what’s cookin’
I’d rather forget how I just got bulldozed for Tax Day (estimated taxes, why so meannnnn?), and will just wish you happy 415 Day instead! And 415 Day is not just because of our area code: San Francisco turned 175 today! (Did you know San Francisco was incorporated on April 15th, 1850?) Of course, it was cloudy today, ha-ha. But this past weekend? Glorious! Spring was in the air, and so were our fists and chants and fantastic signs at the People’s March: Fight Fascism for Democracy on Saturday, take a look at my recap here (and all the photo albums are here).
This weekend, the City is gonna be trippy for Bicycle Day on Saturday April 19th (there’s a party at The Midway), and Sunday is 4/20 and Easter Sunday, so Easter in the Park and the Hunky Jesus Contest from The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc. should be particularly lit (from their post: “In recognition of our trans brothers and sisters who are under siege, the theme is ‘No Easter Without The T’”). You can also catch up on where to go for Easter brunch in last week’s column—and I’m adding some more places to my Easter highlight on @tablehopper on Instagram.
Last week, I got to see two fantastic shows (Tindersticks at The Fillmore, and Basement Jaxx blew up the Regency with their packed stage of live singers, two drum kits, a trumpet player, and dancers), and let me tell you, music and friends will help lift us from the doom and gloom.
Next Wednesday April 23rd, I’m looking forward to this special variety show: Club 181 Live at Great American Music Hall, celebrating the longtime queer Tenderloin cabaret, supperclub, and nightclub (it has been a queer space for decades!). Club 181 Live will be a night of stories and performances from Veronica Klaus (who used to perform at Club 181 in the ’90s), jazz pianist Tammy L. Hall and her quintet, Connie Champagne, Leigh Crow, and more! Read more in this Bay Area Reporter piece. Get your ticket for what will be an extremely memorable and only in SF kind of night!
You’re getting today’s column pretty late because I left my desk for a few hours yesterday to pop by the SF Italian Athletic Club for the Lettieri & Co. Food Show, featuring 30 vendors of tasty products, from an insanely delicious goat milk ricotta salata from Sardinia (can someone please carry it?), to guanciale made from Ibérico pigs (mamma mia), to a spicy sardine pâté. I’ll be posting some pics to my @tablehopper Instagram stories, stand by!
If you attended the tablehopper Bohemian Sunday 18th anniversary event at the Savoy Tivoli last year, Lettieri & Co. provided all those fabulous imported Italian meats and cheeses for the party. Can you believe that was a year ago? Wild! I look forward to planning another event soon, but honestly, my recent move really took a lot out of me. I’m finally beginning to feel a bit more settled, so my wheels will start turning soon enough for another tablehopper gathering. But first, I need to catch up on so much writing and work and Instagram posts. (And sleep, damn it!)
Thanks for reading!
~Marcia
the chatterbox
An Early Visit to the New Bar Shoji, Opening Wednesday for Upscale Bar Food and Craft Cocktails
Last week, I went to check out the just-added food and cocktail service at Bar Shoji during their friends and family test nights, and here’s to a cool bar opening downtown with some fun bar bites and sandos. Back in February, I wrote about this new project from chef-owner Ingi “Shota” Son of Michelin-starred The Shota opening in the former Trou Normand, which started by offering specialty coffee and tea service during the day. Beginning this Wednesday, Bar Shoji is opening to the public with its craft cocktail menu and evening food service. I previously mentioned chef Son has brought on chef Intu-on Kornnawong (formerly Jo’s Modern Thai), and that Son temporarily closed The Shota so the team could be all hands on deck at Shoji while they get this project off the ground.
The à la carte menu offers well-executed but casual dishes with Japanese influences, starting with bites like garlic edamame ($8), petite spears of kombu celery with sesame seeds ($8), and French fries that you can order with akazu aged vinegar aioli, or you can go full stoner and get them with a bubbling blend of cheeses ($13), topped with Fresno chiles, crispy chicken skin, and a hit of makrut lime. They’re like Japanese nachos—the perfect end-of-the-night kind of dish—and come on a hot plate like potato fajitas.
French fries with cheese, tebasaki wings, halibut ceviche. Photo: © tablehopper.com.
