This week’s tablehopper: oof. (free)

what’s cookin’

What. The. Hell. Life is so batshit crazy right now—we’re in the third week of the Trumpocalypse, and things are so out of hand. Over the weekend, my eyes were glued to Kara Swisher’s posts on Bluesky (when does she sleep?) about the “hostile takeover of the U.S. government by an unelected and unfettered power monger” while downloading my Social Security statement. It’s all so chaotic and bleak and terrifying, just as planned. Deep breaths.

I know you don’t read tablehopper for political commentary and insight—you want an escape from the hellscape! And I promise, I have all kinds of tasty distractions for you. But I can’t sit here and pretend my next meal or the latest restaurant opening are the only things on my mind right now. Far from it. Thanks to Rob Brezsny for putting together this list of analysts to read and follow, plus tips for coping with the insanity.

On Monday, many restaurants and businesses closed for A Day Without Immigrants, to boycott, march, and protest Drump’s immigration policies and ICE raids. New York magazine just posted this article: “ICE Has Restaurant Workers Terrified” (deck: “Inside restaurants, stories of ICE raids and confrontations are swirling. Even if nobody is entirely sure what is fact and what is rumor, the threat of deportation is too grave to ignore, and keeping an entire industry on edge.”) 

I’ve had some restaurant folks reach out to me for info—if you want to line up resources for immigration legal help, click here, and you can also visit The San Francisco Immigration Legal Defense Collaborative (SFILDC). Follow @ACLU_norcal for info on how to deal with ICE, and future training sessions with PODER; for more Know Your Rights resources, visit this page. We should all know these things in order to stand up for and protect the rights of the many hard-working and indispensable people in our communities who prepare our food, wash our dishes, clean our restaurants, pick our produce...the list is endless. If you have any resources or info for me to signal boost for restaurant industry folks, please reach out.

One more note, and this is for my fellow newsletter writers and self-publishers: I didn’t migrate my then 17-year-old newsletter to Substack a couple years ago because the founders allowed anti-trans publishers and transphobic rhetoric on their platform. If you want to publish your newsletter without having to read this kind of garbage from the co-founders, come over to Ghost. They’ve been an amazing (and non-profit/open-source) publishing platform for my newsletter—it’s a no-Nazi zone, and they leave the writing to me. Feel free to email me for more info.

It has been so hard to focus and write today’s beast of a column, but I’m grateful for all the good news and uplifting food stories it contains, whew, abbondanza! I hope today’s issue can bring some joy, comfort, and inspiration to have a meal out with friends and family while supporting our dynamic and multicultural restaurant industry. Ya gotta eat.

Right now is a big renewal period for a bunch of supporting subscribers who signed on when I relaunched tablehopper with a subscription model two years ago. They’ve been sending me some pretty awesome notes with their renewals this past week, and since you’re on the free plan, I thought I’d share some of their comments about why they’re renewing:

MWAH! 💋 Here’s to love. Speaking of LOVE…Supporting subscribers already received my my subscriber-only post a couple weeks ago that has some suggestions on where to dine for Valentine’s Day, but I wanted to include a couple more ideas: Juanita MORE! is celebrating Valentine’s Day with a Loads of Love dinner, dance, cocktail, and art party at 620 Jones (fun!), and you can celebrate Valentine’s Day and Black History Month at Old Skool Cafe in Bayview Feb. 12th–15th, with a three-course meal, jazz, Champagne toast, and more for just $55, book here.

I know many of you will be temporarily distracted from the current dystopian nightmare watching the Super Bowl and eating wings on Sunday, and I’m planning to hit the Alameda Flea Market, which was moved to this coming second Sunday because of the rain this past weekend. I can’t wait to get outside since I have literally been at my desk for two full weeks while working on a huge freelance writing project that will hopefully wrap up by the weekend. I feel gross—sitting in a desk chair for this long is bringing up memories of when I wrote my book—time for a Thai massage. And a walk. And some heavy indica.

I did take a couple mental breaks last week to laugh my ass off watching Ali Wong’s stand-up special on Netflix, Single Lady. And thanks to my friends for recommending Waiting for Dalí (on Prime), which takes place in Cadaqués in 1974, and is loosely based on El Bullí, but placed in a different time. It ends up the director David Pujol previously directed documentaries about Ferran Adrià/El Bullí, as well as Salvador Dalí. It’s a transportive story (Love! Restaurants! Art! Fighting fascists!) and a delightful film. Enjoy. Provecho!

