what’s cookin’
Hello, hopper posse. How did you celebrate Festa della Donna/International Women’s Day on Friday? I was thrilled to kick things off with longtime friends at Comstock Saloon for their free Friday lunch (if you buy two drinks—which can also be N/A cocktails, beer, or wine—you get a rotating free lunch special from 12pm–4pm, or sold out). A Hine Crusta (a taste of New Orleans) and a Cherry Bounce (of course and always) started off my weekend vibes early, and there’s nothing like the Comstock boot out the door of Four Roses (that shot is such a frenemy, ha-ha).
Friday evening was a fabulous Festa della Donna feast and celebration at A16, check out my recap here. Grazie, Shelley and Viola and team! (Speaking of women and wine, don’t forget this weekend is WINeFare, a two-day tasting event to celebrate women in natural wine.)
Big thanks to all of you who wrote in after my special dispatch last week: The Call for a Different Narrative (and Big News) from Anna Weinberg. Many of your comments and emails were really moving, I’m glad my piece resonated the way it did. Expect to read more here soon.
Wishing you a happy Pi Day this Thursday (here’s one way to celebrate, with even more pizza featured in today’s chatterbox, because I love giving you any excuse to eat pizza), and have fun on St. Patrick’s Day (we have meals and treats and more listed for you).
I’m so busy planning this upcoming tablehopper party at the Savoy Tivoli on April 14th (4pm–7pm, you put it in your calendar, right?), so let’s dive in. Enjoy these longer evening hours and springy weather!
Sláinte!
~Marcia (rhymes with Garcia)
the chatterbox
A Pizza Party for Dinner Has Officially Started at Tartine Manufactory
Last month, I mentioned the soft-reopening of Tartine Manufactory for dinner service, and they are now officially serving an array of pizza, salads, and apps for dinner Wed–Sun 5:30pm–9:30pm. There are nine pizzas ($16–$23), ranging from a cacio e pepe, to mushroom, to fennel sausage and onion, to pepper and chorizo (with Encina Farms chorizo, arrabbiata sauce, sweet and spicy peppers, and chermoula). Oh, and there’s a broccolini and prosciutto pizza with preserved lemon, sun-dried tomato, Parmesan, and a sunny egg, how about that?
You wanna geek out on the dough? I mean, yeah, it’s Tartine. Here’s more from them: “Tartine’s pizza dough is created using the Biga method, in which 80 percent of the flour is fermented before it’s mixed with Tartine’s sourdough starter and durum-grain flour and cold fermented for two days, which deepens its flavor and produces a light and crispy crust. Mixing the starters is part of what makes the dough uniquely Tartine. Chad Robertson’s levain method is established in Tartine’s bread ethos; the culinary and bread teams have collaboratively continued to work the blend, adjusting the levels of sourness, hydration, flavor, texture, rest, fermentation, temperature, and toppings. ‘The dough is really something special and unique to Tartine,’ said Tartine Director of Bakery Production Stephanie Tantillo. ‘It’s light, digestible and the sourdough flavor is full and fresh. There have been many hands involved in making of this dough, and everyone was focused on achieving the Tartine standard.’”
Liz Prueitt’s desserts include tres leches cake, fromage blanc Bavarian cake, and chocolate pot de crème, $11 each. Don’t forget, there are also cocktails there, from a spritz, to the Honey Pot (gin, grapefruit, and Cappelletti), and Tartine’s iconic breakfast pastry is repped in a savory and sweet Morning Bun Old Fashioned (bourbon, rye, morning bun simple syrup, lemon). Tartine Manufactory continues to operate as a café by day from 8am–4pm. 595 Alabama St. at 18th St.
Help Save and Preserve The Palace Hotel Neon Roof Signs
I was pretty horrified when I read in the Chronicle that the iconic Palace Hotel rooftop neon signs (there are two) were being gutted and replaced with LED lighting (which does not have the same look and effect, which we know all too well at home with our cold LED lightbulbs). How was this allowed to happen? They are historic neon signs! I have admired the atmospheric glow of those rooftop signs (like the Clift and Huntington Hotel) for as long as I have lived here (29 years and counting)—they are always uniquely evocative and extra-mystic on foggy nights. They are an integral part of our historic downtown city signage.
Bless our city’s neon saints, Randall Ann Homan and Al Barna of San Francisco Neon, who reached out to Aaron Peskin (President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors) questioning the “over the counter” permit issued to convert The Palace Hotel neon roof signs to LED lighting. Thankfully, they spoke up, because they share in their newsletter: “a permit for an historic building would normally get a hearing and/or a certificate of appropriateness. Aaron responded the same day and cc’d us on his email to the City’s Director of Planning. As a result, a hearing with the Historic Preservation Commission has been scheduled for March 20, 2024.”