The small dish section included favorites like the fried tebasaki wings (the name refers to the wingtip that is left on) with a kosho glaze that will tickle your nose with pepper (four for $19), and a beautifully presented halibut ceviche ($22) with Thai notes of tom kha (coconut and lemongrass) and nam jim (Thai chile dipping sauce), served with puffy nori crackers.
The uni amaebi donburi ($44) is a show-stopping bowl of seasoned rice with seaweed and shiitakes (the one thing I can’t eat, so I wish I knew they were going to be in there, sneaky mushrooms) crowned with a soy-marinated Jidori egg yolk with a sprinkle of shichimi togarashi that you break into soy-marinated sweet shrimp, lobes of Santa Barbara uni (you can upgrade to Hokkaido uni for $10), and really delicious ikura—you’re instructed to mix it up and you can add it on top of baby sheets of nori ($3). Honestly, me and my friend just wanted our own bowl to ourselves—it was a dream luxe donburi.
Chef Son’s seafood sourcing (from Toyosu Market in Tokyo) and techniques from The Shota show up in the aged sashimi course (the night we were there, it was three-to-five-day-aged shima aji served three ways), and while it was exquisitely presented with accompaniments and their house-aged shoyu, for $32, I’d leave this dish to the omakase ballers. There are also Marin Miyagi oysters (4 for $19, 6 for $28, 12 for $57) with Thai notes of beet chili jam, herbs, and fried shallots.
Oree Ward (previously Members Only, Chambers) is overseeing the Japanese-inspired craft cocktails, and the four I tried were all pretty unique and enchanting. I’d start with the Kabosu “Shiba Inu,” which was like it had notes of an Asian margarita poured over an exceedingly clear rock, with tequila, kabosu (Japanese citrus), makrut lime, lemongrass, and a kick of kosho chile pepper. The Myoga “Devine Protection” was a refreshing mule served in a julep cup (I wanted true julep smacked ice), with vodka, myoga (Japanese ginger), lime, some celery to tickle your nose, and yellow Chartreuse.
The Ichigo Ichie “Cherish Every Moment” was complex and fascinating, with mezcal, tangy umeshu, white vermouth, a slice of dehydrated strawberry, and gentian aperitif—the vegetal notes made this a good one at the end of the night. There are nine cocktails, all $18 each.
When you walk in, you’ll first notice the shimmering gold mural above the bar, inspired by the Nijo Castle murals in Kyoto, with cranes, tigers, and a garden. The room is dark but dramatically lit, with large round chandeliers hanging from the vaulted ceiling, some vertical light fixtures along the walls, and each table has its own tabletop light. The spacious booths are upholstered in brown leather and have long, rectangular-shaped tables (with round edges), so they’re good for groups of four or more. Get some friends to book a table with you so you can dine inside—there aren’t that many seats at the bar. (I’m curious to see how people will use the space and if they’ll share the booths.)
There’s also a spacious back patio, with loungey and cushioned outdoor seating with wood tables under the covered gazebo, with heat lamps and music from inside, plus a bar counter. Speaking of music, the sound system inside (from JK Sound) was pretty amazing—it was super clear and crisp in the industrial space.
The grand opening is Monday April 21st. The kitchen will be open Mon–Fri 5pm–10:30pm, and the bar until midnight. You can also reserve for coffee and tea service during the day (Mon–Fri 7am–3pm). 140 New Montgomery St.
A Sneak Peek of the New Wayfare Tavern
Wayfare Tavern has finally announced the date for its closure at 558 Sacramento Street (after 14 years): the last day of service will be after lunch and dinner this Wednesday April 16th. After taking a short break, Wayfare Tavern will reopen in its new space on Monday April 28th at 201 Pine Street (subscribers to their mailing list received an invite to reserve a table on their soft opening days of April 24th–27th). I was told I won’t receive images of the new space until after my deadline, so when I was driving by the 1908 building on my way home from dinner on Saturday, I let my camera take a lil’ peek over the paper in the windows.
The two-story space was designed by Jon de la Cruz (de la Cruz Interior Design), with “a casual yet refined atmosphere”—expect “warm spice tones accented with deep greens and rich reds,” custom light fixtures with suspended clusters of illuminated globes, and classic furnishings befitting an American tavern in the Barbary Coast. The dining room is full of oak: there are oak-paneled walls, beams, and dividers, while the wall near the staircase has gold wallpaper with some colonial-looking ships, hmmm. The dining room chairs are in cordovan with a nailhead trim, and there are high-backed tufted booths that appear to be upholstered in velvet, including a large booth by the stairs. The corner building has exposed beams and brick walls, with large windows that will let in a lot of natural light.
