Chicken Fried Palace debuts in the Mission, Standard Fare calls it quits in Berkeley, and we get the first big review of Via Aurelia, all in This Week In Food.

After a couple weeks' hiatus, we have a bit to catch up on with this column. Here goes.

Chicken Fried Palace has opened in the Mission, in the former WesBurger ’N’ More space at 2240 Mission Street, according to Tablehopper's Thanksgiving week report. As reported earlier, it's the project of former Osito chef Seth Stowaway, and the fun, diner-esque concept features chicken-fried steak and chicken-fried chicken plates, with several sauce options — including traditional white sausage gravy. There is also breakfast on offer, with two-egg plates with hashbrowns and a choice of meat, a patty melt sandwich, and a grilled pork chop, in addition to desserts from former Osito pastry chef Gabrielle Pabonan. And there are some soon-to-come cocktails and boozy milkshakes, starting in January, with dinner service. For now, the place is only open for breakfast and lunch, 9 am to 3 pm.

Tablehopper also brought word this week about what is coming to the former Le Colonial/Trader Vic's space at 20 Cosmo Place in the TenderNob. We learned back in April that the place had been taken over by the owners of nearby bar Persona, Juan Loredo and Jose Natividad, and now they have a few more details to share — though an opening sounds like it is still a ways off. The partners plan to open their own bar concept on the upper level, and hand the reins over to another operator for a restaurant on the lower level — but that operator is still to be found. They also plan to bring some new businesses to spaces that have frontage on Sutter Street, which have not operated as separate businesses since perhaps the 1940s.

Over in Union Square, the former Uniqlo location at 111 Powell Street came alive today as a holiday food hall pop-up from Off the Grid. As Off the Grid founder Matt Cohen tells the SF Business Times, this is the largest ever indoor Off the Grid event, clocking in at 30,000 square feet. It's part of the city's Vacant to Vibrant program, trying to bring a little life back to the sorry bottom two blocks of Powell this holiday season, and will feature daily coffee service, art installations, and a revolving lineup of food vendors. The program has also installed a Dandelion Chocolate pop-up at 167 Powell Street.

The Castro's Poesia Café, the daytime operation linked to Poesia, is expanding with a new downtown location. As the SF Bay Times reports, pastry chef Giovanni Liguoro will be bringing his pastry and sandwich operation to One Post Street, the building at Market Street adjacent to the upcoming new home of Empire Records, at One Montgomery. Liguoro had been aiming for a fall opening but the location doesn't seem to be open yet. In the meantime, Poesia Cafe is your source for real, freshly baked, Italian panettone this Christmas season.

There's a new soba noodle spot in Japantown, per Tablehopper, called Soba Sora Dining (1731 Buchanan Street). It's having a grand opening on December 8, and is currently softly opening, serving hot and cold soba dishes, tempura, and more.

El Tucan Tacos and Beer, the newest outpost from Richmond-born Tacos el Tucan (which also has a location in the Castro), has just opened at 15 Harbor Street in San Rafael, as the Chronicle reports. The taqueria, specializing in Tijuana-style tacos al carbon, features carne asada and adobada, which is Tijuana's answer to al pastor, and they also serve quesabirria tacos and loaded fries.

Over in Berkeley, the one-and-a-half-year-old pizzeria ThreeOneFour is closing its doors. In an Instagram message, they blamed, in part, two break-ins that they'd suffered in six months.

And after 11 years serving lunch and just a year doing dinner service, Berkeley's Standard Fare is calling it quits. As the Chronicle reported, chef-owner Kelsie Kerr wants to retire, and the restaurant's last meals will be served on December 19. A new tenant has already been lined up for the space at 2701 Eighth Street, and that is Mexican spot Cafe Bolita, from the chef behind Bolita Masa, Emmanuel Galvan. Galvan plans to retain as many of the staff from Standard Fare as he can, and the business will begin with a takeout window in February.

Last but not least, the Chronicle's MacKenzie Chung Fegan filed a review of one of the fall's biggest openings, Via Aurelia. Her tone is a little dismissive of this place, noting an $85 Negroni with vintage gin, and calling the restaurant "designed for expense account dinners and corporate holiday fêtes." But she also notes some very excellent food, and saying, "It’s striving for excellence, and on the whole, it’s delivering." She compliments the sformato, and a "muscular" tomato sauce served with one of the pastas, as well as the fancy steaks and the gratis sourdough bread, but the implication here is, unless you're rich, you'll probably be happier if someone else is footing the bill.

Photo by Molly DeCoudreaux for Chicken Fried Palace