If you are a lover of neon and historic preservation and you don’t want to see these iconic neon signs unceremoniously gutted, please send your comments and/or attend this hearing on Wednesday March 20th, 2024 at 12:30pm at SF City Hall, Room 400. You can send your comments about this (hideous) LED conversion before March 20th. Contact Jonathan Vimr, Planner, Historic Preservation Commission: jonathan.vimr@sfgov.org, 628-652-7319. For more info, see the notice for the March 20th hearing and the plans for LED conversion.
You should also take some of SF Neon’s informative and fascinating walking tours (I have taken all of them!) and they will make you look at our city differently. Thank you for everything you do to preserve the SF we love and cherish, SF Neon!
The New Business Opening in the Former Bacco
Last Call for a Seat at an e le aɖe Test Kitchen Dinner
I don’t know if you saw my Instagram posts about the incredible e le aɖe Test Kitchen pop-up dinner from chef Selasie Dotse with Brundo Ethiopian Spice Company I attended a few months ago at Cafe Colucci, but here’s your last chance to experience one: there’s a farewell dinner on Sunday March 24th, and there are just eight seats left. Dotse has accepted a position working with fellow Ghanaian chef Joseph Odoom at Restaurant Momi in Amsterdam, so we are sadly losing this talented Black chef. Thank you, Selasie, for all your unique and flavor-packed contributions to our local culinary scene and best wishes!
Pastry Chef Melissa Loar to Showcase New Treats at Octavia Pop-Up
Here’s the Rundown on This Year’s St. Patrick’s Day Fare
by Savannah Leone Bundy
St. Patrick’s Day is Sunday March 17th, and while every Irish bar in SF will be open and pouring Guinness and Irish whisky, here are some other ways to celebrate around town.
One Market is offering a three-course, St. Patty’s Day dinner menu throughout the whole week: Irish leek and potato soup (sour cream, chives) to start, followed by their incredible corned beef brisket (caramelized cabbage, glazed baby carrots, marble potatoes, horseradish-mustard cream), and your choice of any dessert from the menu for $55. Mon–Fri 5pm–9pm. 1 Market St. at Steuart.
Hayes Street Grill (which is celebrating 45 years!) will be serving Robert’s corned beef and cabbage with spring vegetables and fresh horseradish cream on St. Patrick’s Day (Sunday March 17th) from noon to 6pm, along with Hog Island oysters on the half shell, shrimp cocktail, clam chowder, and a special Irish whisky sundae. 320 Hayes St. at Franklin.
The Palace Hotel is holding Irish afternoon tea every Saturday in March, and there isn’t a prettier place to enjoy it than the Garden Court. The $120/person service includes the Palace Hotel’s bakery scones, assorted pastries, traditional Irish soda bread (cultured Irish butter, Maldon sea salt), and fresh tea sandwiches, like house-cured corned beef (sweet pickled cabbage, stone-ground mustard, pumpernickel) and aged Irish cheddar (caramelized onion, baked apple, Dijon mayonnaise, baguette round). Saturdays 2pm–4pm. 2 New Montgomery St. at Market.
Original Joe’s will be serving its legendary corned beef and cabbage special, chocolate Guinness cake with whipped cream cheese frosting, green cream Irish coffees, and espresso martinis with green glitter espresso beans on St. Patrick’s Day— and this year, OJ’s is also serving a dish usually reserved for Little Original Joe’s: Irish ravioli. The housemade spinach pasta is filled with corned beef, cabbage, and potato, and served with lemon-butter sauce, chives, and Parmesan. The whole St. Patty’s menu and frozen ravioli are available to-go on Saturday and Sunday at Little Original Joe’s (393 W. Portal), while sit-down dinner is available on Sunday only. 601 Union St. at Stockton.
Another fun creation: Tony’s Pizza Napoletana is making their special sausage and stout pizza from now through Sunday—it comes with beer sausage, housemade mozzarella, caramelized onions, Fontina, green onions, Guinness infusion, and a drizzle of malted Guinness reduction. The pizza is $29, and a pie plus one pint of Guinness is $36, or $40 for two pints and a pie. Mon–Tue 12pm–9:30pm, Wed–Thu 12pm–10pm, Fri–Sat 12pm–10pm, Sun 12pm–10:30pm. 1570 Stockton St. at Union.