I’ll share more details soon. Reservations available here. 201 Pine St. at Battery.
The Dalida Duo Has a New Project in the Works
Well, this is exciting. According to an ABC filing, Dalida’s chef-owners Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz have a new project called Maria Isabel coming to the former Ella’s American Kitchen in Presidio Heights. Ella’s opened in 1990, and was such a popular brunch spot for years, beloved for its made-from-scratch dishes like pancakes, biscuits, and country sausage. It changed hands over the years, and sadly the pandemic spelled its demise in this location. But I love that Laura and Sayat are opening something in this space where I have many fond memories of good meals.
Sayat and Laura shared this in a note to me: “I am writing to confirm that in fact we are going into old Ella’s corner and we are incredibly excited to embrace this iconic San Francisco space, where many old time San Franciscans have built profound and beautiful memories. The nature of the business and timeline are still very firmly up in the air, we’ll be in touch when there is more news to share.” 500 Presidio Ave. at California.
LA’s Korean Chicken Chimmelier (and Maybe Jilli Modern Sool Jib!) Is Coming to SF
LA’s Korean fried chicken outpost Chimmelier (known for their Korean fried chicken burger and sandwich, popcorn chicken, and Korean street food) recently opened some Bay Area locations in Berkeley (1823 Solano Ave.) and Oakland (3905 Broadway). And now, it looks like (potentially) a combination Chimmelier and Jilli modern sool jib (Chimmelier’s soju/makgeolli/wine/beer bar in Koreatown) is opening in San Francisco! Jilli serves drinking snacks and dishes like honey butter chips; shrimp toast; rigatoni alla kimchi vodka; and uni tteokbokki with uni butter sauce, fried rice cake, smoked trout roe, and Parmigiano—sign me upppppp! We’ll have to see. It’s coming to the former Khamsa in the Mission. I will keep you posted as I receive more intel. 1503 15th St. at S. Van Ness.
The Sorrel Team’s Projects at the Ferry Building Are Taking Shape
Some more details have emerged about Sorrel chef Alex Hong and director of operations Joel Wilkerson’s plans for their upcoming Ferry Building Marketplace project since my piece that ran last July. This June, they will be launching Parachute Bakery, followed by the grand opening of Arquet Restaurant in the former Slanted Door.
Executive pastry chef Nasir Zainulabadin (Saison, Sorrel) will lead Parachute Bakery’s all-day program, focusing on innovative viennoiserie (laminated dough pastries), along with café takeaway items, and housemade packaged products (nut spreads, jams, and other confections)—items will be influenced by what’s in season in the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. There will also be coffee service and other beverages.
Meanwhile, Arquet will be a full-service restaurant, lounge, and bar, highlighting locally sourced ingredients, wood-fired cooking, and seasonal vegetables. Berkeley-based architecture and design studio Studio KDA is behind Arquet’s look, “designed with elegant curves, soft arches, and inset shelving that inspired its name.” Stand by for updates. 1 Ferry Building, Suite 5.
Oui Oui! Basque Cheesecakes, Cookies, and More Coming to Divis
Fortunately, a tablehopper tipster sent me news about some activity happening on Divisadero Street since I’m no longer living in the neighborhood and walking around to notice these things! Another hopper subscriber did some extra sleuthing and confirmed that Oui Oui! Macaron is moving to Divis—it’s from pastry chef Cathleen Li, who used to operate Candybar with Tan Truong in the space around the corner where Ju-Ni is now (Truong is also behind The Handroll Project and The Hamburger Project).
Oui Oui! Macaron was previously located in Serramonte, and then Emeryville Public Market, and also had a stand at Off The Grid Fort Mason, and has appeared at Outside Lands as well. The brick-and-mortar locations closed, and during the pandemic, you could pick up some cheesecakes at Ju-Ni, but now Oui Oui! will have a new home of its own once again.
