Some changes over at ~PRESIDIO SOCIAL CLUB~: after 14 years of business (and countless cocktails and whole pig roasts) in the Presidio, owner Ray Tang has decided to close the restaurant, and has converted it to Presidio Social Club Exchange. Alongside pastry chef Rene Cruz, they are turning the Exchange (or PCX) into a marketplace, based around a carvery, bakery, and to-go bar. It’s like a traditional army PX, but with prepared foods that you want to eat (so, no Shit on a Shingle).
On the menu: dishes like slow-roasted lamb, hot prime rib (Thu-Sat), meatloaf on Tuesdays, roast chicken (available warm or chilled so you can use it in recipes), grill kits, and French dip slider kits. You’ll find family feasts, and a bunch of sides and salads that are designed to serve two. Fresh pasta, pre-made sauces (including prime beef rib sugo), soup (check out the tomato soup and ready-to-cheese toast!), and stocks are also available to have on hand—the kinds of things you’ll be happy to find in your freezer. Basically, they want to make it easy for you to feed your family, friends, or just have a stocked fridge—or great picnic.
The bakery is full of carb-tastic delights, from biscuits to herb focaccia to braided challah on Fridays, and then there’s a coconut cream pie, cookies (baked or pre-made dough), ready-to-bake pie shells, cinnamon rolls, and more. Round out your order with a Bloody Mary kit, batched cocktails, and wine and spirits. Everything is available for preorder, pickup, and delivery. Hours for now are Tue-Sat 4pm-8pm. 563 Ruger St., Presidio.
Back in March, chef Rob Lam was poised to open LILY in the Inner Richmond (on Clement Street, in the former Q) with Lily Lieu and her sister, Lucy, and then we know what happened next: Miss Rona turned everything upside down. While Lily was designed to be an upscale Vietnamese dining experience, Lam has decided to create a casual Vietnamese concept and daytime menu in the meantime, Lily To Go, which will be geared for takeout.
He’s currently fine-tuning his selection of chao (rice porridge) dishes, and if you ever came to our tablehopper Jook Joint pop-up a few years back, then a few of the dishes will seem happily familiar, like duck confit chao; forbidden rice chao topped with rock shrimp, crispy dry shrimp, XO-roasted Dirty Girl tomatoes, and uni butter; and a vegetarian pea leaf and cilantro chao (all subject to change)—and you can get a fried cruller to dip inside your porridge. Additional breakfast/brunch dishes include the ốp la egg plate with lap cheong sausage, housemade pâté, giò (Vietnamese bologna), and baguette.
Lam’s lineup of bánh mì is where his French training will really be apparent, since he’s making all the charcuterie himself, from the tête de cochon to the pâté in the classic Saigon bánh mì. His version of a chả cá thăng long bánh mì will have turmeric beer-battered black cod, with housemade mayo and a flurry of herbs. And anyone who has ever had Lam’s French dip at Butterfly will recognize this bánh mì, with thinly sliced, five-spice roast beef, which you’ll dunk into a fragrant phở au jus. There will also be some garlic noodles, and a classic yet upgraded #1 dac biet noodle bowl with lemongrass chicken, caramel shrimp, fried pork, a duck spring roll, and some incredible orange-yolked eggs.
There will be some unique drinks, like cold peanut milk with a salty duck egg crema, and a dulce de leche iced coffee, plus a coconut and sinh to (pineapple) milkshake, blended with fresh coconut, yogurt, and passion fruit.
I’ll keep you posted on the launch and hours, which is looking like mid- to late September for now. 225 Clement St. at 4th Ave.
Coconut cream pie from the new Presidio Social Club Exchange. Photo via PCX.
