Mister Jiu's brings back a la carte, Sabor Gaucho debuts in Polk Gulch, and the Chronicle critic reviews Nopa Fish, all in This Week in Food.

Over in Chinatown, the Michelin-starred Mister Jiu's is pivoting back to offering an a la carte menu option, after moving to prix fixe during the pandemic. There will actually still be a prix fixe, family-style banquet menu option ($125 per person), but now you can order individual dishes off an a la carte menu again, as you could when the restaurant first debuted a decade ago. The current banquet menu centers around Peking-style roasted Liberty Farms duck. Also, next week, chef Brandon Jew is doing a collaboration dinner with Copenhagen's Restaurant Jatak, if you happen to be in Copenhagen.

Tablehopper brings the word that Brazilian steakhouse Sabor Gaucho, which we first learned was coming in May, has opened in the former Rouge space at Polk and Broadway. It's a popular chain with dozens of locations in Europe, founded by former managers of Brazilian steakhouse chain Fogo de Chão, but this location was billed as a standalone one with its own menu. The offerings include all-you-can-eat grilled meats which will run you $66 at lunch or $79 at dinner, and that includes access to a salad/snack/condiment bar loaded with things like olives, cheeses, and vegetables. The bar also offers 99-cent oysters, and the cocktail list includes four varieties of caipirinhas.

Also from Tablehopper we hear about the opening of Bar Bibi, a new wine bar/restaurant from Bahman Safari of Habibi pop-up fame, in the former Ristorante Milano space in Nob Hill/Polk Gulch (1448 Pacific Avenue). The concise food menu includes charcuterie, toasts, a halibut crudo, a dish of grilled whole prawns, brick chicken, and a holdover from the Milano menu, spaghetti vongole (clams).

We now have more details about Sōhn (2535 3rd Street), the new Korean cafe, restaurant, event space, and retail shop in the huge former Daily Driver space in Dogpatch. The chef is Deuki Hong, author of the cookbooks Koreatown and Koreaworld, and owner of Neighbor Bakehouse. And as Eater reports, the menu will include a Korean barbecue patty melt, popcorn chicken, jook, and kimchi from an in-house fermentation lab. The retail portion is a partnership with Maum, and features homegoods from 30 different Korean makers. Saturday, August 16, which is also Korean Liberation Day, will be the grand opening of the space.

Earlier in the week we learned that the Absinthe Group is about to open a new Italian restaurant in the former Bellota space (888 Brannan) called Bosco. Details are few, but the kitchen apparently has a new hearth for wood-fired cooking of meats, fish, and vegetables, and we can be sure to expect the high class and polish of the Absinthe Group's other ventures. Opening date TBA.

Out in Walnut Creek, as we reported yesterday, Original Joe's has just opened its first East Bay location, and it's a big one. With 300 seats, indoors and out, situated next to the Broadway Plaza shopping center, the new outpost is hoping to be a go-to spot for those in the eastern East Bay.

This week in reviews, Chronicle critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan offers her thoughts on Nopa Fish, the latest new hot spot to open in the Ferry Building. She counts herself a big fan of the corn chowder with smoked trout, and she recommends the fried rockfish sandwich over the bay shrimp and egg salad one. And she's in love with the chirashi bowl, with sashimi that changes daily, "gently draped over seasoned koshihikari rice, nestled in with avocado, pickles and a wobbly egg, precisely poached in an immersion circulator. Swirl it all together with a dash of soy sauce, and savor it while sitting on a bench overlooking the Bay."

Photo via Sabor Gaucho