Take good care, and breathe.
~Marcia

the chatterbox

The City’s Best Hangover Cure Returns: San Francisco’s Iconic Turtle Tower to Reopen in the Financial District

If you follow me on social media, you may have seen my signal boost over the weekend with the extremely exciting news that Turtle Tower is in fact coming back, and reopening this month (watch KTVU’s first look here). Back in December, I wrote about the hopeful news that Turtle Tower Bistro appeared to be reopening in the former Barbacco in the Financial District, and it’s wonderful to know that it’s really, truly happening. The famous phở ga will return to our lives! (It’s what the world needs right now, honestly.)

Owner Steven Nghia Pham (who is 66, and still working hard) closed their longtime location (since 2000) in Little Saigon, along with their second spot in SoMa, back in 2023. I spoke with Pham’s daughter, Kathy, who tells me longtime regular and investor Arash Ghanadan (who used to dine at Turtle Tower three times a week!), reached out to the Phams to see what they could do to help bring back the beloved and iconic SF restaurant. I love this attitude! Ghanadan and partner Hilwin Wong have a hospitality group that owns Novela, Barbarossa, Dahlia Lounge, and Madarae, and have been brought on as managing partners/operating members for Turtle Tower’s next phase.

Pham says they will be opening with their classic menu, perhaps adding a few more shareable starters, like cuttlefish patties and a papaya salad. Like I said in my piece in 2023 when the Turtle Tower location on Larkin was listed for sale: “For 23 years, Turtle Tower (“Tháp Rùa”) has been a San Francisco touchstone for so many people and numerous communities, with a wide fanbase of regulars who have their preferred order, from phở ga long (with giblets), to the sticky rice with lap cheong sausage and chicken, to the #6 with beef and braised leeks. It’s likely the most well-known restaurant in the Tenderloin, and certainly the crown jewel of Little Saigon.

“Turtle Tower’s Northern Vietnamese style of phở ga set a benchmark in the City for what a good phở broth tastes (and looks) like. (I swear, they could call it the clearest in the business.) Chef and owner Steven Nghia Pham committed to using organic and free-range chicken very early on in the game, and taught many of us about Hanoi’s garnish-free, regional style of phở—no bean sprouts, basil, or hoisin here. This bowl has likely slayed more hangovers and colds than any other dish I can think of in SF.”

The new Financial District address is a level up from their former Tenderloin location, so obviously prices will need to increase, but Pham tells me Ghanadan and Wong are evaluating the market and still deciding upon pricing. They’re waiting for their full liquor license application to make its way through the ABC (hey, can anyone help nudge things along over there?), so there will be cocktails, beer, and wine, which is something new for TT. The 84-seat restaurant got new flooring, paint, and some updated décor, but it’s basically the same layout that Barbacco had.

220 California St. at Front.

Soul Food Returns to Bayview with the Opening of Smoke Soul Kitchen

Some wonderful news out of Bayview: opening Saturday February 15th in the former Auntie April’s Chicken-N-Waffles is Smoke Soul Kitchen–Restaurant & Brunch Bar. Chef Vanessa Lee is a Bayview native, and comes from a long line of restaurateurs in her family, with restaurant roots in Mississippi and Alabama, and her great-grandmother was behind two locations of the Saffari Room, serving soul food in the Western Addition and Lower Haight.

Lee grew up knowing true Southern dishes and flavor, as well as hospitality—she says anyone could come to her grandma’s kitchen, where there was always something to eat (she made breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and you’d be treated like family. This is the feeling Vanessa wants to continue to pass on with this restaurant, her first.

She mentions all the vacancies in Bayview, and is excited to contribute some optimistic news about bringing soul food back to the neighborhood, and in a location that was an important place for the community: “I want to bring something nice to the neighborhood, something new and refreshing!” Since she is born-and-raised in Bayview, she knows a bunch of people who are looking forward to her new place, and can’t wait to host them.

Smoke Soul Kitchen started as a catering company in 2020, just before the pandemic, and has made it through these past years catering events and holding pop-ups. Vanessa’s father, who goes by Smoke, is the grillmaster, and helps to prepare meats for her events, including his killer ribs and links. People would try their food and kept asking, “Where can we find you?” And now, they have a brick-and-mortar address to point them to. It’s a family affair, with her sister handling creative direction and social media, and her 21-year-old daughter, who is a senior at USF, will help in the kitchen.

Vanessa calls her cuisine Soul Fusion since she makes dishes with a cross-cultural twist, like Cajun penne pasta, sweet potato pancakes, and churro waffles. Her daytime/brunch menu is going to highlight her buttermilk biscuits (Vanessa says her grandmother was quite the biscuit baker), and she’s going to offer a variety of biscuit sandwiches, filled with combos like hot links, grilled onions, and housemade aioli; bacon, scrambled egg, and cheese with a maple drizzle; and turkey. 

