This week, which happens to be Negroni Week, brought some news of the former Big team's project at 98 Turk Street, as well as news of the closure of Oakland's Pican this weekend, and the launch of Tacolicious' delivery-only rotisserie concept MF Chicken in the next ten days. Here's what else has been going on, food-wise.
In another case of a high-end SF chef breaking out on his own in a casual way, former Atelier Crenn and Benu guy Rodney Wages launched his "Chubby Noodle meets Mensho Tokyo ramen" pop-up RTB Fillmore last fall. Now Eater reports that Wages has taken over the former Mosu space at 1552 Fillmore Street. He's expanding the space to have 36 seats and is reconfiguring the kitchen, and the menu will include some luxe flourishes like a tartare of raw lobster with preserved citrus, and a $68 wagyu beef supplement. The pop-up continues operations four days a week (tickets here), and Wages is hoping to open the permanent spot in August.
Meanwhile in the Outer Richmond we learn some more about what's been keeping Aziza closed long after it was set to reopen following a renovation. Eater talks to chef-owner Mourad Lahlou who says he will definitely reopen the place, but it's a question of where, because the city is now requiring millions of dollars to even out the building's floor for ADA reasons, and Lahlou says it would cost less to tear the whole place down. He's considering the possibility of having to relocate Aziza, but doesn't want to, and he continues to hope the city will make an exception for this noted restaurant.
In the Mission, V16 Sushi Lounge at 16th and Valencia, which already has/had a poké pop-up inside, is now going to have an ice cream thing inside, as Mission Local reports, called Rolled Up Creamery and Cafe. Rolled ice cream, a trend that started in Thailand, involves sheets of ice cream with toppings mixed in that are scraped and rolled into cups, almost like crepes, and owner Barry Lee hopes the Mission is ready for this.
Hoodline brings word of a new location for Blue Bottle Coffee, which is at the corner of Fillmore and Jackson in Pacific Heights. It opened on Tuesday in a consolidated space that was formerly both a Tully's and a newsstand.
A former Chez Papa guy has just opened Parker Cafe in Potrero Hill, at 1399 18th Street. The place has a "French-leaning menu" according to Eater, with open-faced tartines, a Cubano sandwich, Sightglass coffee, and beer and wine.
Sad news in San Jose: The city's oldest restaurant, Wing's, is closing at the end of June after 92 years in business. The reason, according to a note on the restaurant's website via Eater, is a rent increase.
And finally, former Coi pastry chef Nick Muncy has a new food magazine called Toothache, as Eater shows us, which is one of a new breed of chef-driven publications.
This Week In SF Food
The Weekly's Pete Kane headed over to Oakland to review the Camino casual spinoff The Kababery, where he says the "menu is small, but it nails just about everything." He says "the kebabs are awesome, up and down" with the king trumpet mushroom one being his favorite. Also, among the salads, he says the shredded carrot salad is a winner.
Michael Bauer revisits the famed Dry Creek Kitchen, executive chef Charlie Palmer's Healdsburg flagship that's now 16 years old. The restaurant gained a new chef de cuisine in Scottie Romano, who first came to work for Palmer over 20 years ago, and Bauer says Romano has been able to meld his own sensibilities with those of Palmer," and has brought some "luster" back to the restaurant, to which Bauer has given very mixed reviews in recent years. He enjoys a seasonal preparation of Cornish game hen as well as a classically prepared dish of pork tenderloin medallions, and in the end: three big stars.
And for his Sunday review, Bauer heads to Sausalito for the new Joinery Beerhall + Rotisserie, the five-month-old spinoff of Mill Valley Beerworks nearby. He's pleased that it is not dominated by tourists like most of Sausalito can be, writing, "That the Joinery Beerhall+Rotisserie is off the most-traveled tourist path makes it especially inviting for those of us who either live in or love to visit the area but don’t want to be overshadowed by the hordes." He's a fan of the "juicy" Mary's chicken from the rotisserie, and the fried chicken sandwich, and the burger, and he raves about the "exceptionally juicy" smoked Polish kielbasa on Sonoma Brinery sauerkraut. All told: two and a half stars.