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 →
Opening a more upscale, untried concept on a block that already holds three Michelin-starred restaurants — State Bird Provisions, The Progress and Avery — is ambitious, to say the least. When it is one that needs tightening up, as brand new Bansang does, it’s even riskier. But in its initial soft opening month of May (opening the tail end of April 2022), Bansang’s promise is all on the plate. Read more →
— Ideal New Neighborhood Hang: Cole Valley Tavern serves 99 Flake, heartwarming food & cocktails.
— Retro-Chic Lounge with Secret Cocktails & Stellar Food: The Madrigal (also your pre-and-post show hang).
— Restaurant Review: Buzzy (yet hit-or-miss) Marina Italian at Norcina.
— Low-Key Molecular: Talking science of cocktails with Ted Kilgore of St. Louis’ Planter’s House.
Legendary Kezar Bar & Restaurant has been a Cole Valley staple since 1989, but even after revamps, couldn’t quite hang on. The good news is it’s staying neighborhood-owned with local Jim Angelus of nearby Bacon Bacon reopening it as Cole Valley Tavern (he became a partner in Kezar back in 2018). It’s packed every night since opening late April 2022, carrying on the tradition but with an upgrade: convivial, welcoming yet with heightened comfort food and cocktails. Read more →
Reviewed this issue:
— Calvados Armagnac Blend
— Spanish Vermouth/Vermut
— Fernet from Brooklyn
— Organic Dominican Republic rum
—Mississippi and El Dorado Hills, CA, gins
… and more Read more →
You’d be tempted to call The Madrigal an upscale cocktail lounge with elevated bar food, ideal for pre-and post-show imbibing near the San Francisco Symphony, Opera, Ballet, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, and SF Jazz. And it is. But it’s much more. Debuting on Van Ness Avenue in December 2021 from Hi Neighbor Hospitality (Trestle, The Vault Steakhouse, The Vault Garden), The Madrigal feels like what the space should have always been. Read more →
This issue I talk the science of cocktail mixing and low-key, behind-the-scenes molecular techniques with Missouri cocktail pioneer, Ted Kilgore of Planter’s House and Small Change in St. Louis.
We weren’t exactly short on Italian restaurants serving Neapolitan pizzas and housemade pastas. But chef Kaitlynn Bauman’s Norcina, which opened in August 2021, is a sunny, tiny slice of Marina real estate that doesn’t feel like other countless restaurants serving similar food. In the same neighborhood, there is already popular local chain Delarosa focused on Neapolitan pizza and antipasti, a similar pizza focus at new Napizza, intimate, old school, pasta-centric Roma Antica, and, of course, pioneering A16. And that’s just within the same couple of blocks.
Review here: Read more →
— April Eats Checklist: From tortas to Salvadoran food, six under-the-radar restaurants, cafes and eateries.
— Turkish Time at Taksim: Reviewing SF’s new modern Turkish (and raki) newcomer.
— Sustainability in California’s Distilleries: My Edible LA magazine feature talking to craft distillers across the state.
— Unexpected Tasting Menu Delights in Petaluma: Table Culture Provisions reviewed.
Taksim is named after a historic Istanbul district lined with 1800s architecture and global chains. The food here follows suit: it’s Turkish, to be sure, adhering to tradition but taking a modern approach… Read more →