During her recent brunch pop-ups, her creamy cheesy grits with shrimp and gravy were a hit, so that dish will definitely be on the menu, and she will also offer chicken and waffles, stuffed waffles, plus classic breakfast options, like bacon, eggs, pancakes, and more. A new dish will be smothered chicken over rosemary potatoes, with a fried egg, micro greens, and a hot sauce drizzle—she said it’s almost like a brunch bowl. 

She wants to credit EDoT (Economic Development on Third) and executive director Earl Shaddix for helping her with her business development. Vanessa was using the EDoT commercial kitchen (Bayview Makers Kitchen), which offers low-cost kitchen access for entrepreneurs, and where she became the kitchen manager. She even launched her own line of packaged food items (including her biscuit mix and house-blended spices), which are available at local markets, like Lucky Bayview. 

She started hosting Sunday brunch pop-ups at Bayview Makers Kitchen’s previous facility, where she got to try out dishes and build her clientele, but unfortunately, BMK had to find a new location. Enter: the vacant Auntie April’s, which sadly closed in 2022. This location is a win-win-win, because not only is this a beloved former soul food restaurant location for the community, but while Vanessa runs her new restaurant, EDoT will use the back of the restaurant space for their incubator kitchen, where local food makers can continue to make their products. They’ll be selling them in a retail shop in the front of the restaurant.

The space will hold about 30 guests, with a long table that seats 12, plus a few larger tables—Vanessa noticed at her pop-ups and events that people like to sit together, and it fits with her vision for the community vibe. She’s also hoping to add outdoor seating. The focal point of the space is a mural she designed that she had printed on food-safe wallpaper, and pays homage to five artists in it, including Basquiat’s crown, Mickalene Thomas’s “Baby I’m Ready,” Ernie Barnes’s “Sugar Shack, ”Annie Lee’s “Blue Monday,” and Jacob Lawrence’s “The Great Migration-panel 58” (she said her Mom always had art in the house). Vanessa is also including some feel-good nostalgic images on the walls, like a reference to Good Times. 

Since her great grandmother opened and ran the Saffari Room #1 and #2 in the City, Vanessa is hoping to unearth some photos and menus (and memories) from the restaurants that she can feature on the walls—if anyone out there has some leads, she’d love to hear from you. Apparently Saffari Room #1 was on McAllister or Eddy and Fillmore Street, and Saffari Room #2 was on Haight and Fillmore. Time to dig out those old photo albums! (You know I’m going to be scoping future vintage paper fairs for any ephemera for her!)

She’s going to apply for a beer and wine permit, and hopes to be able to pour mimosas for guests in the spring. Smoke Soul Kitchen will be open Thu–Sun 10am–3pm to start, and as the team grows in time, she’d like to add Wednesday service.

The restaurant is holding its grand opening on Saturday February 15th, as part of the Jabulani Festival. It’s the same day that Gumbo Social is holding their second annual Hey, Auntie gumbo cooking contest and tasting event at the Bayview Opera House parking lot, after the Black History Month parade! EDoT says, “The entire 4600 block of 3rd Street will be partying, including a brunch party at Tato with SF native DJ Sake One spinning Motown tunes.” Block party! Follow @smokesoulsf. 4618 3rd St. at McKinnon.

A Caribbean-East African Restaurant Backed by Draymond Green Is Set to Open in March

by Savannah Leone Bundy

Next month will mark the opening of an exciting new venture from East Bay–based restaurateur Guma Fassil (of Meskie’s in Berkeley), award-winning chef Nelson German (of aLaMar Dominican Kitchen & Bar and Sobre Mesa in Oakland), and four-time NBA champion Draymond Green. MESKI—named for Fassil’s late mother—will blend German’s Afro-Caribbean style with Fassil’s Ethiopian flavor, and add a dash of Green’s taste and flair to create an SF dining experience that is “modern and upscale, yet approachable.”

With interior design and art from Oakland-based creatives Kalu Gebreyohannes-Royster (Black Girls Green House and Liyu Design Firm) and Taylor Smalls (The Throughline Project), the two-level space is intended to foster well-being and sustainability, and celebrate Black joy and heritage. There will also be live DJ sets playing Afrobeats, amapiano, and R&B at a conversational volume.

The “avant-garde diasporic concept” will serve dishes like Ethiopian spice-infused sancocho, doro doro pollo, T-bone steak with berbere-coffee rub, churros made from teff flour, and cocktails that feature ingredients from Caribbean and East African cuisines—think espresso martinis made with Ethiopian coffee and Dominican rum, tej (Ethiopian honey wine) mimosas, and berbere-rimmed margaritas. 

