This week, SFist learned that Chef Michael Mina will be taking over the short-lived second location of Cafe Claude in the Marina to open a pop-up inspired "test kitchen" for those within his company. Elsewhere, we noted the reopening of Millennium in Oakland, the closure of Truck, and The Progress' inclusion on Food & Wine's Best New Restaurants list.
In the Mission, Capp Street Crap observes an interesting name change: After being issued a cease and desist letter for their former name, the restaurant and bar once known as Buffalo Club, an offshoot of nearby Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, has changed its named to Cease and Desist.
In another bit of tension, SoMA StrEat Food Park and Off The Grid are taking their turf war to Mission Bay. As the Business Times reports, right after SoMa StrEat Food Park, a network of food trucks, announced its Mission Bay neighborhood foray, rival food truck organization Off the Grid revealed a new twice-weekly food truck market there as well.
On tip watch: Perennial Cole Valley brunch favorite Zazie is getting rid of them, says Eater. Expect a 20% price increase on items there.
Inside Scoop reports two major chef hires by Michael Tusk. Cotogna has scooped up Chris Marchino from Chicago's Spiaggia to work as chef de cuisine and Shawn Gawle joins the Quince kitchen as executive pastry chef.
Sadly, '90s restaurant world darling Globe closed on May 30, Tablehopper learned. Inside Scoop recalled its place among the dining set thanks to chef Joseph Manzare. When Globe's lease was up, the building's landlord sold it to developers who will tear it down for, you guessed it, condos.
Over at Aveline and The European in the Warwick Hotel, Inside Scoop has it that Kaley Laird is to be executive chef. She first joined Aveline's team as a pastry chef last year and her new menu is described as more casual though still California-focused.
Gourmet-to-go company Proper Food wants to open 10 locations in the FiDi alone, the Business Times tells us. Well how about that! The chain sounds like Pret A Manger, basically.
A rather blandly-named brewery, Local Brewing Co., has opened its doors and taps near Caltrain according to the Weekly. The beer sounds good — expect a variety of IPA variations, because of course — and the taproom looks lovely.
Blue Bottle, Inside Scoop reports, has received another $70 million in funding. Though the comparisons to Starbucks make themselves, they are surely unwelcome.
An automated quinoa place that sounds like one giant vending machine is opening in the FiDi. Eater reports that it's called Eatsa, and that it's cheap, because you order and pay on your phone, eliminating the cashier. Somehow, as a people, we have brought this upon ourselves.
After 36 years in business, Ocean Avenue’s beloved Ocean Pizza has closed, the Ingleside-Excelsior Light tells us.
And yes, Eater has these baffling photos of Snoop Dogg rolling dank sushi with chef Masaharu Morimoto.
Week in Reviews
For the Chronicle, Sir Michael Bauer checked in on Dopo, where "Kayta and Jon Smulewitz have refocused their 12-year-old restaurant from Italian to Sicilian." That change also includes the wine list, which has gone fully regionally, and another twist is a tip-inclusive menu. Bauer seems to like it when chefs "follow their passion and please themselves" and in so doing please their customers. Two-and-a-half stars.
Bauer's Sunday review is up, and it's of Aatxe, the tapas and gin and tonic spot in the Swedish American Hall that comes from the Flour + Water team and the Bon Vivants. Peter Kane stopped by last week and seems to have liked it more than Bauer. That's in part because Bauer keeps it real when considering the price: "The food is good, but the tab quickly adds up, particularly when there’s an additional 4.5 percent San Francisco surcharge that wasn’t printed on any of the menus we saw over the course of three visits." But, "If you treat Aatxe like a true tapas bar, it satisfies the hunger pangs and hits the spot." Two-and-a-half stars.
Pete Kane this week took off to Oakland after Kronnerburger, which he crowns king. "Salty, slathered in pickles, and served quite rare, they're different from and superior to virtually every other burger out there," he says.
And at the Examiner, Alex Hochman found that Jersey was "More SoMa than Secaucus." It sounds like the thing to get is the New Yorker pizza, but that the menu is a little too Californian. Hochman wonders aloud "if Jersey’s ownership got frightened by our city’s longest tenured critic’s (rhymes with sour) shadow, and tailored the food more to his sensibilities." Shade thrown. For the record, Bauer liked the California twist for the most part and awarded two-and-a-half stars. "And with a new Tony’s open nearby," Hochman adds, "Jersey doesn’t even have the most “Jersey” style food on its own street." More shade thrown.