SFist is resurrecting this weekly roundup of all the local food news we didn't get to this week. Please enjoy, and send your tips to [email protected].

  • Brown Sugar Kitchen is closing at the Ferry Building on January 19. Chef-owner Tonya Holland has had some bumps in the road in attempting to expand her Oakland business, and the location in Oakland's Uptown will remain open. [Eater]
  • The new, semi-annual menu change has happened at Trick Dog, and the latest array of cocktails are based on a college course book. It's dubbed "Trick Dog University," and it includes drinks like the Comparative Literature (Old Forester bonded bourbon, mango, Okinawan sugar, hops), and the Political Science (Unión mezcal, Cointreau, Hidalgo oloroso sherry, carrot and beet kanji, habañero, lime). [Chronicle]
  • And after a recent temporary closure and a few years in exile near Fisherman's Wharf, the legendary Gold Dust Lounge has given up the ghost. Owner Nick Bovis relocated the bar from Union Square in 2012/2013, as SFist reported at the time, after the landlord evicted the place in favor of letting the Express store upstairs put in a second entrance. The bar had lived in that Powell Street space since at least 1933, and its final passing in 2020 comes with heavy hearts — though the new landlord is saying a new owner is welcome to all the decor and furniture. [Eater]
  • Cafe X, the robotic coffee kiosk, has closed its three downtown SF locations. The company has improved its robot and will only be slinging coffee now at SFO and San Jose Airport. [Chronicle]
  • After closing for an earthquake retrofit in November, the decidedly retro Burger Joint on Valencia has announced it's closed for good. The place lasted a remarkable 25 years, and its SFO outpost will remain open. [Chronicle]
  • The East Bay Express has a review of the new Brenda's location in Oakland's Temescal district. It's a mixed review, with praise for the shrimp and grits and fried chicken (though the batter is critiqued for being "overly hard"), and criticism for the mac and cheese. [East Bay Express]
  • And, ICYMI over the holidays, Tartine has closed its big Downtown L.A. Manufactory. It was open less than a year, and the company still plans to keep open its West Hollywood cafe and open new locations in Silverlake and Santa Monica. [Chronicle]

This Week in Soleil Ho:

The Chronicle critic published her list of "25 Dishes in the Bay Area That You Must Eat In 2020," and given that she's only lived here a year, it's a fairly impressive array of spanning more of the Peninsula and East Bay than you might expect. There's a weight on newer spots — this isn't "25 Things to Eat Before You Die," but just 25 incredibly delicious-looking things from an array of (mostly ethnic) cuisines.