what’s cookin’
Hi, friends. I really hope you’re hanging in there. The ongoing devastation and heartbreaking stories coming out of LA are so much to process. Almost 90,000 people are under evacuation orders—it’s staggering to even think about, and the reality is even more distressing. The loss from the fires is overwhelming, and it can be hard to process on both a micro and macro scale, from the stories of dear friends who have lost everything except for a backpack of possessions, to the loss of entire neighborhoods and communities, to the tragic losses of life. My heart goes out to everyone touched and impacted by this, the trauma and fear and sadness is unfathomable.
I know some of us are looking at our lives differently right now: the oasis of our bed, the light in our kitchen, the freshness of our air, our photos, the cuddles of our pets, and most of all, the safety of our families and friends and neighbors and communities. We are all so precious. I am giving thanks for all the many incredible blessings of my life. Just watching Fortuna sunning herself has brought tears to my eyes this week. There is nothing quite like the peace of a cat napping in the sun.
It has been so hard to focus this past week, and the emotional exhaustion is brutal for many (sending hugs). I had a longer piece I was writing about all of this, but I decided to scrap it. Scrolling through Instagram is like changing 100 channels on TV at warp speed, with terrifying fire footage, heartbreaking stories, heartwarming stories, calls for support, and thousands of GoFundMes, along with cats, cooking, cheese pulls, and more. It’s a lot to sort through.
But, of course, our beloved restaurant industry has quickly rallied to help feed people and raise funds, even when they can barely keep the lights on themselves. I’m adding to an @tablehopper Instagram Highlight daily (SF ❤️ LA) with stories of Bay Area places offering their help, from bake sales to special menus to cakes you can order and help provide funds and support for fire relief. Please take a look and choose one to support if you can! Feel free to tag me on IG if you’re hosting any fundraising efforts. This is going to be a long haul, everyone, so don’t feel like you need to rush to put something together in two days—we’re going to need to raise funds and provide support in numerous ways for many weeks and months.
If you want to donate directly, the LA Times keeps updating this page with organizations that need your help. This Mutual Aid Los Angeles Network page is another way to find organizations with specific donation and volunteer needs.
This week’s column has a lot of comfort food in it, so I hope it helps. I also included a special list of some of my picks for places to go on Valentine’s Day.
Sending love and strength and best wishes and the biggest hugs,
~Marcia
the chatterbox
One of Chinatown’s Oldest Restaurants, Sam Wo Restaurant, Sets Closing Date
More Chinatown News: Outta Sight Is Opening Their Second Slice Shop, China Live Launching Asia Live
One place on Clay in Chinatown closes, another opens. Due to open this Wedneday January 15th is a second location of Outta Sight Pizza, the absolutely badass slice shop from Eric Ehler and Peter Dorrance (their first location opened on Larkin in 2020). They make one of my favorite slices in the City, full stop. They will be offering slices, whole pies, and catering from this location, and knowing the creativity of this team, I would stand by for more special creations soon (do I see a Peking duck grandma slice and loco moco mushroom on that opening menu? Hell yes!). Look for the bright orange exterior. Check their Instagram account for updates. Hours will be Mon–Fri 11am–6pm. 643 Clay St. at Kearny.
And while this is a bit far afield, George Chen and Cindy Wong-Chen, the husband-and-wife team behind San Francisco’s renowned China Live will be opening the first Asia Live location later this year in the former iChina space at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara.
Scheduled to open in fall 2025, the 13,000-square-foot, 350-seat venue will present authentic yet contemporary interpretations and signature dishes from Greater China, Southeast Asia, India, Korea, and Japan. There will be a marketplace restaurant and bar with open kitchen preparations (including sushi and robata stations, tandoori ovens, and an Indonesian rice table) and multiple seating areas, with plans for a rooftop terrace offering panoramic views of Silicon Valley—the Chens are working with architect Zac Maddry and DMARCstudio (who were behind China Live). 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd #1891, Santa Clara.
