Bar Piccino debuts, an NFT Restaurant Breaks Ground and more
It’s time we revived this weekly roundup of food and restaurant news from SF and around the Bay—now that there’s a real, steady stream of restaurant news coming down the pike again.
Wow, it’s been a tough couple of years in the local food scene. And while we probably shouldn’t complain given the sheer number of semi-miraculous survival stories there have been — and since this is a pretty wealthy place that loves its restaurants pretty hard, maybe it was more about GoFundMe than miracles — there have certainly been some losses . Just last week we learned that AL’s Place is closing, not due to pandemic reasons, but perhaps due to the great resignation; and this week it was Manresa, with chef David Kinch saying he just doesn’t have any more good food energy left in him.
But below is some mostly good news to get you through the weekend:
Bar Piccino, the new offshoot next door to Dogpatch stalwart Piccino, opens tonight at 1003 Minnesota Street. As the team tells Eater, it’s not exactly Piccino, but a sister concept with a smaller food menu, paired with a new drink menu from bar manager Andi Miller, formerly of Arguello and Third Rail. The drinks are anchored by several Negroni varieties, as well as some tequila and mezcal creations, and Miller is creating “a superhero aperitif” in the form of a red bitter that will be a house blend used in several drinks. And the food menu is snack-focused, with some whipped mortadella, a potato stone with salmon roe, and some tempura-fried maitake mushrooms. Bar Piccino will be open 4pm to midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, and 4pm to 10pm on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
The new, somewhat divisive NFT-backed Japanese restaurant and private club, SHO, had a groundbreaking ceremony last week at Salesforce Park. SFGate spearheaded the event and the entire restaurant’s pitch, which is admittedly a bit silly/douchey like so much NFT stuff is. Questions remain about how much control is going to be exerted on the membership itself, especially as the NFTs that provide membership are resold — as author Alex Shultz puts it, “In other words: What happens when a real piece of crap captures a secondary market membership ?” But SHO CEO Josh Sigel assured reporters that there would be “terms and conditions” all members would have to deal with. Basic membership costs $7,500.
Reem’s California, the acclaimed Mission District bakery/cafe from chef Reem Assil, is opening a new location in the Ferry Building. As the Chronicle reports, Reem’s will take over the former Cowgirl Creamery booth in the food hall by the end of September. You can expect cardamom cold brew, pita with muhammara, and some new dishes too.
Hi Felicia owner Imana made what appears to have been a premature announcement this week about the opening Ends, a wine bar, in the former Destino space on Mint Hill. Fast forward a few days, and it turns out the lease negotiations fell through, so she’s back on the hunt for a space in SF or Oakland for the queer-friendly, natural wine bar with food.
Over at the Chronicle food desk, Soleil Ho has delivered her review of Shuggie’s Trash Pie & Natural Wine (3349 23rd Street), and it’s not exactly a rave. It’s perhaps “an imperfect restaurant,” Ho writes — citing some less-than-stellar square pies with soft centers, and entrees meant more for Instagram than for your mouth. But it is nonetheless “a success as a branding exercise”, and it is both “a very visually stimulating restaurant and a working demonstration of how to creatively deal with food waste.”
The one and only Iron Chef, Masaharu Morimoto, is about to open Momosan Santana Row in San Jose, the latest outpost of his sake and ramen chain that has locations in New York City, Seattle, Waikiki and a few other cities. As Hoodline reports, Morimoto’s second Bay Area restaurant after Morimoto Napa is set to open Sept. 3 in the former Pasta Pomodoro space at the corner of Olsen Drive and Santana Row.
And, a famous ramen chain from Japan, The Taishoken, just opened its second US location in SF’s Mission District at 665 Valencia Street (the former MAU). The restaurant, known for $35 bowls of lobster ramen and tsukemen, Tokyo-style ramen with broth on the side, opened last night (Aug. 25), as the Chronicle reports.
Photo of Erin Ng via Shuggie’s Garbage pie and natural wine
