New Restaurants
New Nightspots
| Name |
Address |
City |
Phone |
| Rye |
688 Geary St. |
San Francisco |
415-786-7803 |
Coming Soon
Joey & Eddy's
Bronx-inspired, family-style Italian dinners – think giant plates of spaghetti and meatballs – will be the bill of fare at this new restaurant being hatched by Joseph Manzare (Globe, Tres Agaves, Zuppa) and partner Ed Maiello at 616 20th Street in the up-and-coming Dogpatch neighborhood. The duo plan to tear down the existing building and develop residential lofts before opening the restaurant – which, if all goes well, is still a year and a half off.
La Ciccia
Noe Valley diners will get their fill of Sardinian-style cucina when this new ristorante (its name is slang for "belly") opens shortly at 291 30th Street. Chef and co-owner Massimiliano Conti, who previously cooked at Acquerello, Antica Trattoria and Palio D'Asti, will oversee the menu, to be complemented by Sardinian wines and other imports from The Boot.
Orson
Patissier extraordinaire Elizabeth Falkner and Citizen Cake partner Sabrina Riddle are growing their empire. This fall, they will move all the baking production out of Citizen Cake and into this new SoMa venue (508 Fourth St.). Billed as a "full sensory experience," it will house a loungey, mod-inspired dining room, a large bar and a party space with a DJ booth; the menu will feature wood-fired pizzas and other shared eats, and there will be a chocolate sommelier.
Woodhouse Fish Company
The Castro will land a new seafood restaurant later this spring when this casual, affordable New England–style fish house opens at 2073 Market Street, the corner space that formerly housed World Sausage Grill.
Good Deals and Other News
Dialing for Dinner
Two restaurateurs have recently launched dinner service to help homebound diners solve the eternal question of "what's for dinner?" Luna Park chef-owner AJ Gilbert now offers nearly everything off his menu for delivery in select San Francisco neighborhoods (including the Mission, Castro, Bernal Heights and Potrero Hill); there's a $3 charge and no mimimum order. For those who want a week of dinners, Todd Davies (formerly the chef at mc2 and Lark Creek Inn) has launched the aptly named www.weekofdinners.com, where clients can customize seven days worth of seasonal, organic dinners and have them delivered for free within Marin County.
After its annual winter break, this stylish Healdsburg hangout has reopened with a new seasonal menu, a new cocktail list and a new chef, Paul Smith. Smith comes to the wine country by way of New York, where he worked at Bobby Flay's Bolo.
Bouchon Boucherie
Thomas Keller plans to open a butcher shop across the street from his Bouchon Bakery in the Vintage 1870 complex located at 6525 Washington Street. The shop will centralize butchery operations for Keller's French Laundry and Bouchon, and will double as a retail shop that will also sell artisan charcuterie; slated to open in winter 2007.
Crepes du Monde has a new name – and a new branch, also known as Café Grillades, opening this month in Hayes Valley (501 Hayes St.).
The mother ship is still sailing strong, but Berkeley's culinary icon will have to steer without Alice Waters while she takes a sabbatical to focus on other projects, including a school lunch program; she will return to running the restaurant's day-to-day operations by summer's end.
Owner Joseph Manzare may have been traveling the globe lately doing research for his Southern Italian restaurant, Zuppa, and south-of-the-border Mexican, Tres Agaves, but he's recently circled back to his original restaurant. The nine-year-old late-night haven, Globe, has been given a face-lift, with new light fixtures, cushy banquettes, olive-green walls and dark hardwood floors resulting in a warmer, quieter space. Chef Jason Tallent has also unveiled a new seasonal menu, as well as a supplemental "Sunday Farm Menu," a $29 four-course prix fixe featuring direct-from-the-farm fare.
Jonnatan Leiva, who replaced founding chef James Ormsby, has added more international influences to the menu (think spicy tuna tartare served on crispy pappadams) of this South Park link in the PlumpJack chain.
Moving In Grille
Francis Ford Coppola has purchased the Chateau Souverain winery in Geyserville, where he plans to relocate his Niebaum-Coppola wine production. He has also taken over the property's on-site restaurant, formerly known as the Alexander Valley Grille, and temporarily renamed it the Moving In Grille (400 Souverain Rd., 707-433-3141), where chef Martin Courtman continues to prepare the same country French menu. However, the wine list now exclusively features Coppola's proprietary wines. Eventually, the restaurant will assume a new identity, but until then, the Moving In Grille is open for lunch (Monday–Saturday, 11:30 AM–2:30 PM), dinner (Friday–Sunday, 5:30–8:30 PM) and brunch (Sunday, 11 AM–2:30 PM).
Downtown Napa's newest venue is now serving lunch six days a week (it's closed on Sundays). Both smaller, lighter meals (think soups and salads) and heavier, dinner-worthy items are available.
A second branch of this popular taqueria has opened at 1777 Fulton Street (415-776-0106) in the Western Addition.
Aaron Zimmer is the new chef de cuisine at this Coast-side resort, replacing Peter Rudolph, who left to become the executive chef at Campton Place. Zimmer is no stranger to the property – he was the sous-chef under Rudolph before heading east to help another former Californian, French Laundry protégé Eric Zeibold, open CityZen at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, DC. Zimmer, who rejoined the kitchen at the end of March, will gradually change the menu at Navio, as well as at the more casual Conservatory dining area.
Scott Howard has launched weekday lunch service at his eponymous Downtown restaurant.
Straits Café
Chef-owner Chris Yeo has spent the last few years growing his popular Straits Cafe chain in the South Bay and Peninsula, but come this fall he intends to open a second San Francisco branch (the original is located in the Richmond) in Downtown's Westfield San Francisco Center (865 Market St.), near the future home of Bloomingdale's.
Now that avant-garde chef Eric Torralba has left after just six months, this rustic Italian in St. Helena is not only between the vines (as its name suggests) but between chefs too. In the meantime, executive chef Nash Cognetti is holding down the fort.