Marcia Gagliardi

It felt strange to have one of San Francisco’s most iconic restaurants temporarily closed for so long (18 months!), with some FXMP pop-up dinners to tide us over, but now it’s official: chef-owner Melissa Perello and her team have swung open the doors to FRANCES the beloved Castro…

The former Locanda location is now home to ANCORA, which means “anchor” in Latin, from owners Andi and Joe Conte of Water2Table, the local hook-and-line and sustainable fish company that services Bay Area restaurants (and now consumers). They were originally going to open as Seven Fishes, but the pandemic had…

There’s some top SF talent now in the kitchen at 20 SPOT in the Mission: chef Alejandro Rodriguez, who was previously the chef de cuisine at Nopa (he was there since the day it opened, in 2006!). He is joined by his wife, Marcella Lew, another Nopa and Nopalito…

This exciting news rolled in just as I was wrapping up today’s column, so I will have to share more details in my next issue, but I wanted you to know Sarah Kirnon of MISS OLLIE’S has landed at Forage Kitchen in Oakland, and she tells me she…

Wow, the abbondanza of pizza places can’t stop, won’t stop (I am not complaining). First up, SQUARE PIE GUYS have officially opened their Ghirardelli Square location after running a soft opening for a bit. This is owners Danny Stoller and Marc Schechter’s third location, serving up their…

When a friend sent me the SFGate story that the VILLA D’ESTE in Lakeside Village was closing after 44 years of serving Hollywood levels of glam drama and veal parm, we had to go out and pay our respects to the interior (you can read more about the restaurant’…

Back in January, I reported that BODEGA SF was working on opening a brick-and-mortar location in the former Mason House in Union Square/Tenderloin after popping up at Rooster & Rice in the Castro. (Read my original piece for background on this special Northern Vietnamese family business that has its…