Chef Seth Stowaway returns with an underground dinner series, Handroll Hawker debuts on Polk, and Dead Letter arrives on the square in Sonoma, all in This Week in Food.

Chef Seth Stowaway, who closed his Michelin-starred Osito last year, is back to his underground dinner game with The Lore, a "tasting salon" serving 10 diners at a time at an undisclosed Financial District location (quite possibly the Komakase Coffee space at 243 Front Street, as the two have a partnership). Stowaway is doing collaborative 10-course dinners this summer with guest chefs, including two nights this weekend with Natallie Avitia and Lucas Dai Pra of Petite Percebes, and tickets for those are $222 per person, before tax. There is no published sample menu for regular dinners on The Lore, and the website only says that they are "shaped around intimacy, precision, time and place."

Handroll Hawker has opened at 2360 Polk Street (at Union), featuring Australian-style sushi handrolls. As Tablehopper reports, unsliced, nori-wrapped sushi rolls are a ubquitous lunchtime staple in Australia and New Zealand, and operator Romi Trower has opened the new shop for grab-and-go handrolls, with consulting help from Flour + Water Hospitality Group.

We have a brief update about the status of The Mill, which remains closed following a kitchen or flue fire on June 29. The Divisadero mainstay will be undergoing major repairs, but in the good news column, as the Chronicle reports, a GoFundMe has raised almost $95,000, which should help. Two managers from partner coffee operation Four Barrel remain on the payroll, however Four Barrel reported having to lay off several baristas. Josey Baker, the in-house bread man, has moved the bakery operation temporarily elsewhere, and Josey Baker breads are back on the shelf at Bi-Rite, Faletti, and other local grocers.

Open as of July 1, there's a new coffee and cocktail bar on 24th Street in the Mission called Stray Dog, in the space formerly occupied by Junior. As the SF Standard reports, it's the creation of Shanghai-born Angela Cao, who also owns Lost Cat Bar & Bites on Post Street in Tenderloin, and it's an all-day cafe featuring Asian-inspired coffee drinks made with Ritual Coffee, as well as pastry and bagels — on their Instagram you can see a bagel of the day topped with spicy cucumber. The cocktail menu, similar to Lost Cat's, features riffs on classics like a Smoked Old Fashioned, and some Asian flair, like a Thai Tea Milk Punch.

Up in Sonoma, the Girl & the Fig team has opened Dead Letter, on the opposite corner of the Sonoma town square from the original restaurant (in a historic former post office), serving a seafood-focused menu in an upscale setting. There is a raw bar with salmon belly and rockfish crudos, as well as shrimp toast and entrees like grilled tuna with harissa and white bean puree. And there's meat to be had as well, including pork katsu, and a bone-in, 24-oz NY strip steak for two for $125.

You've likely already heard about the smashburg sensation Maillards and its lines down the block in the Outer Sunset, at its shared space with Two Pitchers Brewing Company. The operation from Max Ponzurick began as a popular farmers' market pop-up three years ago and has blossomed into a certified hit at its brick-and-mortar location, and the Chronicle's Cesar Hernandez fully approves, writing that Ponzurick's smashburgers have a "magnificent crust" and lacy edges, and he loves the spin on the Oklahoma-style burger with shallots cooked into the patty. He's also a fan of the Bird’s Eye, which adds fried shallots, as well as bird’s eye chili aioli and a marinated herb salad that gives it a Thai vibe. As for the chicken nuggets, he recommends skipping them.

Top image: The original Mill cinnamon toast. Photo via The Mill/Instagram