Say Aloha to a New Sandwich Spot in the Marina“0 Comments”

the tablehopper | 11:32 am | January 27, 2010 | Foodie 411 | Add a comment

Hank Minkey, AKA Jack Lucky, is opening The Sandwich Spot in the Marina. The space was formerly a Three Day Blinds space, so it was quite the build-out: the ceilings were raised to 12 feet, walls were knocked down, and some serious Aloha style was unleashed. (His family has a lifelong relationship with surfing and Hawaii.) Their motto is: “Love All, Feed All” and you will see it hand carved into the handmade counter tops across the front windows, as well as Hank’s kids’ names, their cousins, some of their family and friends, and Hawaiian surf spots they love. The front “bar” or sandwich counter was handmade in hand-cut and hand-nailed bamboo, plus there are hand-carved nine-foot tall totem poles of solid redwood tree trunks (naturally fallen), carved by their friend “Tiki Bosko.” There are also a few antique surfboards, a variety of surf and hot-rod art, and super-friendly staff. And outdoor seating to boot! There is always plenty of parking in the big garage across the street.

They will hand slice the meat and cheese daily, bake the bread fresh daily (and throughout the day as needed), offer almost 30 original specialty sandwiches and house specials including a “secret sauce” (a garlic and olive oil blend) or “bomb sauce” (spicy!). $10 will get you a sandwich, chips, and a refillable drink! Beer and wine coming soon. They hope to open by Thursday January 8th or Friday the 9th! Open daily 10am-9pm (hours subject to change).

3213 Pierce St. at Chestnut, 415-931-7768

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. Got news? Email Marcia at taste@sanfrancisco.travel.

Barbacco Opening Soon“0 Comments”

the tablehopper | 6:15 pm | January 22, 2010 | Foodie 411 | Add a comment

Now Open

Barbacco should hopefully be opening in mid-January (check their Twitter feed to keep up with the news). This casual lil’ sis of Perbacco is an “eno trattoria,” serving lunch and dinner. Chef-owner Staffan Terje created the menus, and chef Sarah Burchard (previously the sous at Perbacco and a big contributor to the fantastic salumi program) is co-creating and executing the menu. Lunch will have a seasonal and rotating selection of sandwiches, salads, baked pastas, salumi, and entrées that will also be available to go. Some examples include a roasted porchetta sandwich with grapes and grilled radicchio agro-dolce; fried ribollita; and a whipped salt cod sandwich with roasted tomato and arugula (I guess we’ll have to wait until the summer for that one).

For dinner, you can just swing by for a bite, like ascolane (fried olives stuffed with pork garnished with grated pecorino stagionato), or a more fulfilling meal, with dishes like Sicilian meatballs with braised chard, tomato and pinenuts, or hen egg occhio di bue (bullseye) on braised rapini, tomato, and ‘nduja. You’ll also be able to buy house-cured salumi and two-week-old olive oil imported directly from Italy.

Perbacco’s wine director, Mauro Cirilli, has chosen 100 wines by the glass, half of which will be available by the taste, glass, quartino, and mezzo, and all are going to be stored in temperature-controlled cases (hallelujah). The selection will focus on viticulturists embracing the philosophy of producing wine in a natural way—almost all of the wines will be biodynamic and will hail from Italy, its surrounding countries, as well as the North American West Coast, from California to British Columbia. There will also be draft beers from Anchor Brewing Company, 21st Amendment, and Magnolia breweries. The 66-seat eatery was designed by Cass Calder Smith (CCS Architecture), and includes a rich black marble bar for counter seating, a bright yellow wood beverage case, dark grain walnut deuces, and smaller communal tables. Lunch will be served Mon-Fri from 11am-3pm, and dinner Mon-Sat from 5pm-10pm. Take-out will also be available.