Two New Smash Burger Residencies in SF
No matter that I called out smash burgers in this year’s “the bore,” here’s more! Ha-ha! Some smash burgers are definitely better than others, and I dig that both of these new residencies are serving chef-driven and Asian-style riffs on this ever-trending style of burger.
Who’s Your Daddy? Meet Papa Noodle.
Since we’re downtown, I want to mention this new spot that a star tablehopper reader (thanks, Brian!) spotted that opened three weeks ago in the former Super Duper, just next to The Bird. Papa Noodle is a fast-casual spot from Jay Zhang, serving two kinds of noodle bowls and two sides (he previously held a pop-up two years ago, at Pier 39, and has been developing the concept since). The namesake Papa Noodle dish pays homage to a dish his father made, which is a sort of love child of zha jiang mian—a Northern Chinese dish that is often called a “Chinese bolognese”—and Sichuan dan dan noodles.
Zhang (who is from Henan Province) shares he finds zha jiang mian can be too plain, and dan dan can be nicely spicy but too greasy, so he fine-tuned this custom-created dish to have boosted flavor that is a little spicy and a little sweet. He has been working on perfecting the recipe for five years, and has 50–60 versions of it. It comes with simmered pork and mushroom sauce, housemade noodles, organic ginger, green onion, and house spices and chile sauce, plus additional toppings like carrot, cucumber, sweet and garlicky house pickles, and bean sprouts ($16.88). The housemade noodles are made on a machine they bought from Japan, and mechanized “wok robots” help prepare the dishes in the kitchen.
The Loma Noodle dish ($15.88) is vegan and inspired by the Shanghainese scallion noodle dish of cong you mian, made here with three kinds of onions, organic ginger, garlic, five-spice powder, housemade noodles, chile olive oil, and topped with tofu tots, carrot, cucumber, and bean sprouts.
There are two side dishes as well...
There are 45 seats, but for now, everything is served in takeout containers. Open Mon–Sat 11am–8pm. Available on DoorDash. 117 New Montgomery St. at Minna.
Subscriber-Only Post: Some tablehopper Picks for Valentine’s Day Dining
the socialite
Join Me and Author Rachel Hope Cleves in Conversation about Lustful Appetites at Omnivore Books
I was thrilled to be invited to be in conversation with author Rachel Hope Cleves at Omnivore Books on Tuesday February 18th to discuss her new book: Lustful Appetites: An Intimate History of Good Food and Wicked Sex. My kind of book!
Here’s more about it: “In this enticing new book, historian Rachel Hope Cleves explores the long association between indulging in good food and an appetite for immoral sex. From the Parisian invention of the restaurant (which soon became a popular place for men to meet with prostitutes and mistresses) to the intersection of culinary and erotic tourism, she reveals how these anxieties coloured cultural norms of respectability and gender. However, the link between gourmet food and disreputable sex enabled bohemians, new women, lesbians and gay men to embrace epicureanism as a sign of their rejection of bourgeois sexual morality. A taste for good food became central to queer culture in the twentieth century; only after the sexual revolution did straight men and women reclaim eating for pleasure as respectable through the archetype of the ‘foodie’.
“Taking readers on a gastronomic journey from Paris and London to New York, Chicago and San Francisco, Lustful Appetites reveals how this preoccupation changed the ways we eat and the ways we are intimate—as well as how stigmas persist well into our own twenty-first century.”
Sounds great, right? We’ll have plenty to talk about. Omnivore offers first come, first served seating in the shop. There will be overflow room outside if needed and the author will be mic’ed. Everyone is welcome to attend. Free! You can pre-order a copy here for pick-up at the event or purchase copies on-site. I hope to see you there!
Tuesday February 18th at 6:30pm
Omnivore Books: 3885A Cesar Chavez St. at Church
SF Art Week Brings All Kinds of Cool Programming (Including a Salt Tasting)
