San Francisco’s Tenderloin has long been a key neighborhood for Vietnamese food, its western blocks dubbed Little Saigon. Head out to the entire half of the city that includes the Richmond, Sunset and Parkside districts and you have an array of Vietnamese restaurants, banh mi shops, pho houses and the like. But there’s nothing quite like new Bodega, from its sleek, modern diner decor to cocktails with Vietnamese food… Read more →
From Peruvian Vegetarian to a Unique Juice Shop…
These six newcomers (or new menus) cover the gamut, from a 43 year vegetarian legend to a unique new juice shop. Alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews, here’s what’s worth ordering at each. Read more →
At the prime, heavily foot-trafficked location of Valencia between 16th and 17th Streets, Ancora (“anchor” in Latin) opened July 2, 2022, in the former Locanda space. It was opened by Andi and Joe Conte of Water2Table, the venerable sustainable seafood company that many Bay Area restaurants — and more recently, consumers, too — source from since 2011. Read more →
Opening July 6, 2022, in the former Flour + Water Pizzeria space on the prime corner of 18th and Valencia, Yellow Moto Pizzeria is from Flour + Water Hospitality Group alum David White, no longer with the F+W group). Chef Oleg Sheyner (formerly of RT Rotisserie) is helming the menu at Yellow Moto, continuing on from cooking at F+W Pizzeria since 2021. Read more →
Maybeck’s opened in 2016 in the Marina as essentially a renamed Spaghetti Bros. restaurant, going for modern “red sauce” Italian food. I still remember their spumoni ice cream. The restaurant wasn’t exactly worth crossing neighborhoods for but it was solid, and has been closed in pandemic not just for a refresh but a complete rebirth and ownership change, despite keeping the name. Read more →
These six newcomers (or new menus) cover the gamut, from Ukrainian dumplings to Nigerian food, Detroit-style pizza to hefty salads. These newbies are worth visiting, with last month’s standouts here (as always, I’ve vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed): Read more →
Chef Loretta Keller is a San Francisco treasure since she opened Bizou in 1993, which became the long-beloved COCO500 in 2005… I’ve dined at all her ventures multiple times over the last 21 years, so delighted I was to see her return… to open Uccello Lounge on the ground floor of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s (SFCM) new Bowes Center. Read more →
A few elements must align to come into one’s own voice and it’s never a one-time deal but an ongoing evolution. Maturity, experience and time are the oft-discounted but key factors to holistic integration for those pursuing it. However, other crucial pieces include timing and the right platform/s from which to express one’s voice…
Normally, this Friday review is devoted to restaurants: and both these new bars serve food, so we’ll get into that. But this week, it’s more about drink menus on par with great food and about two women coming into their voice on their current menus: Read more →
Handroll Project opened May 18, 2022, in a lofty, minimalist space with murals from local artist The Apexer. A handroll restaurant was actually Lee and Truong’s original plan even before Ju-Ni, with their vision of a casual, “quick bite” kind of spot… Read more →
As of April 19, 2022, Velvet Cantina is (dramatically) reborn as Shuggie’s Trash Pie & Natural Wine, no longer dim and dusty but colorful, loud and playful in bold yellow and green. Given the deteriorating nature of the front room, it had to be gutted and rebuilt, now all yellow and white, lined with yellow disco balls, lip-shaped sofa and cheetah mural, centered around an open kitchen with bar seats over a glittery gold countertop. Read more →