what’s cookin’
Hello, hello! I hope y’all had a good Thanksgiving and holiday break. (Are you finally done with your leftovers? I savored my hot turkey sandwiches on slices of Boo’s Country Loaf from Bob’s Bread Co.) It was a sweet visit with the rents, but poor sissy was sick and had to stay home, and just before I was heading down to San Mateo, I dropped a Mason jar on my big toe (yes, I was barefoot), 10 of 10 do not recommend.
But, it’s not like I was going dancing or anything—I was home working in my slippers for most of the weekend, spending the majority of my time reviewing a year’s worth of my past articles to consider as potential submissions to the James Beard Media Awards. Yup, your girl finally entered some tablehopper columns and stories to the Journalism Awards—I figured with tablehopper’s twentieth anniversary coming up next year, and after some prodding by a few friends, it was past time to submit my work.
It’s why today’s beast of a column is a day late: I was busy making PDFs and writing and fine-tuning and recording my impact statement—I’m glad that’s all done. (A friend said it’s like completing college applications—totally!) So much for getting my Christmas decorations up this past weekend. After going out this coming weekend and having some fun, your Champers the elf will be in the right mood to write up some pieces for you next week on where to go for holiday cheer, cool holiday gifts, seasonal treats, entertaining, and more.
I also pushed today’s column so I could attend a preview lunch on Tuesday afternoon at the new Sora Soba Dining in Japantown and be able to write about this new soba shop in this week’s issue. Enjoy!
This past Sunday, after a restorative yoga class at the beautiful Alchemy Springs (I hope to have time to hang out in their huge outdoor sauna after my next class), I picked up a rice plate from the recently opened Quack House right next door—read more about the return of this Cantonese barbecue shop below.
Next Wednesday December 10th, I’m looking forward to attending this City Arts and Lectures event: Tourmaline, Celebrating the Life of Marsha P. Johnson, in conversation with Kate Schatz. They’ll be discussing Tourmaline’s recent book, Marsha: The Joy and Defiance of Marsha P. Johnson, the first definitive biography of the revolutionary activist Marsha P. Johnson, one of the most important and remarkable figures in LGBTQIA+ history, revealing her story, impact, and legacy. Tourmaline is an award-winning artist, filmmaker, writer, and activist whose work is dedicated to Black trans joy and freedom. Kate Schatz is the New York Times-bestselling author of the Rad Women book series and Do the Work: An Anti-Racist Activity Book, co-written with W. Kamau Bell. Her novel Where the Girls Were is forthcoming in 2026 from Dial Press.
One more quick tidbit: I noticed MAD Symposium (founded by René Redzepi of restaurant noma in 2011) is going to be coming to Los Angeles in 2026.
OK, let’s jump in—today’s column was too much and my brain needs a break from all this computer time.
Have a great week,
~Marcia
the chatterbox
The New Owners of 20 Cosmo Place Share Their Vision and Initial Plans for the Next Chapter of the Storied SF Location
A couple weeks ago, I had the unexpected experience of being able to once again step foot inside the Le Colonial space, which closed in 2024, after 26 years. Opening the enormous doors for me to walk through were the new owners of 20 Cosmo Place, Juan Loredo and Jose Natividad, who purchased the location earlier this year (in April 2025) for $3.7 million. The historic building was originally the home of the Polynesian/tiki-themed San Francisco location of Trader Vic’s (from 1951–1994; you can read more Trader Vic’s SF history below in the archivist!)—there’s still a location in Emeryville, as well as other locations around the world.
I first met Loredo and Natividad when they opened the nearby Persona subterranean bar on Sutter Street in 2021 (I wrote about when they updated it in 2024)—they also own Barrelhouse and Vinyl Room in Burlingame, which was recently upgraded. Over the past six months, I kept checking in to see if they were ready to talk about their plans for the space since I was really excited they secured this historic SF location, and now they’re ready to share some of their vision.
The guys have been looking at properties for years, and said they visited the Le Colonial location multiple times, but it was just so huge. It’s a massive, multi-level space (over 16,000 square feet), and they know the days of big restaurants of that scale in the City are no longer really happening—we aren’t Vegas here, and they aren’t restaurant operators. But, they really loved the character and history and style of the space, so they came up with the idea to reconfigure and divide up the venue (it was already a sort of hodgepodge/Winchester Mystery House that was pieced together over the years).
