"America's original celebrity chef" Martin Yan plans on opening a noodle shop at the Westfield San Francisco Centre, reports Inside Scoop's Paolo Lucchesi. The new Chinese joint, to be called Martin Yan's Noodle Revolution, will "embrace the theatrical side of dining" via an open kitchen and lots of loud dicing. (Sadly, Yan's theatricality will involve neither Burt Reynolds nor jazz hands. Pft.) A tentative opening is planned for late 2011. [SFGate] more ›

Total number of people pictured in this week's Swells society column: 72. more ›

for not having this idea first. more ›

Dang, it was cold waiting outside the Four Star for the doors to open for the San Francisco Asian Film Festival's premiere of Rice Rhapsody! And can we just say, the movie that screened right before Rice Rhapsody (A Moment to Remember) must have been extremely sad -- they opened the doors and people came out of the theater bawling. Like, two girls got out of the theater sniffling, looked at each other, laughed that shaky laugh, and then started crying again and hugging each other. Intense! (We looked it up -- it was about a doomed newlywed couple.) Good for us that Rice Rhapsody is a comedy! Also -- Chef Martin Yan's film debut! We already love it. The plot? A Singaporean restauranteuse (Sylvia Chang), who's raised three boys as a single mother, has recently learned that her first two sons are gay. Is her third son gay too? Plus, why is the dopey next-door neighbor restaurant owner always hanging around? Wackiness and poignancy ensue! Martin Yan at the show, an exoticized French girl named Sabine, and the Singaporean specialty of Hainan Chicken Rice, after the jump. more ›

We know he gets a bad rap, but we love Martin Yan. It's so easy! Look at this! The Chron pays for a meal to get the interview, and it doesn't bother us one bit. GraceAnn Walden totally bites Doyle, leading with troubles at Michael Mina. Been reading SFist lately, GraceAnn? Also, enough caucasians have discovered pho (pha? phur? phuh?) to warrant an introduction by the Chron. SFist has been curing hangovers and colds with pho since high school. more ›