Downtown’s Johnny Foley’s is offering not only traditional corned beef and cabbage (mashed and boiled potatoes, buttered carrots, parsley cream sauce), but also Guinness-braised lamb shank and Irish lamb stew for those of you looking for something other than corned beef. They’ll also have Guinness cheesecake for dessert and live Irish music on Saturday night! 243 O’Farrell St. at Cyril Magnin.
Noe Valley Bakery is baking up Irish soda breads (plain and scallion), St. Patrick-themed cupcakes, and shamrock cookies for the holiday from 7am–7pm on Sunday. 4073 24th St. and 28 W. Portal.
The Best Kind of School: Take a Caviar Masterclass, This Thursday
This Thursday March 14th, founder Petra Higby of The Caviar Co., who has spent over a decade in the industry, will be leading a caviar masterclass at their Tiburon Champagne and Caviar Lounge. This new quarterly class will offer guests a curated selection of five different caviars from around the world that showcase a range in flavor, texture, appearance, and price. You’ll learn traditional and modern ways to taste caviar (hi, bumps!), the different types of sturgeon, fun facts, and more. Attendees will also enjoy wine pairings, including Champagnes from importer Skurnik. Reserve your spot here for $150 per person. 6pm. 46A Main St., Tiburon.
the sponsor
Don’t Miss Out on All the Cheese: Taste, Learn, and Celebrate Cheese at the California Artisan Cheese Festival!
Tickets are on sale now for California’s premier cheese festival, the 18th annual California Artisan Cheese Festival, March 22nd–24th, 2024. Make a weekend of it with three days of cheese-centric events, including limited seating pairing seminars with cheese pros like Tracey Shepos Cenami at Kendall-Jackson, Laura Werlin at Balletto Vineyards, and there’s even an aperitif and cheese pairing seminar, with tinned fish, vermouth, and gildas with Sam Sheehan of Mommenpop and Sarah Simms of Lady & Larder at Sue Conley’s Silver Penny Farms, and more! FYI, the Farm Tours and the Cheese Crawl at The Barlow have sold out.
Don’t miss the grand finale Artisan Cheese Tasting and Marketplace on Sunday at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, with over 120 different cheeses for you to sample from 24 cheesemakers! There will be a beer garden, live music, and expanded food offerings including raclette by Valley Ford and mac and cheese by Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co.
The three-day festival brings together California’s premier cheesemakers and offers cheese enthusiasts of all experience levels an unparalleled opportunity to taste and purchase new, limited production, and rare artisan cheeses, as well as meet with and sample products from Bay Area farmers, chefs, brewers, winemakers, distillers, and artisan food purveyors. You can also read this recent Edible East Bay story that features CACF participants!
the socialite
Oakland Restaurant Week Kicks Off This Thursday!
Thanks to everyone who entered the Oakland Restaurant Week giveaway this past week! The winners have been contacted, so now it’s time for you to survey over 145 restaurants offering specially created lunch and dinner menus, plan your meals, and make some reservations!
It’s the perfect time to check out Burdell (four-course dinner for $65), the ever-delicious Tay Ho, lunch/brunch or dinner at the lively Parche, a $16 Matty Melt and fries at Matty’s Old Fashioned, awesome $45 menus at Lion Dance Cafe, Jo’s Modern Thai, and alaMar Dominican Kitchen, and a bunch more (there are 160 options for you to peruse!). ORW kicks off this Thursday March 14th, and runs through March 24th!
For the first time, Visit Oakland is launching the Oakland Restaurant Week Challenge in partnership with the app, VibeMap. While visiting one of the participating bars or restaurants, diners can check in to earn badges and points. The more restaurants visited, the more points earned, entering diners with the chance to win prizes including gift cards to local restaurants and an Oakland getaway. This offer is only available during Oakland Restaurant Week (March 14th–24th, 2024).
tableshopper
Meet Your New Citrus-Spice Flourish: Yuzukararin
The largest part of my extensive (borderline hoarder) pantry stash at home is comprised of chile peppers from around the world (although salt ranks a close second). Thanks to the brilliant curation and sourcing of Bernal Cutlery owners Kelly Kozak and Josh Donald for their recently created House Line, I have a new addition in heavy rotation over here. I’m so glad they turned me on to yuzukararin, a citrusy pepper made with yuzu and chile peppers from the village of Mihara in Kōchi Prefecture in Japan’s least populated island, Shikoku.
the archivist
Since I wrote about neon preservation today, take a look at this vintage postcard of Market Street at night, looking west...
