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Polk Gulch: You may recall how the Parilla space recently became available at 1760 Polk Street. It turns out that Giancarlo Paterlini of nearby Acquerello snapped it up. Will this be a new, casual Italian spot from the team? Details remain few, but stay tuned. [Scoop]
SoMa: ZAP, the annual Zinfandel festival with both wine and food tastings, is all this weekend at the Concourse Pavilion. [Grub Street]
Upper Haight: Daniel Hyatt, the bar manager at The Alembic and creator of its excellent cocktail program, has taken his leave, and he’s a free agent for now. [Tablehopper]
St. Helena: La Condesa, the Mexican spot imported from Austin, now has a new, more casual menu, and a new chef: Chris Mortenson. [Scoop]

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Filed Under: neighborhood watch, acquerello, empire building, foodievents, la condesa, oeno-file, the alembic

Grub Street San Francisco

Castro: There’s still no opening date for Fable, coming to the former Luna space at 558 Castro. But there is Aesop’s Fables-inspired artwork, and cheeky “reclaimed wood”-patterned wallpaper. [Scoop, Earlier]
Outer Richmond: A new mystery restaurant has finished their build-out in the former Video Café space at 5700 Geary. It looks Asian. [Eater]
Sausalito: Plate Shop, which opened two years ago, is closing this weekend. The people behind Le Garage are taking it over. [Scoop]
Oakland: Here’s a nice piece from Berkeleyside about Guest Chef, the Rockridge spot where the chef and menu change every two weeks, and which is now a little over a year old. [Berkeleyside]

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Filed Under: neighborhood watch, fable, guest chef, previews

Grub Street San Francisco

One of Fernando’s composed salads.

Here’s an update of another anticipated opening that was on our Winter/Spring Preview radar: 1601 Bar & Kitchen (1601 Howard Street at 12th). The new Sri Lankan-inspired restaurant from chef Brian Fernando is facing some construction delays, so their opening has now pushed into late February or early March. But the menu is a work in progress, and you can have a peek at it below.

As you can see, prices top out at for a bavette steak, and the combinations suggest both Fernando’s Sri Lankan heritage and fine dining experience — he worked for ten years at Le Papillon in San Jose. And one of the signatures will be a Sri Lankan street food favorite, an egg hopper, which is a soft-cooked egg inside a fermented crepe, served with different chutneys.

Stay tuned for updates on the opening date, and expect the menu items to change slightly based on ingredients.

Earlier: 1601 Bar & Kitchen Opening Next Month in SoMa, Will Be Sri Lankan
Exclusive: SoMa’s Sage Lounge to Be Replaced By 1601 Bar & Kitchen

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Filed Under: menus, 1601 bar and kitchen, brian fernando, not-so-hopelessly delayed, previews, what to eat

Grub Street San Francisco

A new bakery featuring stuff like homemade Oreos and Twinkies is on its way to 291 Third Avenue (at Clement). It’s called Pretty Please Bakeshop, and the woman behind it is pastry chef Alison Okabayashi. She had previously been running a special-order business under the name Two for Two Cakes, and as Tablehopper reports, the new venture will feature not only wedding and event cakes, but a daily selection of individual treats and smaller cakes as well. The place is set to open by next week. [Tablehopper]

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Filed Under: sweet beat, openings, pretty please bakeshop, previews

Grub Street San Francisco

Anthony John Denison as grumpy chef Sal Sartini.

Remember how there was some action at the cursed space that is 500 Jackson last year that caused a bit of an internet stir but turned out to be just a set for a film? Well, that film is called Trattoria, and it’s a comedy, and it just showed at the Sonoma International Film Festival. And watching the trailer we’re thinking maybe the curse extends to fake restaurants too!

It’s still unclear if it will be getting a wide release, but what is clear is that someone (perhaps screenwriters Dawn Rich and Jason Wolos) who worked in the restaurant industry believed that a story about opening a restaurant — with all its stressing over critics, kvelling over tips, and wars between the front and back of house — would make for riveting cinema.

And didn’t they cover the risotto thing in Big Night? Anyway, we’ll try to keep an opening mind since we do enjoy seeing San Francisco on screen. Also, apparently, Elizabeth Falkner and Traci Des Jardins make cameos as themselves.

Watch the trailer for Trattoria, a restaurant movie set in San Francisco
Earlier: Fake Restaurant Takes Over Zinnia Space

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Filed Under: video feed, back of house, videos

Grub Street San Francisco

2009 Mark West Pinot Noir, California
A must-buy bargain bottle that captures Pinot’s elegance and juicy red-berry fruit flavors at a price that will please. Stock up for the holidays to use as a house red or to give as gifts.

