the tablehopper | 9:39 am | May 12, 2008 | Foodie 411 | Add a comment
Cocktail lovers are gearing up for the upcoming second annual San Francisco Cocktail Week, from May 13–May 19, but one night that has both cocktail lovers and the culinary set excited is Thursday, May 15th, when various restaurants are hosting A Night of Cocktail Dinners. Popular local restaurants such as bacar, Conduit, The Alembic, Orson, Bong Su, and Flora in Oakland are individually hosting multi-course dinners prepared and coordinated by their executive chefs and head mixologists with each course expertly paired with complementary cocktails.
Here are highlights from a couple of the menus around town:
Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com and get it in your inbox every Tuesday.
the tablehopper | 1:00 am | May 7, 2008 | Foodie 411 | Add a comment
Alfresco Eats
With spring weather going full tilt, it’s actually possible to start considering some places for outdoor dining without getting blown away. Here are some top picks for outdoor dining in San Francisco, and beyond:
Out in Dogpatch, a local secret is Piccino, where the weather is usually a bit warmer, the Blue Bottle Coffee is always perfect (they even have their own special Piccino blend), and the food is simply delicious. This tiny place (that’s what the name means) is ideal for a lunch outside, but there are heat lamps too, so even on a less-than-perfect day, it’s still comfortable. Don’t miss their farm-fresh salads. Or for breakfast, it’s hard to beat a frothy cappuccino and a house-baked treat, or one of their tasty pizzas with an egg (or two) on top. Hours are Tue–Fri 7am–9pm, Sat 8am–9pm, Sun 8am–5pm, closed Monday.
Downtown diners are savvy to Café Claude, an ideal spot for a salade nicoise or croque madame for lunch (the steak tartare is also quite special), or for an afternoon bite, like a selection of the scrumptious charcuterie, and a post-work aperitif. There’s also live music (often jazz) and a hopping scene Thu–Sat 7:30pm–10:30pm. Hours are Mon–Sat 11:30am–10:30pm, Sun 5:30pm–10:30pm.
Nearby Belden Place is packed during the week for lunch and when the whistle blows after work. On warmer nights, it can be like a little slice of Paris. This one-block alley is filled with mostly European restaurants, from the Catalan fare at B44 (favorites include the squid ink paella and octopus), Italian at Tiramisu and Italian seafood Brindisi Cucina di Mare, French-inspired seafood from Plouf (the mussels here are their trademark), classic American fare and San Francisco seafood from Sam’s Grill (from celery Victor to sand dabs), and French bistro fare and cocktails from Café Bastille.
Who can resist Sunday jazz brunch on the Terrace at the Ritz? Exactly, no one. It’s a bit spendy for brunch ($78), but you definitely get your money’s worth—the array of food is mind-boggling, from caviar to carved meats, smoked salmon to sushi. (You won’t need to eat for the rest of the day.) And the courtyard ambiance is downright leisurely and lovely. Breakfast and lunch are also served each day—with dishes like lobster and eggs, and there’s even a special Japanese breakfast. Breakfast Mon–Sat 6:30am–10:30am, lunch Mon–Sat 11:30am–2:30pm, Sunday brunch 10:30am–2:30pm.
Other places known for outdoor dining in wine country include the upscale Auberge du Soleil, Brix, FARM at the Carneros Inn, Angèle Restaurant & Bar has a patio along the Napa River, Tra Vigne has a gorgeous patio (great for lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch), Bistro Don Giovanni is known for their terraces (and their Italian fare), and another winning restaurant with an outdoor patio (and bistro in its name) is Bistro Jeanty in Yountville. And a cute and secluded patio can be found at Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena—it’s full of flowers in bloom. As of May 15th, the patio of Pawlcyn’s newest sister restaurant, Go Fish, will offer weekly acoustic contemporary and blues music every Thursday night, plus a misting system to keep patrons cool. For the Fourth of July holiday, Go Fish will fire up the grill on the pet-friendly patio, with an all-inclusive menu and blowout celebration for what promises to be an annual event in St. Helena.
Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com and get it in your inbox every Tuesday.
the tablehopper | 9:02 am | April 30, 2008 | Foodie 411 | Add a comment
Sean Diggins, the current beverage director at Café Claude, will be overseeing the beverage and wine program: look for small, eco-friendly growers with a large by-the-glass and carafe program, and with a largely Spanish focus. And it wouldn’t be a new San Francisco restaurant without a special bar program: Dominic Venegas (Range, Cantina, Bourbon & Branch) will head up the bar program at Gitane, with plans to highlight Spanish sherries, unique Spanish brandies, and assemble a very special spirits selection, plus offer some seasonal sangrias and cocktails. Charles Doell of Mr. Important is designing the space, an amalgam of looks from three separate decades: the Euro-themed 50s, hippy-driven 60s and big bling 70s. There will be artwork from Turkey and the U.K., photography, hand-printed wallpapers, and two huge vintage chandeliers.
LeClerc’s second project in the works, and just across the street from Gitane, will be Cinque, Italian Wine Bar & Restaurant.
The much-adored Myth Restaurant has sadly and officially closed, and the Pascarella-Lacroix-Siegel deal has reportedly fallen through. Which means chef Ron Siegel of the Ritz-Carlton Dining Room is not leaving after all. There are other rumors circulating about who is negotiating to take over the Myth space, although nothing is confirmed just yet. Stand by.
