures at her leased location, [and] prolonged disputes related to landlord negligence.” It has been an arduous journey, and then the June opening got snagged with a few final construction and permit items. But now, Flour & Branch really, truly opened a couple weeks ago, and this weekend (October 30th–November 1st) is the grand opening, with the launch of the full menu, a few Halloween festive touches, and a giveaway for five lucky guests. (I’ll be writing more after I visit in the coming week, but for now, I wanted you to know about this weekend’s grand opening.)
Arnsdorff has expanded her offering of soft-baked cookies, pastries (both sweet and savory), croissants, and house breads to include brunch (with dishes like red corn chilaquiles, ricotta-banana pancakes, croissant and bagel sandwiches, and a Monte Cristo on shokupan), plus a new supper with nostalgic favorites (think pigs in a blanket with beer cheese, cornbread potpie, brisket dip au jus, creative sourdough pizzas with toppings like house porchetta, and a tableside cheese wheel), new desserts (including a dessert dim sum cart), along with botanical and adaptogen apéritifs; you can look at all the menus here. The space looks cozy, with lots of texture and patterns, low-slung upholstered banquettes, and eye-catching light fixtures. Hours are expanding to Tue–Fri 8am–7pm, and Sat–Sun 9am–7pm. Brunch is until 2pm, and supper runs 2pm to close. 155A South Park St.
Jerry’s Roast Pork Temporarily Closes, But Owner Matt Kosoy Has a New App for Artisan Bakers Fresh Out of the Oven
My fellow fans of the Philly-inspired, thoughtfully constructed roast pork hoagies at Jerry’s Roast Pork will be dismayed to learn the hoagie shop at Two Embarcadero has temporarily closed through the end of the year. I reached out to founder Matt Kosoy (also of Pacifica’s Rosalind Bakery), and he confirmed he has paused operations for now, citing he can’t operate at the “beautifully weird” location after his best efforts for the past year (he opened Jerry’s in November 2025). His meatball hoagies and the supreme vegan hoagie were also pretty incredible, but it was always a next-level challenge to find his shop. Stand by for more. 2 Embarcadero Center, Lobby Level (whatever that meant!).
In the meantime, Kosoy has been burning the midnight oil creating a web app and operating system for artisan bakers called Yecora (named after Yecora Rojo, a strain of red wheat that grows in Central Valley, which he uses about 15–20 percent of in his bread flour mix). Yeah, Kosoy isn’t just a badass baker with 10 years of experience—he also has a background as a web developer, and he has been writing this software since March.
Yecora functions like a service, designed to help bakers manage and scale their business, whether they’re a home baker interested in making two loaves from a famed bread recipe, to a nano baker with a cottage food permit who wants to scale up for a farmers market stall, or wholesale, retail, catering, and more. Your first 5 clients are free, and you only pay as your client list grows. The app will help the bulk bread community share bread formulas (which includes a family tree), scale and plan production, build delivery routes, generate invoices, and more, all from someone who has had to work through it all firsthand. It’s pretty mind-blowing. And the beta just went live, check it out!
Another Temporary Closure (and Changes) at Donají on 24th Street
A couple weeks ago, Donají in the Mission...
The Closure of Two Businesses on Divisadero from Way Back
Wow, damn, after 40 years, it looks like Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen on Divis has officially closed. It has had erratic hours and temporary closures over the past couple months, and my friend who lives in the neighborhood said it has been dark for a few weeks and is looking pretty tagged up. Yelp says it’s closed, the Popeyes website doesn’t list the location anymore, and I haven’t been able to call or order anything, so it looks pretty dunzo. There was an article in SFGATE a few years ago that reported a 7-story/17-unit condo was proposed for the location, and there were just three years left on the lease, so the timing tracks. At least the Popeyes location on Fillmore is still open for when a craving for their spicy chicken sandwich strikes. 599 Divisadero St. at Hayes.
Another old-timer, Bus Stop Pizza, closed this summer after 45 years (owner Sam Heng and his wife retired), and the SF Business Times reported Figs N Olives Palestinian Bakery and Pizzeria from chef Marwan Awayssa will be taking its place. 256 Divisadero St. at Haight.
