The pandemic sure continues to wreak some havoc on our restaurant scene, and it definitely caused some big changes in the Namu restaurant group. The team has been making some updates on their Instagram account, including announcing the closure of Namu Stonepot on Divisadero (ugh, I will miss their stonepot rice being just blocks away), but at least it lives in on the former Namu Gaji space on Dolores Park, which they converted to Namu Stonepot for good. (Operating a full-service restaurant like Namu Gaj was already challenging and sadly is no longer feasible for them.)
But, some good news. Their plans for a food and beer hall (SSP BEER HALL & NFT GALLERY) are starting to come into focus at the former Perennial space in SoMa—chef Dennis Lee brought his stealth pandemic pop-up, Sunset Squares Pizza, over to the space, serving their fluffy sourdough focaccia pizza with sick toppings (like mapo tofu), along with some new New England/New Haven-inspired round pizzas the Lee brothers grew up with (think Greek and Armenian pizzerias), plus the Namu Stonepot menu, and some Filipino-American comfort food from Uncle Tito’s, who have been serving in the space for a couple weeks. I’m heading over for a look-see tomorrow (this Wednesday), the official opening day, so will be posting some updates on @tablehopper. There will also be some NFT art on display (SF’s first NFT art gallery), local beers from Cellarmaker (and others), and more surprises, I am sure. 59 9th St. at Mission.
The colorful new exterior of Namu Stonepot on Dolores. Photo courtesy of Namu.