MESKI will take over the space formerly occupied by Members Only (whose closure was first reported by tablehopper) in Lower Nob Hill. They’ll host a series of pop-ups and soft openings leading up to the grand opening on March 7th. Sun–Thu 5pm–11pm, Fri–Sat 5:30pm–12am and 5:30pm–1am at the bar. 1000 Larkin St. at Post. 

Upcoming Projects in the Mission and a Switcheroo in the Fillmore

A couple tablehopper tipsters have sent me notes about recent activity...

Actually, Call It a Comeback

After sadly closing their North Beach restaurant Cassava in November, Kris Toliao and Yuka Ioroi have opened Cassava Cafe in a kiosk on the magical patio at One Jackson Square. Come by in the morning for espresso drinks and a spiced honey matcha latte, plus sweet or savory croissants, and a variety of toasts (including smoked salmon). 

The menu lists a few kinds of soup (vegan butternut squash, chicken noodle, white beans and bacon) and Japanese combini-inspired sando boxes that are designed to grab and go (turkey and cheese, egg salad, and tuna salad on Andersen Bakery Japanese milk bread, all served with potato salad), and a chopped salad you can customize. 

Chef Kris is making his own spam for the delicious-looking po’-tama tamagoyaki (with cabbage omelet, lettuce, bean sprouts, carrot hummus, on rice) and a vegan tofu-chickpea loaf onigirazu, with housemade teriyaki sauce, bean sprouts, and carrot hummus—both are gluten-free.

They will feature an expanded menu in a couple weeks, and have plans to open a small restaurant there—follow @cassavasf for updates. The patio is a lovely oasis, go check it out soon. Current hours: Mon–Fri 8am–3:30pm. One Jackson Place building, 633 Battery St.

After Red Bay Coffee closed their shop at the Ferry Building at the end of January, they recently made this announcement about their return: “We are excited to announce that we will be relocating our Ferry Building Coffee Shop to a new location within the Ferry Building. We’ll share more details and visual renderings soon. During this transition, we’ll be bringing our coffee van to the Ferry Building plaza to continue serving you. Stay tuned for more information about when it will arrive and where to find it! Thank you for your continued support—we wouldn’t be here without this amazing community, and we can’t wait to welcome you to our new space soon!” [Via Hoodline]

Another comeback: after selling his Ristorante Ideale in North Beach (after 31 years), it looks like chef Maurizio Bruschi is back...

The Longtime Alamo Square Seafood Grill Closes, and a Popular Burger Spot Leaves Their Original Location

SFist caught the news that Alamo Square Seafood Grill quietly closed back in November 2024, after being open for almost 27 years (since February 1998!). The restaurant was famous for its prix-fixe menu (unbelievably $20!). It seems chef-owner André Larzul has retired, and according to a message on the site: “If you really need to see Andre, you’ll find him most afternoons at Crissy Field checking out the wind. Sail on!” He was also part-owner (with his wife, Jennifer) of Brenda’s Meat & Three when it opened on Divis in 2014 (and the former Blue Jay Cafe in that location). 803 Fillmore St.

the lush

Ahoy! Bar Maritime Opens in Union Square

the socialite

Get Your Ticket for James Beard Foundation’s Taste America: San Francisco Bay Area

The James Beard Foundation’s Taste America® culinary series returns to San Francisco on Sunday February 23rd, at Four Seasons San Francisco. The Taste America series celebrates culinary excellence and the local independent restaurants at the heart of our communities, bringing together chefs and food lovers for unique dining experiences across 20 U.S. cities. 

The walk-around tasting will feature chef Nelson German from alaMar Kitchen & Bar and Sobre Mesa, recognized as one of the industry’s finest culinary talents and changemakers as part of the Foundation’s annual class of TasteTwenty chefs.

The evening will feature other notable culinary talent, including James Beard Semifinalists Monique and Paul Feybesse of Tarts de Feybesse, Gaby Maeda of Friends & Family, and Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz of Dalida. Visit the site to see the lineup of bites all the chefs have in store for us, like Heena Patel of Besharam, Kimberly Alter of Nightbird, and Geoff Davis of Burdell (bring on Davis’s chicken liver mousse-cornmeal waffle with maple vinaigrette and crispy skin!).

Beverages will be provided by Mijenta Tequila, Covenant Wines, Domaine Carneros, Mr. Espresso, Lawer Wines, Zonin, and others.

Tickets are on sale now at jamesbeard.org/tasteamerica, and proceeds benefit the James Beard Foundation’s national impact programming. Premier tickets ($225): 5:30pm; GA ($175): 6:30pm. Four Season Hotel San Francisco, 757 Market St.

the archivist