You ready for your dream Italian brunch/lunch menu? Check out the goods at the newly open CICCINO in Nob Hill, from Italian Homemade Company’s GianMarco Cosmi. He was the opening chef there for five years (working with his brother, Mattia), and during the pandemic, he was at Rich Table and Acquerello. At Ciccino, he wants to represent the way Italians really eat, and feature some dishes from his home region of Emilia-Romagna, with local and seasonal ingredients.
The menu here has a touch of upscale ingredients on it, like the caviar on the spaghetto freddo. There are a few fried dishes (fritto misto, pork cutlet, cod) and some cold dishes, like steak tartare and a halibut crudo, as well as seafood skewers (scallop, squid, shrimp) grilled on binchotan charcoal. The passatelli sound amazzzzzzing (breadcrumb, egg, and Parmesan pasta, with porcini mushrooms and a balsamic reduction). Ravioli carbonara, sign me up. He will eventually add a tasting menu in six months or so.
Ciccino opened in the former Thai Thai Noodle—Cosmi’s wife, Lynsey Rose, is behind the redesign. You’ll note some copper elements that Cosmi made and installed, an homage to his family of plumbers. As for the name Ciccino, it all started with his grandfather, who was nicknamed “magna ciccia” over the steak sandwiches he’d bring to work (ciccio is an affectionate term for fat). The name stuck with Cosmi’s father, and brothers/sons GianMarco and Mattia were called “ciccino” (little ciccio) in their youth.
Since their beer and wine license won’t arrive for a few more weeks, he’s starting with lunch/brunch Wed-Fri 11am-3:30pm and Sat-Sun 11am-4pm. He’s planning to offer some Fri-Sat dinner service very soon, check their Google or Yelp page for updates. I’ll keep you posted on when full dinner service begins and the wine is on the shelves. Cin cin! 1400 California St. at Hyde.
I broke the news earlier this year about the wood-fired pizza, natural wine, and hi-fi vinyl bar opening in the former Venticello, BACK TO BACK, from siblings Monica and Randall Hom, and thanks to a reader, I learned they are softly open right now. Take a peek at the soft-opening menu here from chef Stephen Chan—it’s the perfect season for braised short ribs, and the 12-inch pizzas sound savory and built for wine. Speaking of, Louisa Smith, the talented wine director of Turntable at Lord Stanley, helped with their list—you’ll find 10 by the glass and 57 bottles of juice to choose from.
They’ve been offering limited pizza service through their to-go window, and now they’re taking reservations for their expanded soft opening this week, Wed-Sat 5pm-8:30pm. They’ll have limited bar seating for walk-ins. 1257 Taylor St. at Washington.
Now open in the Design District/Showplace Square is ROSEMARY & PINE from the Omakase Restaurant Group (Niku Steakhouse, Omakase, Dumpling Time) in the former Skool. Chef Dustin Falcon’s menu is a departure from the group’s Asian concepts and here is modern American, with some Italian American dishes inspired by his youth. He is still the chef at Niku, and previously worked at Lazy Bear, The French Laundry, and The Corner.
There are house-baked breads like focaccia and flatbreads; creative pastas like tortellini americana (bologna, tennessee ham, vella dry jack cheese); slow-braised and woodstone oven-cooked meats, seafood, and a great-looking, crispy bone-in veal chop, with tomato, crushed garlic, mozzarella, and basil. Check the menus on their site—there’s also brunch and lunch, with late-night bar dining. Cocktails from Michael Hart (Spin, 25 Lusk) are also seasonally driven, and the wine and beer lists are exclusively Californian. Enjoy the sunny and spacious patio while you can—the interior was redesigned by Aya Yanagisawa. Lunch Mon-Fri 11:30am-2pm, brunch Sat-Sun 10am-2pm, dinner Thu-Sun 5pm-9:30pm and Fri-Sat 5pm-10:30pm (cocktail hour: 4pm-closing). 1725 Alameda St. at Rhode Island.
Over in Hayes Valley, LOQUAT has opened in the former 20th Century Cafe. As previously mentioned in tablehopper, this daytime bakery and (eventual) evening wine bar is from Tal Mor and Jodi Geren, partners in The Mill and Four Barrel Coffee.
The Chronicle reported they teamed up with former pastry chef Kristina Costa from Tartine Bakery, who is making “baked goods inspired by the Jewish diaspora and Levantine flavors,” from laminated cinnamon-date babka to savory bourekas (like fried sage and Double 8 Dairy ricotta, and potato baharat and caramelized onion), pistachio cookies, and labne cheesecake with honey-roasted figs and orange blossoms. If you look at their Instagram Stories and Highlights, you’ll see some beautiful creations. There will also be pantry items for sale. Open Thu-Fri and Mon starting at 7am, Sat-Sun at 8am, closed Tue-Wed. 198 Gough St. at Oak.
I’ve been tracking the opening of chef-owner Tracy Goh’s DAMANSARA in Noe Valley, and she just opened her first brick-and-mortar, 48-seat Malaysian restaurant on October 19th. The name refers to her hometown of Damansara Utama, near Malaysia’s capital city of Kuala Lumpur—she moved to San Francisco for work in 2012. After hosting pop-ups and dinner parties, she was accepted in La Cocina’s food business incubator program in 2019.
Her edited menu features Malaysian street-style dishes like grilled otak-otak (spiced coconut fish cake grilled in banana leaves); cereal fried chicken (fried chicken topped with salted egg sauce and savory cereal) that comes with her nasi lemak coconut milk rice plate (or you can choose sambal calamari or beef rendang); and Damansara laksa, with more than 24 ingredients. Pics of the dishes on Yelp look fantastic. There are also vegan dishes, local wine and beer, and sake and soju cocktails. Dinner service is Wed-Sun 5pm-10pm, but the team was a bit overwhelmed last week and decided to close this Wed and Thu to catch their breath and regroup. 1781 Church St. at 30th St.
HINODEYA RAMEN BAR just opened their third SF location—this time it’s in Union Square, and open late! Like, 2am nightly late! YAY. They’re known for their house ramen with a traditional Japanese dashi-style soup made from bonito, kombu, and scallop, served with whole wheat noodles. (They also offer spicy miso, hamaguri clam ramen, and a vegan ramen.) Open daily 7am-2am. I know, those are some crazy hours, let’s support them so we have late-night ramen. 219 O’Farrell St. at Powell.
Over in the Inner Richmond is a new AYCE Korean BBQ spot called ZAJANG GRILL that opened in the former Carbon Grill. For $40.99, you have 90 minutes to make your way through the menu of ready-to-eat appetizers and items you’ll grill at your table (like calamari, river prawns, kalbi short ribs, spicy pork belly)—go with a group in order to be able to try more items. You’ll order via your phone with a QR code, so make sure it’s charged. Open nightly 5pm-11pm. 852 Clement St. at 10th Ave.
Coming to Rincon Center in early November is another location of NICK THE GREEK—there’s one in Daly City and another in South San Francisco, plus other locations around the Bay Area. Known for their gyros and souvlaki, they also make plates, burgers, bowls, salads, and sides. Look for an opening in early November. 121 Spear St. at Howard.
Welcome to Nob Hill, Ciccino. Photo courtesy of GianMarco Cosmi.
