Over in North Beach, Scoop reports that BOTTLE CAP is closing on December 22nd. The former home of the Washington Square Bar & Grill will become the new home to Matt McNamara and Teague Moriarty, of Sons & Daughters and Sweet Woodruff. The new crew gets the keys around the New Year, and then they plan to do a quick remodel and reopen the space in March 2014. In the meantime, Bottle Cap will be open and taking reservations until December 22nd. 1707 Powell St. at Union, 415-529-2237.
In Daly City, fabulous 57-year-old institution JOE’S OF WESTLAKE is in the process of being sold to new owners, according to Scoop. It sounds like the new takers are none other than John Duggan and his family, of Original Joe’s. Turns out, the two Joes have a history: Joe’s of Westlake founder Bruno Scatena opened Joe’s no. 2 in the Marina in 1939 with Tony Rodin, Duggan’s grandfather. Anyway, Joe’s of Westlake will be closing at the end of January 2014, and the new owners plan to remodel it and reopen in early 2015. Hopefully, even with all that remodeling, the new team keeps the spirit of the original intact. 11 Glenwood Ave. at Lake Merced, Daly City, 650-755-7400.
File this in the “coming soon” department: Based on some ABC license transfer activity, it looks like there will be some ownership changes at CAFE DU NORD. One person named on the license is Dylan MacNiven (of Woodhouse Fish Co. and West of Pecos). I reached out to him and he said he’s not at liberty to share details just yet, but did say this: “I can tell you that the story is not ‘Woodhouse Fish guy takes over Du Nord’; there are other people involved.” So it looks like we need to stand by on what the upcoming changes are, but something is brewing. 2170 Market St. at Sanchez, 415-861-5016.
This one is at least a little more sweet than bittersweet: Beloved Outer Richmond deli FREDY’S OCEAN BEACH DELI is changing ownership. Ocean Beach Bulletin reports that owner Fredy is retiring for health reasons, but the good news is that he has sold the place to longtime employee David Nottage. Nottage plans to change the name to Kawika’s Ocean Beach Deli (Nottage grew up in Hawaii and Kawika is his Hawaiian name) and add some new menu items, but he is committed to keeping the place’s spirit alive by continuing to make fresh bread in-house, and many favorite specials will remain. Look for some new wine selections, some Greek items on the menu, and a parklet out front in the future. 734 La Playa St. at Cabrillo, 415-221-2031.
Bartender extraordinaire at Joe’s of Westlake. Photo by Mathew Sumner.
