The end of the year typically brings some surprise closures as well as a rush of last-minute openings typically places that wanted to be open in the fall but were somehow delayed and now just want to be open before the holiday rush. The latter includes Single Thread up in Healdsburg, Finn Town in the Castro (which opens tonight), and Flores which debuted Monday in Cow Hollow. We also had word of an upcoming new rum bar from the Trou Normand/Bar Agricole folks called Obispo, and we had news of famed high-end sushi chain Nobu arriving soon in Palo Alto. Here's everything else you may have missed.
Inside Scoop brings word of Duchess, a new all-day pub headed to the former Conga Lounge (5422 College Avenue) in Oakland's Rockridge neighborhood. It will be serving baked goods in the morning, including homemade Pop-Tarts and a doughnut filled with chicken liver mousse and topped with huckleberries. The rest of the menu will be centered on California-inspired pub fare, cocktails, and craft beer. It opens December 10, but has some funky initial hours that you can see if you scroll down at that link.
Super popular boba tea shop Boba Guys, which already boasts three locations around town including a new one in that cool 8 Octavia building, have plans for a fourth, fifth, and sixth location in town, the latest being at 1522 Fillmore Street near Geary, smack next door to Wise Sons Bagel. Hoodline tells us that it may open by the middle of this month.
15-year-old Noe Valley bistro Le Zinc is shuttering, as Tablehopper reports, and in its place will be something called Chez Marius, from chef Laurent Legendre of Glen Park’s Le P’tit Laurent. And good news for fans of the place: It will continue to be a French bistro.
Also, a little bit confusingly, Noe Valley Bakery is opening a second location... in West Portal. Hoodline has the details about the space, at 28 West Portal Avenue in a former Noah's Bagels.
The Richmond district has a new wine bar called Corks at 4342 California Street (at 6th Avenue), as the Richmond SF blog tells us. The owners, both Italian, are specializing in California and Italian wines, and serving small plates as well.
And in the Inner Richmond there is also news of a new diner-type spot called 6th & B which is, you may have guessed, at 6th Avenue and Balboa. Hoodline explains they're doing breakfast and lunch, and they may start doing dinner in the new year.
The Chronicle had a piece this week about several longtime Mission businesses that are "pivoting" in order to draw customers in a changing neighborhood, including Pop's Bar, Roosevelt Tamale Parlor (now renamed Roosevelt Sip 'n' Eat), and La Victoria Bakery, which we heard last month would be adding a bar called Santo.
The former Panhandle Pizza at Hayes and Cole has transformed into Katani Pizza as of this week, as Hoodline reports. It's owned by restaurant vet Katerina Paulova, who named the place with a combination of her own name and that of her wife, Anne.
This Week In Reviews
Though they refuse to put it online yet, San Francisco Magazine has a review from critic Josh Sens of new Tenderloin supper club Black Cat and it ain't good. Eater has a few quotes, which include comparing the meatballs to "chew toys," and though, like Bauer before him, he enjoys the drinks and the jazz, overall he finds the food "a jumble of discordant notes." The verdict: one and a half stars. [Update: A week later, it's now online.]
Pete Kane at the Weekly checked out The Morris this week, and he was pretty impressed. Like I did, he loved the pole beans with squid ("Deceptively simple, this is what you wish your neighborhood Thai takeout place was capable of"), and the crab porridge, as well as the star of the menu, the smoked and roasted duck, which takes five days to marinate and smoke, and he calls the the honey-and-espresso jus "a marvel."
Kane also checked out Louie's Gen-Gen Room, beneath Liholiho Yacht Club. He's delighted by the "range of $12 to $15 drinks that studiously avoid going overboard in any way," and he also like the five-spice jerky, and the avocado waffle.
Meanwhile at the Chronicle, Michael Bauer pays a return visit to two-year-old Shakewell in Oakland, where he finds chef Jenn Biesty's menu evolving nicely away from just Spanish and more broadly toward Greek and Mediterranean flavors. He loves the boneless fried chicken served with hot sauce and fenugreek yogurt, and he says the paella has improved since his initial visits. He also recommends taking the Dealer's Choice option with the talented bar staff. All told: two and a half stars.
And Mr. Bauer's Sunday review is of Nomica in the Castro, where he adores the $100 chicken in brioche that one needs to order 24 hours in advance, and which he says is easily the best dish. He also loves the chicken karaage (because he's never met a fried chicken dish he didn't like), and the lacquered brioche, although he found the rice in the crab donabe "gluey." So, all told: two and a half stars.