A New Waterfront Café Is on the Way
by Savannah Leone Bundy
Buen Rallo Hospitality Group (Il Parco, Suspiro) is not only busy opening La Piazza next year in Union Square, but is also teaming up with Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy to bring an all-day café to the Embarcadero. Il Porto will be designed to serve the waterfront throughout the day. Situated at the departure point for Alcatraz, the café will offer guests seasonal bites, bar service, coffee, and grab-and-go items. The 3,760-square-foot location is already under construction and scheduled to open at Pier 31 in spring 2027.
New, Casual Bites Around Town
tablehopper media researcher ran across Paku near City College...
Chef Departures and Updates
Perbacco Is Running a 20th Anniversary Menu November 5th–7th (with a Special Guest Chef Appearance!)
When Perbacco was about to open 20 years ago, now-legendary owner Umberto Gibin and chef Staffan Terje were poised to introduce San Francisco to a refined and luxurious kind of Piedmontese cuisine this Cal-Ital and Tuscan town never knew, with a deep wine list to match. Staffan was also a trailblazer in the housemade salumi program game (with their red Berkel slicer), and trained so many cooks who went on to become great chefs. The restaurant has been an anchor in the Financial District in spite of the area’s stormy seas for the past six years, and every time I swing by for dinner or grab a drink at the bar, there’s Umberto, who still works the dining room nearly every service—for 20 years!
In 2011, S.Pellegrino’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants named Perbacco Best Authentic Italian Restaurant in North America. Over 20 years, it has earned Michelin recognition year after year, a Bib Gourmand for a decade, and James Beard Award semifinalist honors for Outstanding Wine Program (2012) and Outstanding Service (2015), with Umberto named a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurateur that same year. In 2018, he was named a Cavaliere del Tartufo e dei Vini di Alba for his work bringing Italian culture to the West Coast.
When Perbacco first opened (on October 25th, 2006), the menu included the raviolo all’uovo (truffle ricotta and farm egg filling), the iconic agnolotti dal plin, and grissini rubatà, and all three will be on a special anniversary menu running Thursday November 5th–7th, and founding chef-partner Staffan Terje will be coming out of retirement and joining longtime chef de cuisine Toby Nah-Ambrocio and returning to the kitchen that Saturday.
The four-course menu (antipasto, pasta, secondo, and dolce) will be $95, with an optional wine pairing for an additional $45, both available alongside Perbacco’s full dinner menu. (I always love to bring some brutti ma buoni/“ugly but good” cookies home.) Here’s to 20 years of excellent hospitality and cuisine! Reserve via OpenTable. 230 California St. at Battery.
the sponsor
Invest in The Epicurean Trader So They Can Relocate Their Bernal Heights Location (While You Enjoy Membership Perks)
The Epicurean Trader is a female-founded business started by immigrants from New Zealand. For 11 years, we’ve grown market by market without outside investors, championing small-batch and local makers, bars, and restaurants across our four San Francisco markets. We survived COVID, rent increases, and food inflation. If you work in this industry, you know what that means!
In August, we had to close our Bernal Heights store when the lease expired, and the new rent became unworkable. Now, we’re raising money on StartEngine to relocate and keep serving the community that has supported us. We have a space in mind, but we won’t sign a lease until we know the capital is there.
Every investor gets an Insider Membership with 15% off everything, including our café–great news if you cook, mix, or stock a bar. At $5,000+, you also get our Provisions Club, a personalized quarterly subscription of 8–10 curated items. Think “Stitch Fix for gourmet food.”
the lush
SF’s First Arab- and Japanese-Inspired Cocktail Bar Soft Opens Next Week
There’s a new sign hanging on the corner of Folsom and 14th Street that says Yabani, which means “Japanese” in Arabic, a nod to the space’s former incarnation as a Japanese whiskey bar. The Dajani Group (Bar 821, Tsunami Panhandle) opened Nihon Whiskey Lounge in this location in 2006, a pioneer with its extensive Japanese whiskey collection—it would have been another member of the 20-year club over here, but closed at the onset of the pandemic.