They’re going to bring in multiple operators and businesses for both levels, keeping the main floor as a restaurant, and opening their own bar concept upstairs. After meeting with a number of architects, they just selected Seth Boor from Boor Projects as their architect for 20 Cosmo Place, and they’re ready to get started.
The next step is to find the right restaurant operator to take over the main floor, which is about 10,000 square feet. When you walk up the grand stairs from the Cosmo Place entrance, there’s the unique terrace/patio that used to have tables and chairs in an atrium-like atmosphere. In order to weatherize and soundproof the patio, they want to enclose it as a real structure, while still keeping its airy style, so it won’t be subject to the city’s outdoor sound cutoff at 10pm.
When you enter the main building, there are multiple dining rooms—it’s such a beautiful space, with great bones and personality. There was only a service bar on this floor, so they know whoever comes in will want to install a full-service bar.
I got to tour the kitchen, which was like a massive hotel kitchen—you just don’t see them like this anymore.
The previous tenant left everything that was in the kitchen, from all the dishes and teapots and woks, to vintage Champagne buckets, rice cookers, scorpion bowls, and even Christmas décor. At some point, they will start to sell many of the remaining items, including a bunch of wicker chairs, in case anyone is interested.
As for the kind of tenant they imagine, they would love a storied SF restaurant or family to open something classic and iconic, like a Zuni or Foreign Cinema (or Original Joe’s—Duggans, we talked about you!). On our walkthrough, Loredo shared, “There’s a certain type of restaurant that we want in here. There would be no cookie-cutter concept here, like The Cheesecake Factory. We know only certain kinds of operators could handle the 10,000-square-feet, and that restaurant finances and economics are so challenging and tough. We will work with them! We want to set them up for success—and we want someone who’s going to be here for 25 years.”
They said prospective tenants can come to them with a proposal and share what they could do/what kind of rent is feasible. They want someone who’s in it for the long haul.
As for the top floor, Loredo and Natividad plan to seal off the second level for different businesses. Back when it was Le Colonial, you could walk up the restaurant’s flight of stairs, or enter through a door on Sutter Street into the bar and lounge, AKA party HQ in the ’90s and aughts, which actually had people dancing up there, it was so packed. I used to go there for happy hour, and the open-air balcony had the most coveted seating if you were going to have a cigarette with your Cosmo (we all smoked back then). That bar used to go off! It was crazy.
If you look at the exterior of the building from Sutter Street, you’ll see six archways, where there were six independent businesses from the 1920s to the early 1940s (they believe), where each had their own recessed storefront—the current addresses are 719 and 721 Sutter, and earlier records show 725, 727, and 733 Sutter. These spaces may have housed businesses like Olympic Radio, Purity Grocery Store, Moy Beauty, and Marcelle Douste Cleaners (you can see an image from 1931 here). If you happen to know any history of the businesses, Loredo would love to hear from you.
At some point, the Sutter storefronts closed one by one and were combined with the Cosmo Place entrance into one large space—that’s when Trader Vic’s took over the entire property, covered up the windows, and made it into their service entrance. There are also offices, service restrooms, and what was the appetizer kitchen and a walk-in up there.
Loredo and Natividad are exploring the idea of either having two or three separate businesses up there—they want to take out the offices, expose the windows, and restore the recessed storefronts again. They will be opening their own bar concept upstairs (TBD on what it will be), and will have the lounge area and the balcony, but will make the existing bar smaller so they can create their own entrance onto Sutter Street.
If they decide to do a limited food concept, like bar food, they’ll take over the kitchen as well. If not, they said they already have someone who wants to do a wine bar. Whether there will be a third business depends upon the architect plans, electrical, city regulations, and more.
There’s also the outdoor area on Cosmo Place, which was recently activated in early November as Cosmo Court, an evening pop-up with plants, tables, vendors, and food and drink. The secluded space was turned into a tropical hideaway, and neighbors wanted it to stay—I swung by one evening, and it was totally a vibe. Loredo said they’re thinking about developing an indoor-outdoor space in the parking lot, with lots of plants, seating, lighting, a daytime café, and even hosting entertainment and private events. Stand by for more on that.