A new restaurant style (well, new to San Francisco) will be launching in SoMa called Basil Canteen. It’s moving into the now-closed The Public space. The owner of Basil Thai, Todd Sirimongkolvit, has been looking for a space to expand for the last few years (he also owns Soi Four in Berkeley), and is thrilled to find a location so close to his existing SoMa restaurant. Basil Canteen will be like a casual Thai izakaya of sorts, serving a fun style of food called gap klaem, which are dishes designed to pair with drinking—since the historic space has a full bar, this should work nicely. There will be about ten small plates/bar snacks and a variety of noodles (four–five sautéed noodle dishes, and five–six soup noodle dishes). Basil Canteen should be opening in July after the renovation is complete. It will be open for lunch and dinner nightly, and will be serving late, until midnight or so, on Friday and Saturday nights.
Chez Papa Resto in Mint Plaza has new hours: lunch Mon–Fri 11:30am–2:30pm, brunch Sat–Sun 11am–3pm, dinner Sun–Wed 5:30pm–10pm, and Thu–Sat 5:30pm–11pm.
In the Mission and looking for a place to have lunch? Spork, a cleverly designed restaurant that moved into a former Kentucky Fried Chicken space has started serving lunch, offering some simple dishes like a good cheeseburger, a daily pasta dish, and delicious slow-roasted carnitas over a tortilla with over-easy eggs, avocado, cabbage, and queso fresco. Almost everything is around $10; take a look at the menu here. Lunch is served Tue–Fri 11:30pm–2pm.
Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com and get it in your inbox every Tuesday.
the tablehopper | 11:41 am | April 23, 2008 | Foodie 411 | Add a comment
A couple newcomers slated to open this week have local gourmands excited to add some spots to their roster of places to check out. First out of the gates is Anchor & Hope, the third restaurant from Steven and Mitchell Rosenthal, and Doug Washington, of local favorites Town Hall and Salt House. Chef Sarah Schafer (a Boston native) will be running the kitchen at this upscale East Coast seafood shack/fish house—she was most recently at Frisson. Look for a seafood-based menu full of classics like brandade, chowder, crab cocktail, smoked trout, fried Ipswich clams, and of course lots of raw seafood, plus what is sure to be a delicious lobster roll (Mitchell Rosenthal was in Maine for a month tasting around and researching the best rolls, so you know it will be spot-on). There are also some creative dishes, like crayfish ravioli, plus pork ribs, stuffed guinea breast, and a hanger steak for the fans of the non-finned. You can read more on the extensive menu here. The SoMa warehouse space is like a big barn but in a cool alley, with 75 seats, a 35-foot-long zinc counter, plus wood floors, and rustic tables from Jeffrey Ruiz, a talented artisan furniture maker and craftsman from Berkeley. Anchor & Hope opens on Tuesday, April 22nd. Lunch Mon–Fri 11:30am–2pm, dinner Sun–Thu 5:30pm–10pm, Fri–Sat 5:30pm–11pm.
83 Minna St. at First, 415-501-9100.
The project is from Boris Nemchenok, who worked three years under Mario Batali at Otto Enoteca and Pizzeria in NYC as a sommelier and manager, and Ben Hetzel, a Johnson and Wales graduate who has been at the Dining Room at the San Francisco Ritz-Carlton since 2000, working as a cook, captain, and cheese buyer. He is incidentally married to Camber Lay, barmixtress extraordinaire who is formerly of Range, Frisson, Laiola, and Tres Agaves, who is concocting some sparkling wine cocktails for the drinks menu. A variety of enoteca antipasti will be on offer, with many under $10 and served family style, over 15 cheeses, salumi and charcuterie (they hope to be making them in-house down the line but for now many will come from Salumi, the Batali family outpost in Seattle), panini, bruschettas, tramezzini, piadine, pizza of the day, and dessert too.
The wine list is all-Italian, with 85 to start, and they plan to expand to 200 available by the bottle. 20–25 wines will be served by the quartino, a third of a bottle that is presented in an 8 oz. decanter, or you can do 3 oz. tastings. Jim Kennedy from Sociale, an investor and wine consultant, will be consulting and sourcing some wines unique to California, if not the U.S. Kennedy was the Beverage Director of Esca in NYC under Mario Batali and assisted in crafting the wine list at Delfina.
The space is the old Horseshoe Coffeehouse—there was some fire damage, so the place has been totally gutted (hence the long timeline). There are two dining rooms, totaling 49 seats, including a 10-seat bar. The look will be rustic and clean, with lots of wood, a marble-topped bar, exposed brick walls, ebony wood-stained floors, and red cedar tabletops (hand-made by the owners). Mon–Fri, dinner 5pm–12am; Sat–Sun brunch starts at 10am and goes straight through dinner until 12 midnight.
568 Haight St. at Steiner, 415-829-2024.
Many are eagerly awaiting the expansion of the Pizzeria Delfina business. Craig and Anne Stoll are opening a second location, this time in the Fillmore District. The pizzeria is moving into the Zao Noodle Bar space on California at Fillmore, which just closed so now construction can begin—they are gunning for a July opening. It will have 44 seats, twice the size of the current space, but will pretty much have the same format of the original, i.e. it’s a pizzeria, not a restaurant serving pizza. They will be putting in a wood-burning oven and are discussing an antipasto case, and beer on tap.
2406 California St. at Fillmore.
Here’s a little something for all our oh-so-important teachers out there: “In a gentle form of protest to the government of California making every effort to devalue the public education system through budget cuts and proposed mass layoffs of teachers, Lark Creek Restaurant Group has called for a Teacher Appreciation Month throughout May at all of their San Francisco Bay Area restaurants (One Market Restaurant and LarkCreekSteak in San Francisco; The Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur; Lark Creek Walnut Creek; and Yankee Pier in Larkspur, SFO, Lafayette and at Santana Row in San Jose). Every teacher who presents his or her teacher identification card will receive $10 off his or her bill. If multiple teachers dine together, the bill will be reduced by $10 for each teacher. There is no limit to the number of times a teacher can receive the discount, nor is there a minimum amount they have to spend.”
Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com and get it in your inbox every Tuesday.
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