Over at the new Second Act Marketplace (1727 Haight Street), which is part of an actual second act for the former Red Vic Theater owned by a couple of the original proprietors of the movie house, five food stalls have replaced what was once auditorium space at the front of the building. The former lobby will soon become part of an expanded Alembic next door, some auditorium space in back is set to become a community event and screening space, and during the day you can choose from a group of startup food vendors landing their first brick-and-mortar homes in the new-style food hall. Among those is Anda Piroshki, the Russian-style hot piroshki operation from Anna Tvelova, which also has a stall at our city's other mini food hall, 331 Cortland.

Tvelvova makes her own borscht and kompot, but the stars of the menu are her freshly baked piroshkis with fillings based on her grandmother's recipes. My favorite was the Cabbage Ragout, nicknamed the "Bunny's Pleasure," a rich and savory vegetarian combination of braised cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, garlic, and parsley. It's a rustic, delicious, and comforting thing, a hot piroshki, made all the better when it's fresh out of the oven and the outer dough is still flaky and barely crisp.

Note: If you don't make it to the Upper Haight or Bernal Heights too often, Anda Piroshki does catering and will take online orders 48 hours in advance.