News for Restaurants in San Francisco February 2012 Archive Search / Openings / Closings / Chef Shuffle / News Bytes / Sign up for our free, monthly newsletter / News Archive Want to know who's doing what in your city? Gayot has the restaurant news you want to read on openings, closings, special events, and more. Learn everything you need to know about the restaurants in San Francisco here. RESTAURANT NEWS Openings Jake's On Market has opened in the Castro, taking the space at 2223 Market (and former restaurant named for that address). The casual, sit-down, neighborhood restaurant has much going for it in terms of breadth of appeal --- affordable, approachable American cuisine from chef Erik Hopfinger (Spoon, Butterfly, Circa) and a hefty menu of more than 50 items ranging from ambitious meat and seafood dishes to late-night nibbling to whimsical brunches with dishes such as "green eggs and ham" and six varieties of "flapJakes." For now the restaurant is dinner and brunch only --- lunch will come later --- with a late-night menu from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Not surprisingly, cocktails are a draw --- but so is the kids' menu for early diners. (The restaurant is named for the son of owners Tim Travelstead and Brad Becker.) Dinner nightly, Brunch Sat.-Sun. Jake's On Market, 2223 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94114, 415-431-0692.   San Francisco's District wine bar just celebrated five years, and will mark the occasion with a sister opening in Oakland. Owners Jon D'Angelica, Chris Vance and Ryan Vance, who together own both District and Ironside in San Francisco, hope to imbue the new District Oakland location with the same lounge-like approachability and sense of playfulness with wine and food. The new wine bar will feature a wine list curated by wine director and sommelier Caterina Mirabelli (District, Providence), including 40 wines by the glass at varying price points, tasting flights and more than 300 reserve bottles for more adventurous patrons, not to mention a full liquor license and cocktail menu, as well as 16 beers on draught. Executive chef Bob Cina (District, Chez Henri, Hamersley's Bistro) will create a menu of wine friendly shareable plates with French and Latin influences. Look for daily happy hours. Opening in March or April, 2012. Dinner nightly. District Oakland, 827 Washington St., Oakland, CA 94607, 510-272-9110.   Fans of Namu restaurant's Lee brothers --- chef Dennis, Daniel and David --- and their innovative, Korean-inflected cuisine are excited for Namu Gaji, set to open in the Mission District in late February. Namu closed in December, 2011, due to failed lease negotiations, but never failed to pull crowds to an otherwise sleepy stretch in the Richmond District. This new incarnation will provide the brothers with a larger space and hipper crossroads at Dolores and 18th Street, near Dolores Park and the Bi-Rite Creamery & Bakeshop. Lunch & Dinner daily. Namu Gaji, 499 Dolores St., San Francisco, CA 94110, phone not available.   It's a phoenix that has risen --- and moved across town: Original Joe's, the bastion of old-fashioned Italian dining that was gutted by fire in 2007, has reopened in North Beach. The restaurant first opened on Taylor Street in the Tenderloin in 1937, the same year the Golden Gate Bridge was finished, and this year marks the 75th anniversary of both. The new location of Original Joe's features many of the original fixtures and furniture, including the restaurant's signature red booths, as well as tuxedoed servers and an exhibition kitchen with counter seats. Most menu items and their execution, including cocktails, date back to the 1950s (though don't expect 1950's prices). Ownership is in the same family as it was in 1937. It's a little piece of the city's history that has simply moved after an unfortunate hiatus, and locals are already flocking to happily test its authenticity. Lunch & Dinner daily. Original Joe's, 601 Union St., San Francisco, CA 94133, 415-775-4877.   News Bytes Charles Phan Finds a Pier Restaurateur Charles Phan's latest eatery Wo Hing General Store only recently opened in the Mission, but already he has designs on another venture. Set to open on Pier 3 in late summer 2012, the as-yet unnamed bar and restaurant will comprise 1,300 square feet shaped by designer Olle Lundberg (drawing some inspiration from one of Lundberg's own salvaged canoes). New Orleans will be the focus this time in both menu and ambience, crafted to complement a cocktail program from bar manager Erik Adkins (Slanted Door, Heaven's Dog). The new venue will join Embarcadero denizens La Mar Cebicheria Peruana, Lafitte and The Plant Cafe Organic, as well as the nearby Ferry Building and her many notable tenants (including Phan's Slanted Door), in drawing diners to the waterfront --- a particularly hot area as San Francisco prepares for the America's Cup finals in 2013.   Mission Chinese Food Heads to the East Coast San Francisco restaurant Mission Chinese Food is coming to New York --- the Lower East Side, in fact. In a few months, an outpost will open in the former home of Bia Garden and Rhong Tiam. Foodies are prepping their chopsticks. Mission Chinese Food, 2234 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94110, 415-863-2800.   Getting Crabby with the Lark Creek Restaurant Group Dungeness crab season seems to coax the best from Bay Area chefs, as they playfully ply the hand-picked sweet meat into all manner of creative --- or unfussy --- specials. Throughout the month of February, the Lark Creek Restaurant Group will feature specials and special menus at all its properties, including One Market, The Tavern at Lark Creek, LarkCreekSteak, Cupola Pizzeria and all Yankee Pier properties. Dishes featuring crab might include chowders, cioppino, pasta preparations, sandwiches, appetizers and dips, or simply whole or half crabs with the simple fixings. Visit http://www.larkcreek.com/ for the full list of properties.   A Club for Ital-Oenophiles Dining at A16 and SPQR restaurants is as much a treat for the food as for Shelley Lindgren's Italian wine lists, and the wine director now curates monthly selections for home delivery. For $95 per month, patrons receive three carefully chosen bottles of Italian wine, often featuring selections difficult to find in retail, with customization options (Southern Italians versus Northern, etc.), or the opportunity to simply let the lady and her team do their thing. Bottles come with literature including tasting notes and a newsletter. To enroll, visit http://www.a16sf.com/ or http://www.spqrsf.com/.   Chef Shuffle Chef Dean Dupuis of Southern-inspired restaurant Pican in Oakland is moving on. The Atlanta native has been named chef de cuisine of the new 150-seat dining room in Atlantic City's newest resort, Revel. Pican owner Michael LeBlanc is seeking new talent, possibly from the South or his hometown of New Orleans. Pican, 2295 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612, 510-834-1000.   Closings Check back soon for more news. CULINARY EVENTS Want to learn to cook? Try new dishes? Meet a foodie friend for fun? Check out our compilation of culinary events in your area. View our calendar of Wine Dinners & Tastings in San Francisco Discover the top restaurants in the San Francisco/Bay Area for various cuisines and categories like sushi, steakhouses, happy hours, romantic dining and even gourmet food trucks. Find the best restaurants in SF here!

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