The opening activity is slowing down as we near the depths of the holiday season, but there are still a few notable news items this week in the world of Bay Area food.
La Lengua — the "tongue" of Mission Street that straddles the Mission and Bernal Heights — is getting a new Asian restaurant and bar called The Rabbit Hole. It's moving in to the former Old Devil Moon space at 3472 Mission Street, as Mission Local reports, and owners are preparing to get the place open by the end of the year. The menu will, reportedly, "branch out of the dim sum dominance that characterizes San Francisco’s Chinese food scene and offer a broader variety of dishes," including Chinese breakfast dishes.
Batches Bakehouse (298 4th Ave.) just opened in the Inner Richmond, offering handmade bagels, bagel sandwiches, scones, cookies, and all manner of sweet treats. The bakers are friends Ashlee Thompson and Ashley Zografos, and as Tablehopper reports, some holiday stuff like cookie decorating kits and gingerbread will be coming shortly. Initial hours are 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday to Monday.
Ms. Tablehopper, Marcia Gagliardi, also alerts us to Tablehopper's Taste of San Francisco Holiday Gift Box — the latest edition of which can be shipped anywhere on the West Coast. This year's box contains a dozen Bay Area-made products, highlighting small businesses and women, queer, and BIPOC makers. Order one here, and a portion of each sale will be donated to the SF-Marin Food Bank.
Michelin-starred Sons & Daughters, which gained a new executive chef last year in Harrison Cheney, is going to be hosting two special dinners in January with Cheney's mentor, Jacob Holmström, formerly of two Michelin-starred Gastrologik in Sweden. The dinners are being held January 24 and 25, and they are currently sold out, but you can join a waitlist.
Up in Napa, The Bungalow had its official opening Friday — and it is neither a restaurant nor a tasting room, but a hybrid of both. Gentleman Farmer Wines, which is the label of married couple Jeff Durham and Joey Wołosz, has long used full lunches to sell their wine. And now guests can reserve tastings centered around breakfast ($90), lunch ($250), or dinner ($450) at their new downtown Napa space (1564 First Street). The Chronicle has more details.
Popular Richmond pop-up Black Star Pirate BBQ has returned as a pop-up in the parking lot of sister restaurant Baltic Kiss, in Richmond. The original Black Star closed last year in the Richmond marina, but now it's back on weekdays from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., or until they're sold out, as SFGate reports.
And, in case you missed it, dusty Oakland dive The Ruby Room is closing its doors after New Year's Eve, after 24 years on the quiet end of Lake Merritt. Get over there to pay your respects, if you need.
Top image: A dish of wild turbot from Sweden's Gastrologik
