We have news this week that Anthony Strong's Pasta Supply Co. is expanding to the Mission District, a dairy-free soft-serve chain from Honolulu is coming to Noe Valley, and West Portal is getting a new wine bar from the couple who owned La Ciccia for decades.

Mission residents who were once fond of chef Anthony Strong's pasta skills at Locanda — and later Prairie — will be happy to know he's returning to the Mission. Tablehopper reported this week that his Pasta Supply Co. has been successful enough in the Richmond that he's expanding with a second location at 3233 22nd Street, which is the former Dumpling Club space — Dumpling Club closed in the fall. According to Strong, the new space with its bigger kitchen will allow for a nightly non-pasta entree to be on the menu, and Tablehopper hints that a mussel and nduja toast from Prairie could be making an appearance as well. The new Pasta Supply Co. should be open sometime in early April.

In case you missed it, we learned this week that Che Fico is going to be opening a fifth restaurant in the new Mission Rock development on the city's southern bayfront — in an 8,000-square-foot space in the base of the new Visa headquarters. The new place will not be another Che Fico, but will be another, as-yet-unannounced concept, and it will likely open in mid-2025.

Also, A16 La Pala, a new lunch and dinner stand featuring Roman-style pizza al taglio, has opened in the Ferry building — in the space next door to Reem's by the main entrance, where A16 was operating a pop-up for much of last year.

Komaaj, the northern Iranian restaurant that opened last March in the former Good Frickin Chicken space in La Lengua, has opened a new mazze and wine bar next door, called Komaaj Mazze Bar, per Tablehopper. The menu features Iranian mezze/mazze, smoked and preserved fish dishes, and three entrees: a garlicky eggplant bowl, a sweet and sour chicken stew, and chicken thighs with turmeric-pomegranate rice.

Banan, a Hawaiian soft-serve chain that makes its dairy-free soft-serve using pureed bananas, is opening its first mainland location in San Francisco's Noe Valley. As the Chronicle reports, Banan — which began as a soft-serve truck parked near Diamond Head in Oahu — is coming to 3862 24th Street sometime this spring.

Ms. Tablehopper also brought news this week of a new wine bar and bottle shop from former La Ciccia owners Lorella Degan and Massimiliano Conti, called Binu Bonu. It's coming in late April to the Que Syrah space in West Portal (Que Syrah remains open through March), and it will feature primarily Italian wines, as well as snacks like salumi and cheeses.

The very popular Delirama in Berkeley closed in January, but chef-owner Cash Caris is holding onto the space at 1746 Solano Avenue and opening a more personal restaurant called Elsie's. As the Chronicle reports, the menu will features dishes inspired by Caris's paternal grandmother, including her chicken soup, a "Sunday" roast, and housemade pastas. And the menu will serve a pastrami sandwich, tweaked slightly from the Delirama days — this one on a housemade French roll with paprika dijonaise and sauerkraut slaw. Elsie's opens March 1 for dinner only, 6 pm to 9 pm.

And popular Yountville locals hangout Pancha's, a dive bar where you could still smoke inside, is making a comeback, without the smoking. As the Chronicle reports, some new owners are reviving the place after it closed during the pandemic, and locals will get their down-home bar back, which had long been the latest place open in sleepy Yountville — and a vestige from the days before the town became the tony home of The French Laundry, Bottega, and Bouchon.

Photo via Pasta Supply Co.