Slowly emerging from its slumber these past two months, Big Night Restaurant Group has just announced that its SoMa flagship Marlowe is reopening with a limited takeout menu this week. And you can try your hand at grilling a Marlowe burger yourself, at home.
"We just wanted it to feel like Jen is cooking you dinner in your own home," says managing partner Anna Weinberg, speaking to Eater and referring to executive chef Jennifer Puccio, with whom she opened Marlowe 11 year ago. And the meal kit idea was what they came up with to make sure the food travels well.
The restaurant is offering burger kits for two, with dessert, and they come with the restaurant's signature beef and lamb paddies (uncooked), as well as cheddar cheese, lettuce, bacon, and horseradish aioli, for $40. Puccio has included at-home cooking instructions, but you mostly just need to sear the paddies to your preferred doneness and assemble the burger — plus there are Guittard chocolate-peanut butter bites as well. Pre-orders are available here for Friday, Saturday, or Sunday pickup.
There are also optional add-ons: a Park Tavern salad with green goddess dressing, and four bottled cocktail options from the Marlowe bar menu. Unlike some to-go cocktails being offered elsewhere, Marlowe is catering to a quarantine-thirsty audience — these bottles all serve nine drinks apiece, for $75.
Weinberg tells Eater that other restaurants in the restaurant group will soon follow with their own concise takeout menus, starting with Leo's Oyster Bar and its lobster rolls, within a month or so, followed by Park Tavern.
Weinberg has also been busy opening the revamped Tosca Cafe — Tosca 3.0, we can call it — with chef Nancy Oakes and designer-partner Ken Fulk. The restaurant can open for real just yet, but in anticipation of a mid-pandemic opening, the team has been previewing the menu via weekend pickup and delivery orders on Tock. This weekend the menu features three-course meals including a braised beef family-style dinner, a roasted chicken, and two pasta options, starting at $29 per person.
Order your Marlowe burgers before they sell out.