Consulting creative and beverage director Mohammed “Mo” Zagha (who is half Jordanian) worked with Palestinian owner Khaled Dajani on the reboot of his Bar 821 on Divisadero in 2024, creating a choose-your-own-adventure menu of cocktails (like fizzy or refreshing, floral or fruity), and now they’re leaning into a similar format at Yabani, but highlighting their shared Arab backgrounds in this new concept. Yabani blends Japanese and Arab flavors, traditions, and hospitality, placing Japanese shochu and whisky alongside 15 kinds of Arab arak.
Zagha has been exploring the parallels of cross-cultural flavors (like shiso and parsley), and discovering unexpected pairings that work well, like kombu and damask rose. He’s sourcing dried herbs, spices, flowers, and botanicals from the nearby San Francisco Herb Company, and then creating infusions, extractions, hydrosols, and distillations, which cuts down on raw ingredient waste, while some will show up on your glass, like a rose petal salt rim.
I first met Zagha when he was the beverage director at The Linden Room from 2017–2018, and then he was at The Battery, and he has been working for the past eight years at Diageo (most recently as the division educator, where he got to nerd out on all kinds of things, from beverage design to leading a fermentation workshop at Tales of the Cocktail).
Lately, he has been geeking out on soda water, tasting through many kinds to understand what makes true mineral waters like Topo Chico taste different from constructed sodas (beyond the carbonation), deep diving into the science of minerals and salt, and how calcium lactate or magnesium chloride makes things taste dry or sweet or balanced or can pack some bite. And by creating their own house acid water, they can add sour notes to cocktails without generating any fresh citrus waste. Nerdy but sustainable!
So, it should be no surprise to learn that carbonated highballs are the primary format at Yabani. Guests will choose their spirit (vodka, gin, mezcal, tequila, rum, whiskey, shochu, arak, or N/A) to add to six different N/A highball cocktail batches on draft, from floral (damask rose hydrosol with toasted kombu, which gives it a gulp-able umami quality), to fruity (watermelon juice with yuzu kosho and vanilla, unexpectedly garnished with a pickled onion, which is kind of like eating a watermelon salad with sliced red onion—all it needs is some feta on the cocktail pick!), to herbaceous (cypress hydrosol with parsley tea), as well as sour, nutty, or umami (the last two are nitro). And, they’re all just $12.
I was invited for a preview tasting while they prep for their soft opening, and the highballs I tried were very crushable and refreshing yet complex and intriguing. If you’re not sure which spirit to choose, the bar team can make a recommendation. They know some of the ingredients may be unfamiliar, so the last page of the menu has a list of terms, from bakanana to hydrosol.
There’s also a list of Yabani standards (not highballs), like the Yabani Martini (a little wet, a little dirty, with gin or vodka), plus sake blended with vermouth, Empirical Olive spirit, and a housemade Levantine brine of 20-plus ingredients (like mastiha, kombu, and mahleb), garnished with olives tossed in a brilliant shichimi togarashi and za’atar mix that you will want in your life.
For the soft opening, Yabani will be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 6pm–1am, starting Friday November 6th, and expanding to more nights in January (possibly adding Thursdays in December, but it depends upon how staff training goes). In February/March 2027, a Japanese-Arab food menu will be added, so get ready for more exciting flavor intersections. 1779 Folsom St. at 14th St.
Even More Bar News and Venue Updates
After seeing one of my favorite local bands, The Seshen, perform at Bottom of the Hill a couple Fridays ago, I was so relieved to find out a few days later that it wasn’t the last live show I was likely going to see there after all! In an exclusive story in COYOTE, you can read the great news that the live music venue will play on with new ownership, and half of the staff is reportedly going to stay. The New Year’s Eve show will now be a farewell party for longtime owners Kathleen Owen, Ramona Downey, and Lynn Schwarz, instead of a closing party. I really enjoyed the story by Emma Silvers, be sure to read it—it’s exactly the kind of feel-good SF news we all need. Rock on! 1233 17th St.
