In semi-self-serving news, your SFist editor (that's me!) will kick off a new guest-bartending series at Gitane on Monday, May 6th. It goes to benefit La Cocina.

Monday night’s specialty libation, christened the Brocktail (ahem), is basically a twist on the Vesper (made with vodka, gin and Cocchi Americano Rosso in lieu of Lillet). And $2 dollars from every cocktail will go to La Cocina, San Francisco's incubator designed to help budding entrepreneurs (primarily women) to create successful and sustainable small businesses.

If you've always wanted to meet or roll your eyes at the SFist Editor (again, that's me!), now is the time. Come on down to Gitane (recently added to Michael Bauer's Top 100 list!) after work (or what have you) from 6pm-8pm.

Gitane: 6 Claude Lane (at Kearny), S.F., 415-788-6686

A small but significant blaze broke out at Gitane on Friday night. No injuries were sustained during the fire, but it did manage to cause enough damage to the dining room to warrant a temporary closure. The new-menu'd Claude Lane staple will go dark for repairs through the weekend and early part of next week, reopening on Thursday, November 15.

No word yet as to what exactly caused the fire.

In the meantime, Gitane chefs/husband-wife team Bridget Batson and Patrick Kelly Patrick will guest-star next door at Claudine until the restaurant reopens.

Photo: Yelp

Lots of restaurants offer dinner and drinks, but as we've learned today, few are willing to provide Gitane's level of service as they make their eventual exit. The Chronicle three-star spot on Claude Lane was just named a finalist in Cintas' America's Best Restroom contest, which cites its "bold wallpaper, fus[ed] with luxe fabrics and romantic furniture to create a warm, eclectic and glam interior." (Yes, that sentence was, in fact, written about a bathroom.)

Interior designer Charles Doell, who's responsible for the glamorous commode, is up against some stiff competition, notably Arizona's Liberty Market, which offers individual themed playlists in each of its five unisex stalls, and Vanity Nightclub at the Hard Rock Hotel in Vegas (also designed by Doell), which features gold-plated faucets, flat-screens over the urinals, and a $40,000 hand-blown glass chandelier.

One sign that Gitane might not ascend to the throne: it has already fallen in two local competitions, losing out to the $5,000, J. Lo-approved Japanese crapper at now-shuttered Bushi-Tei in the 2011 Eater Awards and failing to make the cut for The Bold Italic's "Royal Flush" piece on the city's best bathrooms (though someone did give it a boost in the comments).

The winner of the contest will be decided by popular vote, so head over to Cintas' site if you want to show your support for the Gitane bathroom. While you're there, check out the hilarious Old West-themed convenience-store restroom at Texas chain Buc-ee's, which boasts 83 stalls to complement its 80 soda fountains. Texans must find our restroom preferences so quaint.

[Chronicle, Inside Scoop]

Alex Smith, bar manager at Gitane (6 Claude Lane), created this drink to usher in the summer months with a whiff of Europe. It's kind of a twist on a Negroni, with the addition of lemon, mint, and sweet Maraschino liqueur. In place of the vermout in this case we have rich, oxidized, almost savory Oloroso sherry adding an extra level of complexity to the drink. In place of the ginger marmalade we'd recommend substituting a homemade ginger syrup, which you could make by steeping half a cup of fresh chopped ginger in simple syrup (boil 1 cup sugar with one cup water til evaporated, and simmer with ginger for 20 minutes before leaving to cool and steep overnight).

Smith added further whimsy to the drink by letting the Campari get added by the drinker, to taste, using a little disposable pipette. It's just like chemistry class! Only way more fun.

Narguja

1.5 oz gin
0.75 oz Oloroso sherry
0.75 oz ginger marmalade
0.5 oz Maraschino Liqueur
0.25 oz Campari
1 oz lemon juice
6 mint leaves

Gently crush mint in hands & combine all but Campari with crushed ice. Shake briefly and pour into double rocks glass. Insert Campari-filled disposable pipette.

By Tiffany Maleshefski

When you have a menu item named Bacon Bon Bons (prunes stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in smoked bacon), the intrigue enough should guarantee a full house, at least in your restaurant's inaugural year.

And with that savory security blanket wrapped around its shoulders, Gitane, the new restaurant brought to you by the same folks who’ve given you Café Claude for 20 years, enjoys its official opening on Tuesday.

The new eatery had a soft opening over the weekend, unveiling for friends and media folk its Portugese-inspired menu and outstanding cocktail program designed by the supremely talented Dominic Venegas (Range, Cantina, Bourbon & Branch). We overheard, by the way, Venegas talking about his involvement with the newly renovated Stanford Court Hotel and how he’ll be involved in getting Aurea’s cocktail program so get ready for

Anyway, we were talking about bacon and the overall creative menu that Executive Chef Lisa Eyherabide brings to Gitane’s hip little tables. Firing up cuisine that harks of her travels through the Southern France, Northern Spain, and Northern Africa, the menu is all over the map. Appetizers are a mix of incredibly approachable old favorites, such as the Pescado Frito (semolina fried calamari, smelt, and prawns, with eggplant, onion, fennel, brava sauce, and lemon aioli, $13) or your standard gazpacho ($7). Meanwhile, starters like the Sardines en Escabéche (marinated local sardine filets on puff pastry with tomato jam, capers, black olives and micro greens, $11) or the Roast Caille (California quail stuffed with chicken mousseline, raisins, shallots, port demi-glace, truffle oil, $16) are the menu’s more sophisticated fare.