Over at the ever-poppin’ ~CHINO~ in the Mission, the team has just brought on consulting chef Justine Kelly, who hails from the Charles Phan empire—she initially started working with the Slanted Door in 1996 and was a key figure with the group until she moved on to The Battery as executive chef of their restaurant, 717B. She is now going to be working closely with Chino executive chef-partner Telmo Faria and chef de cuisine Dale Arcalas—partner Joe Hargrave tells me the team is adding around two new dishes a week. They aren’t going to be massively changing the menu—it’s more about fine-tuning and the pursuit of excellence. They want to dial the food at the restaurant to be great and are excited to have Justine on board to help drive it. Also in the works: the team is going to be taking a trip for inspiration to Vancouver.
About a month ago, we mentioned the upcoming brewery and beer incubator CITIZEN FOX that’s coming to the Mission (it’s now due to open early 2015). They have just announced a consulting chef: Tanya Petrovna, the founder and past president of the vegan café company Native Foods. So yes, it will be a vegan menu, but not “hippie vegan”—it will be designed to appeal to everyone. After getting the menu in place, she’ll be updating it seasonally and adding new dishes. If you want to meet her, she’ll be leading a demo at the CUESA Ferry Plaza Farmers Market this Saturday. 2205 Mission St. at 18th St.
Some changes are afoot at ~OUTERLANDS~: the chef who was brought on to replace Brett Cooper, Greg Kuzia-Carmel, has also been let go after four months. Pastry chef Brooke Mosley, who is also a big part of the savory side of things over there, will be collaborating with sous chef Bayani Inclano; it sounds like another chef will be brought on to work closely with the team. We’ll see where Kuzia-Carmel lands next.
Front booth action, and yes, that’s Simon on the shelf. Photo courtesy of Chino.