For now, as bar owners and SF residents (Loredo lives in North Beach), they’re happy to see more buzz in the City again, and feel like it’s a promising time to be making future plans in such a special SF location. Cheers to that. 20 Cosmo Pl. at Taylor.
A New Soba Shop Opens in Japantown from the Group Behind Hinodeya Ramen Bar
Soft-opening today in Japantown is Sora Soba Dining, a new soba noodle shop from the group behind Hinodeya Ramen Bar, which is just next door.
Chef and Sasala Dining USA CEO/founder Mark Masao Kuribara represents the fourth generation of the family business, which started as Hinode-ya in North Tokyo (in Hasuda in Saitama Prefecture) in 1885. The Japantown location of Hinodeya was the company’s first foray in the United States, which, since opening in 2016, has grown to four shops in SF, plus locations in LA and Dallas.
Sasala Dining USA, the family’s company, went on to open Sora Soba Dining in Japan in 2010 (there are now three locations in Japan), and this is the first Sora in the U.S. I asked what “sora” means, and Kuribara explained it’s a combination of words from two Japanese characters: so (meaning hemisphere), and ra (meaning enjoyable and joyful), so sora is shared enjoyment across the globe.
Kuribara says the stone-ground buckwheat flour is sourced from Hokkaido and Nagano, and they adjusted their recipe and the fineness of the flour to adapt to our different climate here. He explained that some soba makers in Japan use wheat in their recipe because it makes it easier to handle the notoriously difficult and delicate dough, but here at Sora, they took on the challenge of making the soba noodles with 100 percent buckwheat flour. The noodles are made fresh daily, and have a delicate, nutty flavor and a little bit of pleasing bite (al dente!), with some angular definition around the edges from the noodle machine.
The menu has four cold and four hot soba dishes. A classic pairing is the ten zaru ($26), cold soba with a side of tempura (we had unexpected kushiten skewers of tomato, Brussels sprouts, shrimp, chicken, and shiitake with cheese, fried in a mix of soybean oil, lard, and sesame oil), that you can dip in a cup of dashi and sprinkle with matcha salt.
Our favorite was the goma zaru ($21), which comes with sesame seeds that you grind at the table (so aromatic!) and place in the milky sesame dipping sauce, plus you can add wasabi and green onion.
At the end of your meal, the kitchen will bring you some hot soba-yu, the leftover water after boiling the noodles, which is rich in minerals, amino acids, and texture—you can pour it into what remains of your dipping sauce to make a soup to sip.
On the hot side, we tried the kamo nanban ($24), which has a light and understated broth, with slices of seared duck breast on the side. There’s a cute little wooden contraption to dispense some shichimi for extra kick. We preferred the cold soba plates, but with our chilly weather, I want to return to try the kashiwa tamago ($22), with chicken thigh and egg.
There are some side dishes, including various tempura sets, crispy soba served as a snack, a dashi-maki tamago omelet, umami Caesar salad, rice bowls, and smoked and broiled slices of Aigamo duck with a mustard soy sauce (I’d like to order this with the kamo negi cold soba set). There’s a variety of sodas and tea for now.
The design of the room has a natural/mid-century style, outfitted with Nelson bubble pendant lamps, and light woods throughout, with a slatted ceiling, herringbone flooring, wood tables with mid-century style chairs, and a raw-edge wood counter that looks into the open kitchen (three members of the kitchen crew were brought over from Japan).
The team is excited to welcome you (and want to be sure you know to slurp your soba for the best taste). The soft opening is this week (Wed–Thu 3pm–9pm, Fri–Sat 11am–11pm), with the grand opening on Sunday December 8th (11am–10pm). Open daily. You can follow them on Instagram here. 1731 Buchanan St.
Just Ducky: Quack House Opens in the TenderNob, a Takeout Counter for Cantonese Barbecue from the Family Behind the Former Hing Lung
After checking in with Eric Cheung of Go Duck Yourself for monthly progress reports of when the family was going to open their new to-go counter, Quack House, they finally opened in the former Meraki Market on Post Street on November 21st (first reported by SF Chronicle).