Book Your Spot for The Upcoming AAPI Bakers & Makers Celebration Series at Nisei
the socialite
Check Out the Lineup of Talent at the Master Chefs at Home Fundraiser for 18 Reasons
Coming up on Wednesday May 7th is Master Chefs at Home, a fundraiser for 18 Reasons at the San Francisco Design Center that supports their free cooking and nutrition education programs throughout the community.
The evening features a cocktail reception with local chef creations, cocktails, and live music. The chef lineup includes Anthony Strong from Pasta Supply Co.; Seth Stowaway from Michelin-starred, live-fire Osito; Raquel Goldman from modern Mexican bakery Norte 54; Fijian-Indian chef James Chand from Curryous Catering; and Eleana Hsu and Kevin Gondo from Shared Cultures (known for their small-batch miso, shoyu, and umami seasonings). The chefs will share recipes that shaped their culinary journeys, telling stories of community, culture, and love across generations.
The cocktail hour will be followed by a cozy-meets-elegant, family-style dinner, plus stories, a cooking demo, and an auction with exclusive items like private chef dinners. Cocktail attire is encouraged. You can get an individual ticket or sponsor a table! Details/tickets here. 6pm–9:30pm. San Francisco Design Center: 101 Henry Adams St.
the lush
News Breaks: The Return of Club Deluxe (!), and Fort Point Beer Company Joins Forces with HenHouse Brewing Co.
Some great news about an iconic SF bar: SFGATE reports Club Deluxe will be reopening in the Upper Haight under new ownership: former Deluxe bartender Christian Beaulieu has partnered up with Jay Bordeleau (of Mr. Tipple’s Recording Studio) and signed a new lease. Incredible! (The bar tragically closed in 2023 due to landlord and lease issues.) I have some questions to ask the duo, so I hope to be able to write more in my column next week! 1511 Haight St. at Ashbury.
I received this update from Fort Point Beer Company right at my deadline, and since I’m waaaaaay out of time to write anything, I’m just going to share the announcement verbatim: “We're getting in touch with some pretty exciting news—we’ve joined forces with our friends at HenHouse Brewing Co., the Sonoma County brewery known for its absolute obsession with freshness and mastery of diverse styles from IPA to Saison. Together we're called Fort Point HenHouse, but don't worry, Fort Point Beer Co. and HenHouse Brewing Co. will continue on as independent breweries making all your favorite beers and ciders, just with our teams working side by side.
“What does this mean for you? Honestly, not much, in the best way possible. The Fort Point and HenHouse brands and products aren't changing, and you'll still find the same great experiences at our taprooms. Our five co-founders will continue leading the company, and our teams are simply coming together (a rarity in mergers) to keep things humming as always. Importantly, our vision to build the beer company of SF for our generation and beyond hasn’t wavered–San Francisco is still at the heart of everything we do.
“By joining with HenHouse, we’ll be able to share resources, brew together, and invest in our communities in and around SF. It’s no secret that the past few years have presented challenges for craft beer, and while both Fort Point and HenHouse have bucked trends, teaming up is our way of ensuring we’ll thrive through whatever comes next. Many craft breweries look to strengthen their business by expanding across the country or selling to big corporations, but neither of those directions felt right for us. We sell 90% of our beer right here in the Bay Area, and we like it that way. Together we're focusing on what makes craft beer so special to begin with: collaboration, local production, independence, quality, creativity, and supporting our hometown community.
“Wondering, “Why HenHouse?” We've basically grown up together in the Bay Area beer scene...and over the years, we've built a friendship based on trust and collaboration. While our beers are quite different, we share the same values as brewers and as people. Our different strengths actually complement each other, making this partnership feel just right. We’re especially excited that our talented production, quality, and innovation teams are now brewing together at our shared facilities in Santa Rosa and Petaluma. We predict some exceptionally fresh, delicious beer and cider in your future!
“Sadly, this does mean that we’re moving out of our Presidio production facility. It’s bittersweet to say the least; the Presidio is where Fort Point grew up and where we created all our recipes, but we’re thinking of it more as “see you later” than a “goodbye.” We’re already looking for a new home for Fort Point R&D here in SF, and if we’re lucky it might be right back in the same neighborhood.
“If you’re reading this, you've been part of our story, and we can’t thank you enough for believing in Fort Point and supporting independent beer from SF. Eleven years in, and we truly feel like we’re just getting started.” 🍻
