Tartine Manufactory returns to dinner service with a sourdough pizza-focused menu, Four Kings debuts in Chinatown, and a new wine bar is headed for the Lower Haight.
Blessed be. They are finally bringing back dinner service at Tartine Manufactory, after three-plus of operating just as a daytime cafe. It was one of the hottest spots in town before the pandemic hit, serving some excellent food and wine at night, and now it shall return to serving food in the evenings — but the menu now will focus on sourdough pizza. Eater brings us the news of the pizza list, which will include the basics (margherita, pepperoni, sausage and onion, and a mushroom pie), as well as a cacio e pepe pizza; a chorizo and bell pepper pie; a pineapple, pepperoni, and black garlic pizza; and a broccolini and prosciutto with preserved lemon and a soft egg. AND, there will be garlic bread! On Tartine's country bread, with black garlic butter, caciocavallo and fontal cheeses, and marinara. Opening night for dinner service is tonight, Friday, March 8, and reservations can be found here.
We also have an opening date for Four Kings, the new "Canto nostalgia" restaurant in Chinatown from former Mr. Jiu's chefs Franky Ho and Mike Long, and their respective partners Millie Boonkokua and Lucy Li. We first learned about Four Kings' brick-and-mortar in September, after it has been a roving pop-up for a while. And now, the place comes alive for real, mapo spaghetti and all, on March 14 at 710 Commercial Street, as Eater reports. Look for tables here.
La Playa Seafood Bar, from a Hog Island Oyster Company alum, Abel Padilla, has just opened at 2331 Mission Street (at 19th), in the former Barrel Proof space. Tablehopper reports on the happy hour oyster deals and half and whole roasted crabs being served, as well as the surf-and-turf possibilities for main courses that include a 12-oz ribeye ($70), and a parrillada (barbecue) platter for three or four that includes hanger steak, short ribs, chorizo, shrimp, fried yucca, and oyster mushrooms ($90).
Opening this weekend is Friend of a Friend, a new natural wine shop in North Beach (705 Columbus Avenue) from the owners of tiny San Francisco vineyard The Two Eighty Project (which overlooks 280, between Portola and Holly Park). Owners Jannea Tschirch and Christopher Renfro will be focusing on wines from winemakers with underrepresented backgrounds, and the store sells pantry items and fragrances as well — despite the longstanding taboo of combining perfume with wine-drinking.
Tablehopper also brings word about Bar Jabroni, which is coming to the former Axum Cafe space at 698 Haight (at Pierce), which has sat empty for a long while now. It appears to be a wine bar from Palm City Wines owners Dennis Cantwell and Monica Wong, with chef Sean Thomas (Buddy) consulting on the menu. There's no opening date on that yet.
And in tragic local food-world news, Tablehopper alerts us to the passing of Margaret Gradé, the longtime proprietor of Manka's in Inverness, and later Sir and Star in Olema. Gradé suffered a car accident in January, and though she survived, she ended up succumbing to subsequent complications on February 28. The family has set up a GoFundMe to help pay for medical and funeral expenses, and the care of Gradé's 15-year-old twins.
Photo courtesy of Tartine Manufactory