Wing Cheung, the father of the Cheung brothers (Eric and Simon), originally opened Hing Lung Company on Stockton Street in Chinatown in 1977. The Cantonese barbecue shop was known for its roast duck (read how it’s different from Peking duck here), as well as their crispy skin pork belly that you could buy by the pound. It sadly closed in 2024, when lease negotiations with their landlord went south. It was tough to see after the family muscled through the pandemic (which is when they launched Go Duck Yourself for takeout/delivery).
The closure was a blow to their Chinatown regular customer base, but in early 2024, the brothers opened a sit-down restaurant in Bernal Heights, Go Duck Yourself, featuring their classic roast meats (FYI, you can only get their roast pig there since it’s where they have their Hong Kong—style rotisserie smokers), plus dim sum (including my favorite Teochew/Chiu Chow purse dumplings), their killer wings, and they finally launched some rice plates for solo diners.
Roast duck, crispy skin pork belly, Chiu Chow wings at Go Duck Yourself in Bernal. Photos: © tablehopper.com.
They even have a well-selected wine and beer list. While the Bernal address is good for their Peninsula customers, it’s a bit far for most of their SF customers, so this new takeout location in the TenderNob is going to make their roast meat wizardry more accessible to their local fanbase, and is better for delivery around town, too.
They installed two huge refrigerators and a freezer in the space (previously a chic market from Stanlee Gatti), two special roaster ovens, and they also have a fryer (which unfortunately conked out and is getting replaced). They will be able to use this location as a commissary if they want to open additional takeout counters. Quack House is mostly a takeout counter, with a few seats in the window if you want to sit down with your rice plate.
You can walk up or preorder their Cantonese roast duck, charsiu BBQ pork, crispy skin pork belly, and poached soy sauce chicken for takeout (8 oz., 12 oz., 16 oz.), which come with their incredible housemade sauces (some are made from the drippings of the roasted meats).
You can order the meats in four ample rice plates ($18–$24), which come with garlicky yu choy (tender Chinese broccoli).
Open Thu–Mon 11am–8pm (for now) or until sold out. 927 Post St. at Hyde.
A Sweet Neighborhood Coffee and Saké Spot, Kissakeko, Is Softly Open in Nob Hill
Antoine’s Cookie Shop Now Open on Market Street
Back in March, I was first to report that Antoine Tang was going to be opening his latest location of Antoine’s Cookie Shop in the former Woodhouse Fish Co. on Market Street, and he just soft-opened this Tuesday. (His cookie shop first opened in San Mateo in 2016, and then Palo Alto in 202—he recently opened a shop in Los Gatos as well.)
Per my previous piece: Tang makes 11 kinds of cookies (the cookies and cream is a best-seller), selling 1,300 cookies daily at each shop. He says he really cares about making good cookies (he uses organic flour and local Guittard Chocolate), and enjoys being part of people’s weekly routines and lives.
His cookies are just $2.75 each, and he is also going to sell cookie dough at the SF location (it’s a scoop, ha-ha). He’s excited to be opening in San Francisco and become part of the Duboce Triangle neighborhood—he loves the history of the City (he was telling me about Charlie Chaplin and all the vaudeville acts we used to have at our many old theaters) and comes to our comedy clubs often. Hours are 10am–8pm. 2073 Market St. at 14th St.
Warm Up with Some Soup at These Two New Spots
East Bay Updates: Standard Fare, Bolita Masa, and The Lodge
I remember writing about chef-owner Kelsie Kerr (previously Zuni, Chez Panisse, Café Rouge) opening Standard Fare in Berkeley back in 2014, and after 11 years of feeding her loyal community many meals of her seasonal and truly NorCal cuisine, she announced she’s retiring at the end of the year; the last day will be December 19th.
The SF Chronicle followed up with the news that chef-owner Emmanuel Galvan of the neighboring Bolita Masa (known for his masa and tortillas made with heirloom corn, and delicious salsas) will be opening Café Bolita in the space in early 2026. There will be a takeaway window, followed by breakfast, brunch, and lunch service—and Café Bolita will retain some of Standard Fare’s staff.
