I was dismayed to read on Facebook that last Friday was Jonny “Flash” Raglin’s last night at ~COMSTOCK SALOON~. Fortunately he is staying in The Absinthe Group family—he’s just moving over to the upcoming 888 BRANNAN PROJECT. Founder Bill Russell-Shapiro tells me they just got their permit a week or two ago, and hope to start work later this month. It looks like late March/early April is the new target for this 5,400-square-foot Spanish project that is a full buildout, which has chef Ryan McIlwraith (previously the opening chef de cuisine at Coqueta) leading the kitchen. The restaurant will be open all day.
Raglin—who did a lot of the design and development at Comstock—is going to be the project manager at 888 Brannan (which is still unnamed), and once the project opens, he will stay on as the operations manager and will also be running the bar and cocktail program. Raglin assured me he’ll sling drinks again at Comstock from time to time, but for now, he’s going to have both of his hands full with this very big project. I know many of us will miss seeing him at Comstock, but that just means we get to torture Jeff “Jefe” Hollinger all the more. 888 Brannan at 8th St.