It looks like The Cinch Saloon is going to reopen...
Another place on my to-visit list: there’s a new aperitivo bar (Torino Bar Aperitivo) that recently opened on Van Ness in Russian Hill (prior to the pandemic, it was Ho’s Bootleg Bar & Kitchen). It’s from Sean Halpin, who was a partner in Key Klub (so expect some natural wines on the list); he previously worked at Cellarmaker and brewed at Social Kitchen and Brewery. I reached out to get a copy of the menu, so here you go!
Hours are Tue–Wed 4pm–10pm, Thu 4pm–11pm, and Fri–Sat 4pm–12am. 2360 Van Ness Ave. at Green.
Alas, some unfortunate news in Chinatown: dive bar Red’s Place—which is also the oldest bar in Chinatown (since 1937)—is due to close soon, according to this story on NBC Bay Area. Owner Jerry Chan...
Wine Events on Both Sides of the Bay
There’s yet another 20th anniversary party coming up: Saturday November 7th will be Biondivino Wine Boutique’s Block Party Birthday Bash, an all-day celebration of 20 years of Italian wine and the community who has come along with it. Founder Ceri Smith is closing down a block in Russian Hill for a day of wine, food, music, and friends. Cin cin! 12pm–7pm. 1415 Green St. at Polk.
Over in the East Bay, Saturday November 7th is Italy, Uncorked, an Italian wine and food celebration at Donato & Co. in Berkeley. Enjoy unlimited tastings of 75+ Italian wines, bites from chef Gianluca, and first pick at their artisanal Italian market. Plus: get discounts on Italian wine (and amari) by the bottle. 12pm–4pm. Ticket registration link here: $78.15, including fees (insider tip: locals can buy tickets at the restaurant to avoid the fees). 2635 Ashby Ave., Berkeley.
sponsored event
A Powerful Night of Women in Food and Wine in Support of the Next Generation of Chefs
This Sunday November 1st, the Bay Area’s most influential women in food will gather at The Aviary in the Yerba Buena district in San Francisco for Sprouts Chef Training’s Annual Gala: Powerful Women in Food. And you’re invited!
It’s going to be an unforgettable evening of exceptional food, brilliant chefs (like Nari’s Pim Techamuanvivit and chef Meghan Clark, Laura Ozyilmaz of Maria Isabel and Dalida, Gayle Pirie of Foreign Cinema, Nancy Oakes and Dana Younkin of Boulevard, Melissa Perello of Frances and Octavia, Pam Mazzola of Prospect, and more, plus hospitality leaders, sommeliers (including Shelley Lindgren and Debbie Zachareas), and community champions, with honorary guests Alice Waters of Chez Panisse and Debby Soo, CEO of OpenTable. Emmy Award-winning broadcaster Liam Mayclem will lead the evening’s live auction and fundraising program.
There’s a cocktail and bubbles and nibbles hour at 5pm, followed by a four-course dinner, live auction, and more. And the purpose goes well beyond the plate: proceeds support Sprouts’ work equipping youth facing economic hardship with culinary training, mentorship, and pathways to meaningful employment.
Tickets start at $650, tables are available. (70% of ticket price is a tax-deductible donation.)
Sunday November 1st, 2026 (5pm–9:30pm)
The Aviary (at The Metreon), 135 4th St., San Francisco
Jobs change lives. Kitchens heal. It takes a village.
the socialite
Indian Restaurant Week Returns in Time for Diwali
Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is coming up on November 8th, which coincides with the return of Indian Restaurant Week, running November 1st–14th (the event returns for a second time around Holi).
Six of SF’s leading Indian restaurants (Amber India, Bombay Brasserie, COPRA, New Delhi Restaurant, Rooh, and Tiya) will showcase Diwali-inspired menus celebrating family traditions, regional flavors, and personal culinary stories. Take a look at the website to view the different menus and book your reservation now. 🪔
It’s a great time to become a supporting subscriber (save 20% with the anniversary sale!)—that way I will see you at the next tablehopper 20th anniversary event! 🥂