In a post on Instagram, Galvan shares, “We will serve coffee, champurrado/atoles, tamales, lil burros, chilaquiles, quesadillas, guisos, aguas frescas and so much more. With her blessing, Chef Kelsie is letting J & I make frittatas — chorizo y papa, and seasonal veggies ones. Breakfast/Lunch/Brunch will be accessible, quotidian and nourishing. We’ll have seasonal weekly/daily specials based on what is available. This will be fully open in March. Then dinner will follow and it will be a fucking blast. Vermouth, wine, micheladas, tuna tostadas, veal shank barbacoa, tetalas, so many grilled veggies & pipian, and 2-3 tacos. So, until December 19th, go support Standard Fare and give Kelsie her flowers. She built a great place. Then, keep in touch, and be patient. Good things are coming.” 2701 8th St. at Carleton, Berkeley.
Damn, after 10 years of cozy cabin vibes, owner Alexeis Filipello of The Lodge on Piedmont in Oakland has announced the bar is closing on January 7th, 2026. I wrote about their opening back in 2015, and all the love that went into the décor. This neighborhood bar has also hosted so many pop-ups getting their start out of their kitchen. The post shares: “We wanted to share that we’ve made the difficult choice to close The Lodge. Like many small, local spots, we were hit hard by the pandemic, and our business just hasn’t bounced back to the level needed to keep things going. It’s not a decision we wanted to make, but it has to be. We will be closing our doors January 7th 2026. so let’s make the best of this holiday season!! Come in and say some goodbyes, farewells, and see you laters. What we do want to say is thank you. Thank you for showing up, for supporting us, for bringing your families, for recommending us to friends, and for making this a place where people felt welcome. This neighborhood has always been the heart of The Lodge, and we are grateful to have been part of it.”
A GoFundMe has been set up for closing bills, and they will have an auction of their many cool and vintage items in mid-January. But first, go pay them a visit for a farewell holiday cocktail or two by the fireplace. 3758 Piedmont Ave. at MacArthur, Oakland.
the socialite
Support Local Businesses Around the Bay at This Season’s Holiday Markets
by Savannah Leone Bundy
This weekend in Oakland, the Chamber of Commerce has a whole lineup of holiday festivities planned with a second rendition of Joy to the Town! The multi-day event series gives residents and visitors alike the chance to ring in the holiday season with a Friday night restaurant and bar hop downtown (participating venues include Bocanova, Low Bar, and Pintoh Thai Street Food), a Saturday afternoon market at Jack London Square (featuring local artisans, retailers, and food vendors, live music, roller skating, craft-making, and Santa!), and a Sunday afternoon holiday shopping experience at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts (featuring food, crafts, and culture from local Black makers). Friday December 5th, 6pm–9pm at various locations; Saturday December 6th, 12pm–5pm at Jack London Square; Sunday December 7th, 12pm–5pm at Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts, Oakland.
Also in Oakland, Oakland Bloom—the nonprofit incubator supporting migrant and BIPOC chefs—will host a series of events supporting their cause. On Friday December 5th (5pm–8pm), the annual year-end Posada and Holiday Market is at Open Test Kitchen, where guests will be able to shop from local individuals and small businesses, play games, make crafts, and celebrate. Tickets are on sale on a sliding scale and available here.
Sunday December 7th (10am–3pm) is the Día de las Velitas Colombian Christmas brunch and celebration with food by Mecato, coffee by Café con Cariño, and cocktails by OTK. Later on, you can celebrate Panamanian Mother’s Day from 6pm–9pm—although tickets are very limited—with an intimate three-course dinner. The menu features traditional Panamanian dishes like carimañolas (croquettes stuffed with beef or vegan mushroom filling), tamales steamed in banana leaves, and a dessert of caramelized plantain with coconut ice cream. 528 8th St. at Clay, Oakland.
Last, but certainly not least, Foodwise is bringing back Pop-Ups on the Plaza: Black Holiday Market. Next Saturday December 13th is the day to pop over to the Ferry Building Plaza and support local Black vendors and makers. Businesses like A Girl Named Pinky (offering a variety of handmade desserts), The Final Sauce (makers of artisan sauces, spice blends, and marinades), and That’s My Jam (selling low-sugar jams and jellies) will present alongside a host of other makers, music, kids’ activities, and Santa. 9am–2pm. 1 Ferry Building at Embarcadero.
the archivist
With today’s news about the new owners of 20 Cosmo Place, of course, I had to share some postcards, pictures, and history of the Polynesian/tiki-themed Trader Vic’s, which was in this location from 1951–1994.
Do you love San Francisco? Hell yes you do! Subscribe to tablehopper and live your best SF life.
