About a month ago, tablehopper broke the news about the name of the new restaurant opening in the former Tao Café space at Guerrero and 22nd Street: ~COMPANY~. Or as I like to remember it, the old Flying Saucer space. Anyway, chef-partners Karen Hoffman and Jason Poindexter (previously of Four Seasons) are partnering with Thuy Nguyen, the former owner of Tao, and are serving a menu of Cal-Mediterranean and Northern California cuisine in a relaxed setting.
The menu was designed to be flexible for a quick bite or full meal, and includes appetizers from $6-$10 and entrées from $14-$16. Some starters may include housemade ricotta cheese with roasted figs, balsamic reduction, and levain toasts; grilled Monterey squid with crushed Butterball potatoes, pancetta, and salsa verde; and pickled watermelon salad. There is also pappardelle with oxtail sugo and braised beet greens; two kinds of flatbreads; and mains like slow-roasted pork shoulder, crispy okra, corn succotash, and housemade pancetta; roasted chicken panzanella salad; and sockeye salmon with fresh shelling beans, braised romaine, confit fennel, Castelvetrano tapenade, and herb salad. Oh yes, and there’s a burger too.
The restaurant softly opened for dinner last Friday, and will start lunch service Tuesday October 2nd. The space is a bit retro-meets-industrial look, with vibrant colors on the walls and vintage light fixtures. There’s a bar with room for eight, plus a lounge upstairs (available for private events).
There are also some creative soju-based cocktails on the menu, by Russell Morton, who is making soju-based gin, amaretto, and barrel-aged fortified wine cocktails (they are mixed in-house and then aged in oak barrels). There are also wines on tap, along with craft beers on tap and by the bottle (all local and small production). Open for lunch Tue-Sun 11am-2:30pm, bar and dinner Sun and Tue-Thu 5:30pm-10pm, and Fri-Sat until 11pm.
The upstairs mezzanine. Photo by Scott Saraceno.
