The Chatterbox

The reopening of TOSCA in North Beach under chef Nancy Oakes, Anna Weinberg, and Ken Fulk was happening in takeout boxes, but they smartly decided to pivot the party to the garden courtyard of Ken Fulk’s Saint Joseph’s Art Society in SoMa. Called Summer at Saint Joe’s,…

With the ever-shifting timeline of reopening for indoor dining, some restaurants have chosen to temporarily pause operations since their outdoor dining and takeout options aren’t sustainable enough to keep them afloat. Over in SoMa, ~PROSPECT~ has hit pause for now—all the endless construction outside their door makes it…

Restaurateur Francesco Covucci (Il Casaro, Barbara) and his business partner Peter Fazio have decided to transform their two-year-old Pasta Pop-Up location in North Beach into a San Francisco seafood restaurant and retail market: CALIFORNIA FISH MARKET RESTAURANT. It’s exactly the kind of quality and fairly priced SF seafood experience…

I really hate to start reporting on permanent closures, but it’s happening, and will continue to do so in these brutal times. In case you missed the news elsewhere, our dear NOPALITO has decided to close their Sunset location on Ninth Street since catering business has dried up, and…

Wanted to share a variety of updates with you. First, after almost 10 years in Bernal/La Lengua, our dear ~ICHI SUSHI~ is not coming back from the citywide coronavirus-shutdown, which started in March. I spoke with the much-adored owners and chef Tim and Erin Archuleta, and sadly they have…

Monday was the first time I ate (outside) in a restaurant in three months, with a best friend I haven’t seen in person for that long, and I gotta say, it felt pretty damn good. But my decision to dine out wasn’t a snap one—there are a…

On Friday June 12th, the first day Mayor Breed allowed San Francisco restaurants to offer outdoor dining service, many SF restaurants who use Grubhub as a delivery service may have received an email notice about their delivery, marketing, and pick-up order commission fees increasing. After calling out on Twitter for…

Starting Friday June 12th, a big change is coming to our local dining landscape: after three months of takeout only/no on-premise dining service, SF restaurants are allowed to reopen for outdoor dining only. It was originally going to be Monday June 15th, but Mayor Breed decided to give us…

As many of you know, I’ve been posting in my Instagram stories when restaurants have been reopening or expanding their hours or deliveries, and the flip side of all this are the restaurants that have sadly decided to close permanently. I was reading a newsletter last night from SF…

As we’ve been watching our beloved restaurants and food businesses struggle to survive these past two months, I’ve also been concerned for our wonderful cooking schools and many talented teachers who hold cooking classes. It has been an unexpected treat to watch chefs cook at home on Instagram…