The Chatterbox

A bunch of you have been asking me when PARK TAVERN was going to reopen, and I have some great news for you: it’s opening to the public in January 2023! I caught up with owner Anna Weinberg, who is thrilled to be able to open full-time in the…

I love writing about new restaurants, especially when they’re coming to my hood! Nopa residents, it’s time to get excited for KATSUO & KOMBU, a casual Japanese udon and curry shop (the name refers to the crucial ingredients you need to make awase “combined” dashi/Japanese soup stock:…

Obviously, I’d love for you to buy the Hopper Holiday Gift Bag, full of 13 fantastic and locally made products from restaurants, bars, and food makers! It’s the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for person who happens to love food. Thanks for your support! Here are some other ideas,…

BAR SPREZZATURA just opened yesterday (Monday November 21st) from TableOne Hospitality (from Michael Mina, Patric Yumul, and Highgate), partner and barman Carlo Splendorini, and TableOne Hospitality’s director of beverage, Phil Collins (don’t sing “Sussudio” to him, I’m sure he has heard it before). This Italian bar takes…

Newly open at the Ferry Building Marketplace is another location of Reem Assil’s REEM’S CALIFORNIA, offering some classic dishes (like the mana’eesh, or Arab flatbread, including the Classic with za’atar, tomatoes, cucumbers, and mint, and the Pali Cali with sumac chicken, caramelized onion purée, arugula, and…

I’m happy to see North Beach continue to percolate with new openings. Now open in the former Caffe Baonecci space is CONVIVIUM ENOTECA, from Sofia Scarpone. In case her last name is familiar, she’s the daughter of Lorenzo Scarpone, known for his Italian wine importing company, Villa Italia,…

Big congrats to Dontaye Ball, aka Mr. Gumbo, the chef-owner of GUMBO SOCIAL, who has the keys to his first brick-and-mortar location in Bayview (the former Frisco Fried)! Ball is an Outer Sunset farmers’ market favorite, as well as at the Soma West Farmers Market on Saturdays, and the Ferry…

I’ve been avidly watching the Instagram account of Ray Lee of Akiko’s, one of my top top sushi bars in SF (sidebar: I’m super-excited for their upcoming reopening in a brand-new location later this year on Avery Lane on Folsom, more on that soon), but in the…

I hate writing about every single restaurant closure, but some are definitely tough when it’s an operator you really admire and respect. In this case, it’s the one and only Bruce Hill, who’s closing the trail- (and wood-) blazing ~ZERO ZERO~ in SoMa after 12 years of…

Back in 2021, I remember running into Delfina chef-partner Craig Stoll at an event, and he was telling me about the big changes he and his wife Annie were making to DELFINA in response to the extra-challenging business conditions in SF (and it was time for the well-loved restaurant to…