One of the trendiest (and most delicious) restaurants of 2013 has finally made it back online after a five-month hiatus, and that would be Outerlands (Judah and 45th Avenue). Owners Dave Muller and Lana Porcello decided to close down back in January in order to complete their expansion into the space next door, which was formerly a little Chinese takeout place. Now that expansion is complete, and it's a beauty.

They took what was already a charming, wood-paneled interior — yes, the dreaded reclaimed wood, but in this case unfinished and driftwood-like and totally beautiful — and took the paneling all the way to the ceiling and across to the next room, with an undulating wave of panels across the ceiling and gorgeous built-in sconces hidden behind bent wood. Also, the new half of the restaurant is now the bar, with bar seating and 20 new seats at tables — and Muller's usual cocktail specials will now be supplemented by a bar program by Foreign Cinema's Kevin Dowell, who consulted, and bar manager Chris O'Brien. See some more pretty photos over at Eater.

As reported earlier, chef Brett Cooper is no longer there. (Inside Scoop reports today that he just inked a deal to join the Daniel Patterson Group, first as the opening chef at Ume, the new concept replacing Plum in Oakland, and ultimately at the helm of his own S.F. restaurant.) Muller and Porcello have hired Greg Kuzia-Carmel as executive chef, and he comes by way of New York where he worked at Per Se and for restaurants in Michael White's Altamarea Group. You can see his new lunch menu here. The idea, they said, was to return to a more casual style of food, like they had when they first opened, but we'll have to wait and see what that will mean for the dinner menu — they won't be relaunching dinner until June or so.

To start, the hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, for lunch only. They'll be ramping up, adding breakfast and pastry first, then weekend brunch, followed by dinner. And, finally, Outerlands will start taking reservations after dinner begins, sometime next month.

[Eater]
[Inside Scoop]