230 California St. at Battery, 415-955-1919

A Historic Addition to Sixth Street“0 Comments”

the tablehopper | 5:58 pm | | Foodie 411 | Add a comment

Passion Cafe at 28 6th Street

With one look at the new Passion Café, and you will agree: it takes a lot of passion to restore a place to this level of grandeur. What was formerly housing a pawn shop and liquor store on gritty Sixth Street has been transformed into a French café-bistro, due to open the second week of January. Owners/partners Steven Barton and Jacques Andre fortunately have as much of a background in general contracting as they do in cooking, because the restoration of this 100-year-old space has been painstaking indeed. The brick building is full of reclaimed materials, like the floors of long redwood planks that were taken from the old bakery’s walk-in fridge next door (yup, it had redwood walls, amazing). They tried to use as many of the building’s original materials that they could, and the woodwork on the doors is gorgeous. The original historical façade has also been restored. Even more marvelous, there is a rooftop area with vines and trellises designed for outdoor dining, and room for 20 (heat lamps will eventually be added). Barton says, “When you walk through the doors you feel as though you’ve been transported back through time.”

The menu will feature espresso and coffee in the morning (at 7am), with tarts, tartines, and items baked on-site available at 8am. Lunch and dinner will be served daily, featuring classics like boeuf bourguignon (chef Andre is from Paris, and also cooked in restaurants in Guadeloupe). Yeah, it’s a tough street, but they are hoping to entice the theater crowd for dinner (they will serve until 9pm, and possibly later, TBD), and I think any fan of historical architecture and preservation is going to want to check this gem out as well.

28 6th St. at Stevenson, 415-437-9730

Upcoming Fundraiser Dinners“0 Comments”

the tablehopper | 4:09 pm | January 20, 2010 | Events, Foodie 411 | Add a comment

Angove Family Winemakers, one of Australia’s oldest family-owned wine producers, is continuing its monthly San Francisco-based dinner series in the New Year. Co-host Vivien Gay, a prominent leader within the Bay Area’s gay and lesbian community, has partnered with some San Francisco chefs to create diverse menus highlighting the Angove Nine Vines wines.

The four-course dinners will be paired with Nine Vines wines from South Australia: 2008 Grenache-Shiraz Rosé, 2008 Viognier, and 2008 Shiraz-Viognier. Each of these wines are sourced from Angove’s own Nanya vineyard and premium growers in the Murray Valley of South Australia, 150 miles northeast of Adelaide.

A limited number of tickets are available for $75 per person. Tickets are now on sale for the first three dinners in 2010.

Tuesday January 26th
Orson Restaurant Bar & Lounge
508 4th St., San Francisco
Featuring chef Elizabeth Falkner

Wednesday February 24th
Betelnut
2030 Union St., San Francisco
Featuring chef Alexander Ong

Wednesday March 24th
Scala’s Bistro
450 Powell St., San Francisco
Featuring chef Jennifer Biesty

Angove is a continuing sponsor of Project Open Hand, and a minimum of 30% of ticket sales for the 2010 dinner series will benefit the local San Francisco charity. Project Open Hand aims to meet community nutrition needs through programs for people living with HIV/AIDS, the homebound/critically ill, and seniors.

A big Parties That Cook cooking party fundraiser for the nonprofit Room To Read is coming up (the goal is to raise $25k!). Room To Read partners with local communities throughout the developing world to provide quality educational opportunities by establishing libraries, creating local language children’s literature, constructing schools, and providing education to girls. To date, they have built 7,526 libraries and 832 schools.

The fundraiser is on February 4th at Crushpad, who is donating wine and their incredible venue for the event, and Whole Foods is donating some of the groceries. The evening will involve wine tasting, cooking small plates and will end with Room to Read founder John Wood telling you his incredible story.

Here is the menu featuring regional dishes from the countries Room to Read serves:

Indian-spiced lamb burgers with cucumber raita (India)
Peanut and coconut pot stickers with sweet and spicy soy dipping sauce (Vietnam)
Lettuce cups with gingery pork and shiitake mushrooms (Vietnam)
Grilled shrimp skewers with mint-jalapeno sauce (Indonesia)
Veggie curry cups with basmati rice (India)
Chicken skewers with spicy peanut sauce (Nepal)
Bacon-wrapped plums filled with blue cheese and balsamic-honey glaze (US)
Curried flatbread with mango-currant chutney (India)
Coconut cupcakes with coconut cream frosting (fusion)

If you are unable to make it, please consider making a donation and list “Cooking for a Cause” to help Parties That Cook meet their $25k goal. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to Room to Read.

5:45pm–9pm

$95; buy tickets here