This short holiday week we learned of the closing of Giordano Bros. in North Beach, and of the closing of 4505 Meats butcher shop on Mission, which is becoming a new outpost of Belcampo Meat Co. Also, we caught the sad news that Oakland fine dining spot Bay Wolf is shutting its doors in August after 40 long years. But elsewhere...

Los Angeles restaurateur Ryuichi Hamada has just opened his first Bay Area restaurant, The Spice Jar, which Tablehopper describes as "home-style pan-Asian comfort food" and "Asia via California." It's in the former Local's Corner space at 23rd and Bryant, and there's a yummy sounding seafood cast-iron “fondue” involving shrimp paste and bread.

And remember how we talked about how Michael Mina had leased the former Cafe Claude in the Marina and would be launching a "test kitchen" concept with a few different pop-ups by his restaurant group staff? Well, the first one, with the not altogether fortunate name of Middle'terranea, is set to open this month, on July 23, as Eater tells us. It's a collaboration between the Egyptian-born Mina and RN74 executive chef Adam Sobel, who is half Israeli. They'll be following suit with the family-style prix fixe trend begun by The Progress (and also happening at AL's Place), with a flurry of dishes coming to the table in five courses for $45 a head — with an optional $30 drink pairing. Tickets are not yet on sale.

Another bit of pretty big news is that Saison is offering a la carte sushi from the same sushi chef, Jiro Lin, who's been doing that expensive chef's counter series, as Eater reports. Also, they're launching a first-ever vegetarian tasting menu starting at $298 per person.

In Noe Valley, there's word from a local blog that neighbors who were originally concerned about plans to expand what was once Bliss Bar into a full service restaurant(with amplified music have relented. They've agreed to allow a place to be called Tom Rai to move ahead.

Taken over by the Southern Pacific Brewing team in 2014, Dogpatch neighborhood bar Sea Star has some new owners. Inside Scoop says the helm is going to to Ryan Gilbert (of Bloodhound, House of Shields), Alicia Walton (of Bloodhound, Brass Tacks) and Tommy Shaw (of Martuni’s). That's promising, so we'll have to see what it's like after it reopens next week following a brief closure.

If it's another gastropub with beer and the word "haus" in it, look no further than Hoodline's news of Crafthaus. Not a lot of details yet, but the promise of 40 taps and something about a giant game of Jenga.

Last, in tater-tot news, the kitchen at Bender's has changed hands. Uptown Almanac reports that we oughtn't to worry, though as the tots will remain and some of that new-fangled locally-sourced food will grace the new menu.

This Week In Reviews

Mr. Michael Bauer, the palate of the Chronicle, returned to feast at Monterey's 1833 for his mid-week review. As he puts it, it's "the must-visit stop on the Monterey Peninsula" where, "sitting around one of the four fire pits in the front courtyard of Restaurant 1833 in Monterey, with the canopy of the 150-year-old oak tree on one side and the 1840s adobe building on the other, you can’t help but think everything is right in the world." The food, with the addition of chef Jason Franey, has ingredients that are "woven together seamlessly" and elevate the previously three star restaurant to three-and-a-half stars. And how about this dish: Franey "wraps rich baby back rib meat in pastry ($14) to form a thick cigar, fries it and serves it with a fish sauce for a truly marvelous combination."

For his Sunday review, Mr. Bauer headed to Parlour, the new pizza spot in Oakland's Uptown district which is owned by the same team as the next-door Bar 355. They hired SF chef Jason Tuley, previously of Gitane and TBD, to man the stoves and wood-fire oven. Ever a fan of pizza, Bauer adores the "puffy blistered crust[s]" and notes the "rich buttery-ness" of the dough "has enough flavor to withstand the powerful additions" Tuley adds, which include things like spicy salami, caciocavallo cheese, and nettle pesto. Also, there's a well charred, 30-ounce ribeye steak for two for $65, but Bauer balks at a $32 half chicken (as you should too), and he gives thumbs up to the cocktails and the bartender with "immense biceps." All told: two and a half stars.

Peter Lawrence Kane of the Weekly says Lord Stanely is worthy of praise. Married chefs Rupert and Carrie Blease are "helping transform the last vestiges of Polk Gulch into an upscale Polkstrasse" with their technique-focused food where the the lamb shoulder ($29) "was the true winner." The decor sounds pretty bare, but "[o]ccasional eye-rolling word choices aside, the food is stellar."

Alex Hochman for the Examiner dished out some love for Slice House, where he recommends the Cal Italia pizza ($22), Wiseguy pizza ($22), St. Germain Chicken Wings ($10), and the Grandma slice ($6). A brunch option doesn't sound too relaxing, but overall, pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani has done it again and "proven that San Franciscans need 10 styles of pizza — some we never have known existed."