Nia Soul Cafe opens in the Fillmore, a new Mexican-Italian spot has arrived at the Transit Center, and three holiday-themed Mistletoe bar pop-ups are popping up in different neighborhoods in December, all in This Week in Food.

Nia Soul Cafe, the new brick-and-mortar spot from owner Pia Harris, softly opened Friday in the former Scott's Chowder House location at 1325 Fillmore Street. Harris, who has run her Nia Soul Food catering business for a number of years, and who runs In The Black, a Black-led market place, is hosting a "friends and family" brunch at the new cafe this weekend, with tickets ($28.50) and menu available here. The regular menu, posted outside the restaurant, includes breakfast items like chicken and waffles and shrimp and grits, and lunch/dinner entrees like Cajun catfish, fried chicken, and meatloaf. Also, there is a discount lunch menu for seniors.

Modi, a Mexican-Italian restaurant, has just opened at Saleforce Transit Center. As the SF Business Times reports, the space at 88 Natoma Street was originally going to be called Via Vai by Acquolina when the lease was signed way back in 2019, but the concept appears to have changed. And they've opened in time for Restaurant Week, with a $60 three-course meal deal on offer. Menu items include cauliflower al pastor, a squid ink spaghetti with mussels and chorizo, and an octopus and lobster pizza.

TenderNob bar The Summer Place is transforming into a Twin Peaks-themed experience starting next week, on November 12, and there will be a Twin Peaks costume contest on November 17.

And in releated news, as the SF Business Times reports, The Summer Place, Wizards and Wands, and a new space at 580 Sutter Street, all owned by the same team, are going to transform into Mistletoe, a holiday-themed pop-up experience, after Thanksgiving. At 580 Sutter Street, which is set to open as a new concept after the New Year, there could be some competition for holiday cheer if Pacific Cocktail Haven, just a few doors down, also does their usual Miracle at PCH pop-up thing. But at the other two spots, bar vets Leo Kaplan and Brett Frost will just be recycling the Mistletoe pop-up they previously hosted at the 2030 Lombard space that became the Harry Potter-themed Wizards and Wands.

Eco Terreno, the Sonoma County-based winery that opened a swanky, two-story tasting room in San Francisco's Jackson Square two years ago only to shutter it not long after, has reopened the tasting room, as the Chronicle tells us. It offers tasting flights and various snacks in the former Purple Onion building (140 Columbus Avenue) on Thursday and Friday from 4 pm to 9 pm, and from 11 am to 5 pm on Saturdays. You should be able to reserve here, but the reservation book says its currently full.

Sicilian pizza favorite Golden Boy Pizza has just opened a new location in the Parkside neighborhood. As Tablehopper reports, the tiny new storefront is the former Marco Polo Italian Ice Cream shop at 1447 Taraval Street, and it will be serving Golden Boy classic slices and pies for takeout and delivery only. Opening hours, for now, are 11:30 am to 8:30 pm.

Le Dix-Sept Patisserie just opened a new location in the Mason on Mariposa, the same new Potrero Hill complex that is home to La Connessa. As Tablehopper reports, pastry chef and owner Michelle Hernández is baking up cookies, cakes, tortes, focaccia, and savory quiches in the new space, which joins the original patisserie at 3376 18th Street in the Mission District (though Google currently lists that "temporarily closed). The Potrero location at 355 Carolina Street is now open Wednesday to Sunday from 9 am to 4 pm.

Rasa, in Burlingame, which became California’s first Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in 2016* and closed in 2022, is back open. Owners Reena Miglani and Ajay Walia have reopened in the original location, as the Chronicle reports, after having pivoted for two years to their more casual concept Saffron, which was occupying the space.

Oakland plant-based burger spot Malibu's Burgers, which closed its Piedmont Avenue location last year, is relocating to the former Hi Felicia space at 326 23rd Street. As the Chronicle reports, owner Darren Preston is hoping to be open in the new spot by late November.

And yesterday we mentioned Chronicle critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan's love for Mashaallah Halal Pakistani Food Restaurant, which is in the basement food court at the SF Centre (formerly Westfield) mall. Don't let the location deter you. I have now tried it, and it is every bit as delicious as she says, especially the lamb chops, seekh kebab, biryani, and palak paneer.

*There could be some debate about this, since chef Srijith Gopinathan was using a lot of Indian inspiration at Campton Place in SF, which held two Michelin stars for a number of years in the last decade.

Photo courtesy of Eco Terreno Winery