News for Restaurants in San Francisco July 2009 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 The new economy's continued shift from formal to more casual, intimate dining is creating all kinds of conceptual change, as with the recently opened Saison in the Mission District. Featuring 50 seats cozily housed in a former stable---now a combined art gallery and patio space---the restaurant is only open one night a week (for now). Chef Josh Skenes (Chez TJ, Dana Point's Stonehill Tavern, Carte 415) and young sommelier Mark Bright (Michael Mina, Local Kitchen) aim to offer exemplary seasonal New American dining in the rustic spot that also features a communal table and rooftop restaurant garden. Weekly prix-fixe menus ($60) and Bright's wine pairings (additional $30) are featured on the restaurant's Facebook page, and might include items such as heirloom melons with Bellwether ricotta and wild herbs, local halibut with shellfish bouillon, and suckling goat with cracked hominy and arugula salad with honey and lemon. Seating on Sunday nights begins at 5:30 p.m. and the last seating is at 8 p.m. Dinner Sun. Saison, 2124 Folsom St., San Francisco, CA 94110, 415-828-7990.   Metro Kathmandu inside the modest Metro Hotel on Divisadero has closed and quickly morphed under the same management into Metro Café, a small neighborhood restaurant serving "California comfort cuisine." Hamburgers, roast chicken, roasted fish and inventive appetizers such as black cod croquettes and buffalo pot stickers will be on the new dinner menu. Dinner nightly. Metro Café, 311 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA 94117, 415-552-0903.   Chef Charlie Kleinman (Fifth Floor Restaurant & Lounge, Fish & Farm) has opened Wexler's, an intimate, upscale barbecue restaurant in the Financial District. Designed by Aidlin Darling Design (responsible for pretty Mission District locale Bar Bambino), the vintage Sacramento Street firehouse space that once housed Zare and Les Amis has been brightened with chic art details and light oak surfaces, and overhung by a undulating wood canopy crafted to resemble smoke. The New American menu features seasonal Southern-style comfort cuisine with local, farm-to-table ingredients; far from a down-home joint, Wexler's is meant for a sophisticated after-work crowd looking for artisanal cocktails and good wines with their pulled lamb sandwiches, or Texas chili topped with pickled shallots and crème fraîche. Look for the Humphry Slocombe root beer ice cream float. Lunch Mon.-Fri., Dinner Tues.-Sat. Wexler's, 568 Sacramento St., San Francisco, CA 94111, 415-983-0102.   News Bytes Hot Ticket in Sonoma Wine country visitors can benefit from a collaboration among 152 vintners and 50 lodgings in Sonoma County, together known as the Wine Road. For $25 for a day's exploration, or $50 for three days in the area, Sonoma travelers can obtain the new Ticket to the Wine Road, allowing for discounts, complimentary tastings, private tours, and other amenities at all participating locales. Benefits vary. For a list of wineries and lodging, or to purchase tickets, visit www.wineroad.com.   A Rise in the Markets Big news for Farmers Market lovers: The Ferry Building, home of the famous Tuesday and Saturday Ferry Plaza markets, now hosts a third market each week. From 10 a.m.-2 p.m. every Thursday, the iconic Embarcadero spot near the Financial District will feature a selection of produce from area farms and, most notably, a wide array of artisanally prepared foods from local restaurants and street vendors---just in time for lunch. Included on the roster: Ryan Farr's smoked meats and chicharrones, Laïola restaurant's Tacolicious tacos and agua frescas, and Namu's Korean barbecue tacos. Farms include Dirty Girl Produce, Tory Farms and Swanton Berry Farm.   Food Scrap Police San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom has spearheaded the nation's first mandatory composting law, legally requiring the proper disposal of biodegradables (as well as recyclables) under penalty. Though many residents and businesses, including restaurants, have voluntarily participated for years in city composting programs, shirkers will now face fines from $100 to $500. The measure is part of a citywide goal to achieve zero waste by 2020 and will be implemented this fall.   