The Chatterbox

It’s like Tales from the Crypt over in the Castro, but really, truly, The Patio space has reopened after being closed since, uh, 1999. (No word if they found some drag queens hiding under the deck.) The Les Natali-owned space has finally been transformed into a location of HAMBURGER…

You have a new lunch option to add to your roster, and it’s a great one: AINA in Dogpatch is launching lunch Wed-Fri 10am-2:30pm, with their housemade Spam musubi and some new lunch-only dishes, including a pork tonkatsu sandwich (kalua pig terrine, fermented cabbage, namasu, kimchi aioli; $14)…

Here’s a quick-fire round of some fantastic food events for your consideration! This Thursday March 22nd, No Kid Hungry presents the 11th annual Taste of the Nation event at Pier 35, with top chefs and restaurants like Octavia and Frances, Lord Stanley, China Live, Rooh, and State Bird Provisions.…

Those of you who follow me on social media already have seen a preview peek of Dominque Crenn’s latest jewel box, BAR CRENN, which just opened in the former Cellar Door in Cow Hollow. Step inside (if you were lucky to score a reservation already, or perhaps you’re…

Last week, I was invited to check out a friends-and-family dinner at the newly opened DISPENSA ITALIAN CHARCOAL KITCHEN. If you would have told me I’d be having a dinner with table service and Italian wines at a restaurant on Taylor and Turk 10 years ago, I wouldn’t…

Last fall, I broke the news that Claudio Villani of Cole Valley’s InoVino was taking over the former Mason Pacific in Russian Hill and opening ALTOVINO, and now it’s opening this Thursday March 15th. Villani, a Tuscan-born sommelier, previously worked at Incanto, Perbacco, and Quince, and is featuring…

This is pretty awesome news for folks who live near Ghirardelli Square, and the tourists don’t even know how lucky they are to have Daly City’s famed Koi Palace opening a new project in the former (and huge) Waxman’s space called PALETTE. Scoop reports the project will…

Café owner and Lambretta fanatic John Quintos has opened his latest and most ambitious location: CAFÉ LAMBRETTA. I last wrote about it in 2016, so he has been working on it for some time. The SoMa café is a spacious 1,500 square feet in a circa 1913 building, with…

I received word from a tablehopper subscriber that the Inner Sunset’s WOOLY PIG CAFE was closing, and Eater shared the news that it’s actually relocating, but to Dogpatch. Sorry, Sunset residents. Dogpatch folks will soon learn to love the Wooly Pig sandwich (with Shanghai-style braised caramel pork belly…

Some of you may remember me blathering on about how amazing the Ramen Heads film is, and great news, it’s going to be screening in the Bay Area next week (March 23rd). But that’s not all. Nope. One of the ramen masters featured in the film, Osamu Tomita…