This week there's been plenty of goings on in the food news department. For starters, the team behind the Financial District's Sens have announced that Market Street sequel Barcha will open on the first of next month. "It will be similar because it's Mediterranean, but the regions can be so different," owner Kais Bouzidi told the Business Times. "Barcha is more tapas and shared plates, a family-style restaurant with influences from Turkey, North Africa and Spain. We do that at Sens, but we won't repeat any of the same dishes."

Also, some sad news comes our way from Original Joe's. Famed bartender Michael McCourt, brother of the Angela's Ashes author Frank McCourt, is dead at 79. As Hoodline writes, "he made his own name in the world of San Francisco saloons for his gift of storytelling and welcoming nature." Per the Chronicle, he was "the dean of San Francisco bartenders" and a "raconteur."

Word on the street (a.k.a. Twitter) is that Mocca has closed. The Maiden Lane Italian café with lots of al fresco seating was in business for 30 years, but they've lost their lease.

Also out of business is Jocelyn’s Bakery and juice bar at 20th and Lexington Street, according to Mission Local. And on the website of the man who would be mayor we learn that Clare’s Deli will close. She's bequeathed her french dip recipe to someone to take over the shop, though.

The Half Orange is already beloved in Fruitvale for its burger (which is highly decorated at this point). Now they've opened a beer garden out back. They're celebrating it tomorrow, writes Eater. Add it to your list of reasons to go on an East Bay beer garden crawl.

Le Chat Rouge Bakery, which appeared bound for might not be able to open after all due to red tape. The owner "has set a time limit," writes Hoodline, "if he can't get all of the approvals he needs for Le Chat Rouge within the next four weeks, he's going to abandon the project.

Eater has more on Nightbird from Kim Alter formerly of Oakland's Plum and Haven, which will be a weekly-changing tasting menu concept in Hayes Valley. Hoodline has it that a meal will be $95- $115, with tax and tip, and that Alter conceives of the space "almost like a 1930s Art Deco hotel... I don't want anything to be trendy, I really want to just grow into it."

A tiny new wine tasting spot in a "shockingly lavish and darkly lit room" (according to Inside Scoop) is open at the Ritz-Carlton. It's called JCB by Jean-Charles Boisset Tasting Lounge, which is very chic as a name, don't you think?

Inside Scoop also has it that Telma Faria, the Tacolicious co-founder and partner who stepped down last year, will be hosting a pop-up at Jardiniere. As they write, "While searching for the right brick and mortar space (location still TBD) for his forthcoming Uma Casa, Faria — who grew up on one of Portugal’s Azores Islands — has been hosting pop-up dinners around San Francisco."

The lineup for CUESA’s (the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) brand-new monthly Mission Rock pop-up farmers’ markets (at the Yard) has been announced and Inside Scoop has also got that.

Great Indian Food, which was apparently not so, is closing and a Japanese spot named Gina is, according to Hoodline, set to open in the Upper Haight.

As planned, Thomas Keller's temporary Ad Lib will be closing on October 19, as Eater reports.

Last, if you want to get in on some pie contest action, Mission Pie is having a big to-do tomorrow. Mission Local has details.

This Week In Reviews

Monsieur Michael Bauer’s midweek review is an update on Ramen Shop, which since his last writing has expanded. But is it spread too thin? No! "As far as I can tell after a return visit, the changes have made no difference," he writes, "The noodles have a distinct, slightly firm texture you won’t find anywhere else, the broths are as well crafted as ever, and the pristine ingredients continue to channel the owners’ time at Chez Panisse." Three stars.

In a very high stars-to-seats ratio, Bauer awards three stars to the 14 seat sushi spot Omakase. "Walking through the glass door feels almost like walking into an alternative universe," where "Each meal is orchestrated by one of the three sushi chefs behind the counter: Jackson Yu, Ingi Son and Masaki Sasaki. Together, they have more than 60 years of experience, and it shows on every cut of fish, most of which is sourced in Japan." But dinner will cost you — perhaps as much as $200 — and take up 2 hours, roughly.

Peter Kane of the Weekly popped in at Sunflower, "the consistently terrific Vietnamese restaurant" that's just re-opened at 16th and Valencia. Its return "feels like a moral victory as well as a win for anybody who likes a five-spice chicken lunch special with Vietnamese coffee."

In the cheap eats section of the Chron, Anna Roth checked out (and loved) Geneva Steak. "If you’re craving steak on a budget, this is the place to satisfy that itch, though the 10-item menu has plenty of other enticements," she writes. "Many swear by the sandwiches, be it ground hamburger or a slab of steak on griddled French garlic bread, both slathered with mayo that mingles wonderfully with the meat juices."