Chef Shuffle Only three weeks after announcing his departure from Fifth Floor Restaurant & Lounge in the Hotel Palomar, executive chef Laurent Manrique has now tendered his resignation from Aqua restaurant and its parent company, the Aqua Development Corporation. The sophisticated, destination seafood property opened by Charles Condy in 1991 has been fraught with legal disputes, kitchen shakeups and a decline in sales since Condy's death in 2006. Manrique's resignation was effected at the close of business on July 23. He will continue to focus on nearby casual French restaurant Café de la Presse, and is investigating potential wine bar/restaurant options under a partnership with sommelier Emmanuel Kemiji (The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco). Aqua remains open under the direction of executive chef Jason Pringle, hired earlier in the summer. Aqua, 252 California St., San Francisco, CA 94111, 415-956-9662.   In a sudden and surprising move, chef Nate Appleman has left restaurants A16 and SPQR. Appleman has as yet unnamed plans, though there is local speculation he might take his talents to New York. Stay tuned.   Home restaurant on Market Street, an upscale comfort food favorite for items such as pot roast and Niman Ranch meatloaf, has hired Jim Wimborough as its new executive chef. The 33-year-old Bay Area native has cooked at some of the city's most popular spots---Kokkari, Boulevard and the former Rubicon among them---and most recently served as executive chef of Palo Alto's Evvia Estiatorio. Additions to the menu range from light---roasted asparagus with prosciutto and a poached egg, wild arugula with grilled peaches---to richly satisfying such as the cornflake fried chicken and spiced lamb riblets. Home, 2100 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94114, 415-503-0333.   Chef and culinary director Laurent Manrique is leaving Fifth Floor Restaurant & Lounge, ostensibly to focus on Aqua, where that kitchen's shakeup has settled with the rehire of Jason Pringle as executive chef. Pringle was at Aqua for six years beginning under Michael Mina and then Manrique, and most recently served as executive sous at EPIC Roasthouse. As for Fifth Floor, executive chef Jennie Lorenzo will remain to steer the menu---currently based on Manrique's native Gascony---into New American territory starting later this summer. Look for a shift in prices as well. Fifth Floor Restaurant & Lounge, Hotel Palomar, 12 Fourth St., San Francisco, CA 94103, 415-348-1555.   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!

View archived news: May 2022 | March 2022 | November 2021 | September 2021 | August 2021 | November 2020 | September 2020 | August 2020 | June 2020 | March 2020 | January 2020 | October 2019 | September 2019 | August 2019 | July 2019 | June 2019 | May 2019 | April 2019 | March 2019 | February 2019 | January 2019 | December 2018 | October 2018 | July 2018 | June 2018 | May 2018 | April 2018 | March 2018 | February 2018 | January 2018 | December 2017 | November 2017 | September 2017 | August 2017 | July 2017 | June 2017 | April 2017 | March 2017 | February 2017 | January 2017 | December 2016 | November 2016 | October 2016 | September 2016 | August 2016 | July 2016 | June 2016 | May 2016 | April 2016 | March 2016 | February 2016 | January 2016 | December 2015 | November 2015 | October 2015 | September 2015 | August 2015 | July 2015 | June 2015 | May 2015 | April 2015 | March 2015 | February 2015 | January 2015 | December 2014 | November 2014 | October 2014 | September 2014 | August 2014 | July 2014 | June 2014 | May 2014 | April 2014 | March 2014 | February 2014 | January 2014 | December 2013 | November 2013 | October 2013 | September 2013 | August 2013 | July 2013 | June 2013 | May 2013 | April 2013 | March 2013 | February 2013 | January 2013 | December 2012 | November 2012 | October 2012 | September 2012 | August 2012 | July 2012 | June 2012 | May 2012 | April 2012 | March 2012 | February 2012 | January 2012 | December 2011 | November 2011 | October 2011 | September 2011 | August 2011 | July 2011 | June 2011 | May 2011 | April 2011 | March 2011 | February 2011 | January 2011 | December 2010 | November 2010 | October 2010 | September 2010 | August 2010 | July 2010 | June 2010 | May 2010 | April 2010 | March 2010 | February 2010 | January 2010 | December 2009 | November 2009 | October 2009 | September 2009 | August 2009 | July 2009 | June 2009 | May 2009 | April 2009 | March 2009 | February 2009 | January 2009 | December 2008 | November 2008 | October 2008 | September 2008 | August 2008 | July 2008 | June 2008 | May 2008 | April 2008 | March 2008