Over in North Beach and Chinatown, a couple of prominent restaurants have just joined the takeout and delivery game during this pandemic lockdown.
Unable to fully reopen as planned this spring under new ownership, the legendary Tosca Cafe is offering weekly changing family meals for pickup and delivery, as well as a menu of pantry items, bottled cocktails, wine, and more.
This week's family meal, available for orders now on Tock, includes slow-roasted salmon, grilled and marinated leeks, a little gem salad with Calabrian Caesar dressing, and a tres leches cake. And that's $42 per person, with orders available for two to eight people, plus a $10 delivery fee. Other options which come with those same sides and dessert are a roast chicken ($34 per person), a rigatoni with spicy sausage ragu ($28 per person), and a rigatoni with spring peas and lemon ($28 per person). Other dishes and pantry items available include a mushroom salad, meatballs, marinara sauce, and garlic bread.
As you may recall, Tosca was taken over by new owners Anna Weinberg (Marlowe, Park Tavern, Leo's Oyster Bar), Nancy Oakes (Boulevard, Prospect), and designer Ken Fulk following its abrupt closure last year. After a brief remodel, the place was set to reopen in March or April, but here we are.
Right now, the family meals being offered are for Thursday and Friday, April 30 and May 1, and they represent a preview of sorts of the restaurant's new menu.
"Thank you for supporting our Tosca team," they write in an email announcing the meals. "We're honored to help feed you and your family."
Also getting in on the takeout game this week is Mister Jiu's. Calling it Jiu's Ho Ho, the restaurant is offering a "drive-thru" grocery/takeout situation, with orders placed one day ahead. Offerings include bottled cocktails from the restaurant menu, and dishes like spicy squid ink wontons, hot and sour soup, lion's head meatballs, and a whole roasted Liberty Farms ducks. And there are grocery and pantry items you can add on like a dozen organic eggs, peanut oil, and a pound of durum whole-wheat flour.
Once you've made your order, you'll be given a time the next day to come pick it up — and it sounds like it's a curbside set-up on Waverly Place to make things easy.
As previously announced, Mister Jiu's chef Brandon Jew has also been partnering with Lord Stanley on "Lord Jiu's" — a five-course meal kit for for two for $100 that you can pre-order on Tock and pick up.
Photo courtesy of Tosca Cafe