Mexico City chef and restaurateur Gabriela Camara is opening her first U.S. restaurant as of tonight, and it's called Cala and it's at the edge of Hayes Valley at 149 Fell Street. Eater got a preview of the casual industrial space last week, and spoke to Camara who assured them this would not be a burrito spot. "We hope to expand on what people have tasted of Mexican food," she said.

Like her restaurants in Mexico, Contramar and Merotoro, Cala is seafood-focused, and Inside Scoop has a bunch of pretty pictures of dishes, including ling cod salpicón with tomatillo and cilantro, halibut ceviche a la Mexicana with avocado, and trout tostadas with chipotle, avocado, and fried leeks. "We hope to expand on what people have tasted of Mexican food," Camara says.

As we heard back in August, Camara enlisted the help of her good friend, the famed cookbook author Diana Kennedy, who at age 92 was eagerly assisting Camara in adapting her menu to the ingredients available locally in the Bay Area.

Hoodline first got word of the new restaurant back in November, and we've been waiting for it ever since.

Cala is opening just for "previews" starting tonight, Monday, and won't have its official grand opening for a couple of weeks. In other words, Yelpers, go easy on the place while they fine tune the details, because brand new restaurants always need a minute to get their groove.

According to the restaurant's site, hours for the preview are 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., and may be expanding, per the Scoop, to 5 to midnight, Monday through Saturday.

Cala - 149 Fell Street - 415-660-7701 - Open 6 to 10 p.m., Monday through Saturday, with expanded hours to come