Beloved music venue Cafe du Nord, in the basement level of the Swedish American Hall at Market and Sanchez, has been closed since the beginning of the new year for renovations under new owners. We now get word via Inside Scoop that part of the rebirth, under the shortened name Du Nord, will be a full food menu from a brand new kitchen, via the team behind Flour + Water, Salumeria, and Central Kitchen, as well as a bar from the Bon Vivants, a.k.a. the guys behind Trick Dog.

This news comes just as we learn that the Trick Dog boys are also involved with Urban Putt in the Mission.

The new owners of the place are the MacNiven clan, the guys who own Woodhouse Fish Co. and West of Pecos, and they assure us that the renovation will honor the history of the place and not ruin it — hopefully with the same sense of respect as the recent renovation of Tosca. (They say they want to restore the place to its "pre-Prohibition-era glory.") And the bar "won’t be a 'cocktail bar' by any means, but rather, a good neighborhood bar with well-done cocktails." Also, the food will be bar food, but probably above-average bar food, befitting San Francisco and our above-average music fans.

Anyway, sounds cool. No word yet on the reopening date.

[Chron]
[Inside Scoop]