2010 Astrolabe
“Voyage” Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough
Newly landed on our shores, this unique Kiwi wine delivers a ping of zestiness layered with citrus notes and whisper of fresh herbal aromas. It’s a classy Sauvignon Blanc worth seeking out.

2006
Iron Horse “Classic” Vintage Brut, Green Valley of Russian River
Valley, California
Iconic bubbly producer Iron Horse is California royalty, crafting world-class wines to rival the best of Champagne, France. Aged for years before release, the Vintage Brut sparkles like a Cartier jewel. Lush, yet lean, focused, and fresh, this is a wine to savor.

Related posts:

1. Check, Please! Bay Area: Izzy’s Steaks and Chops, El Huarache Loco, Helmand Palace
2. Wine Tips: Pairing Dessert Wines
3. Wine Tips: Texture in Pairing Food + Wine

Check, Please! Bay Area

1) The Mission:Mozzeria is slated to open tonight, though online reservations appear to be available starting this Saturday night. The menu is still not online, but according to their blog, “We will serve traditional and non-traditional pizzas. Traditional pizzas include Margherita. One of our non-traditional pizzas is Roast Duck on hoisin sauce with spring onion.” [EaterWire]

2) Pacific Heights: Roostertail is on the border between Pacific Heights and the Fillmore. Prices are moderate on the rotisserie bird centric menu. Yesterday was the opening.

3) North Beach: What the world needs now, is ramen. And a lot more of it. Kirimachi is the latest contender, and we learned the details from Miss Tablehopper. [EaterWire]

4) Union Square: Bouche is so new it’s not yet on Yelp! Can you believe it? We learned about it originally from Mr. Lucchesi at Inside Scoop. The dinner menu is decidedly French, although adding Douglas fir to potatoes sounds tres moderne. [ISSF]

5) Financial District: Word has it that buckwheat galettes and savory crepes can now be found downtown at Galette 88. Perhaps it can take the sting away from the loss of Ti Couz. [Tablehopper]

6) Bernal Heights: Opening today is Iron & Gold. Expect music and cheap happy hour cocktails at this “classy neighborhood dive.” [Tablehopper]

7) Russian Hill: The week began with the opening of Square Meals/Batter Bakery, offering the ultimate in flexibility you can eat on site, take prepared food to go, or get it delivered. [EaterWire]

Eater SF

Mark your calendars for October 6!

Buzzbo Sacramento is gearing up for the opening of the newly designed Disney Store at the Westfield Galleria at Roseville on Thursday, October 6 at 10am!  The first 250 guests will receive FREE Mickey Mouse ears!

For directions, visit: http://www.westfield.com/galleriaatroseville/directions

buzzbo San Francisco

The logo

Grub Street broke the news earlier this year about Two Sisters Bar & Books, which has taken over the former Marino space at 579 Hayes Street and is opening later this week. Urban Daddy gets the first word of the opening, and from the establishment’s website we learn that the project takes its inspiration from several sources, via the sister-owners: “an incredible bookstore in Krakow; a quintessential coffeehouse in Vienna; a neighborhood bar in Paris; the young, urban, do-it-yourself restaurant scene in Brooklyn; and our Northern California roots.” With all that in mind, there will be books, coffee, food, and yes, cocktails. See the full menu here, and check it out when they open this Friday at 4 p.m. [Urban Daddy]

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Filed Under: previews, bars, openings, two sisters bar and books

Grub Street San Francisco

“I can open a bottle with no hands!”

• Can’t find a corkscrew? A “lady MacGyver” at Jezebel offers several tips for opening a wine bottle without one. [Jezebel]

• Due to an archaic law in Canada, it’s still illegal to ship wine across provincial lines, but a new policy change might allow residents of Ontario to carry in one case of wine with them, by hand, from another province. [Vancouver Sun]

• Meanwhile, hybrid red grape varieties, which were bred to be hardy in cold climates — like those in Canada — continue to face prejudice for having “foxy” or herbaceous flavors. [Montreal Gazette]

• Strange weather during this growing season has created a divide among French winemakers about how early to start the grape harvest. And, critics say that some have started too early. [Reuters/NYT]

• This week’s obscure choice of grape from the NYT tasting panel: Blaufränkisch, a native of Austria, which “makes a spicy red wine that can be graceful yet intense.” [NYT]

• Someone in China just paid 0,000 for 25 cases of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. [WSJ]

• A new book, Naked Wine, and a new documentary, Wine From Here, shed light on the growing natural-wine movement in California, which emphasizes the use of native yeasts for fermentation and a more restrained use of sulfur. [SF Bay Guardian, PR Newswire]

• Noted cookbook author and PBS chef Joanne Weir is launching a wine label: Joanne Weir Wines. [Grub Street]

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Filed Under: oeno-file, joanne weir

Grub Street San Francisco