Latest news with #SommCellars
San Francisco Chronicle
13-06-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
The most-anticipated Bay Area restaurants opening this summer
After several years of post-pandemic recovery in fits and starts, there's an energy in the air in the Bay Area food world. Just look at what's slated to open this summer, which starts June 20. A modern Cantonese restaurant whose chef wants to push the envelope when it comes to Chinese food. Spinoffs from Michelin-starred restaurants, including a bakery and a gelato shop. Restaurants specializing in fresh soba noodles, heritage breed chickens, Cantonese barbecue and hyper-regional French cuisine. Plus, this summer brings second outposts of two daytime San Francisco favorites — Asian-American bakery Breadbelly and bagel shop Schlok's — and a new seafood market from acclaimed restaurant Nopa. And on the Peninsula, an exciting Korean-Taiwanese restaurant is opening its doors. Bar Chisme Late night eats from Chisme chef Manuel Bonilla, whose popup at Oakland's Low Bar ranked among the best new restaurants of 2024, are making a comeback. Bar Chisme is taking over the former Kon-Tiki space with a no-frills approach and dishes mashing up Salvadoran and Filipino flavors. Expect two types of burgers and a cozy, homey vibe space with an eclectic twist Bonilla envisions as 'Abuelita's house on acid.' — Mario Cortez Café Vivant There's nothing else quite like Café Vivant in the Bay Area: a restaurant devoted wholly to heritage chickens raised exclusively for the restaurant on a coastal farm in Pescadero. Arriving in Menlo Park late July, it will be the first restaurant from Jason Jacobeit and Daniel Jung, two sommeliers who run Somm Cellars, a rare wine retailer in New York City. They've partnered with farmer Rob James, whose sought-after poultry are served at many top Bay Area restaurants, and longtime chef Jared Wentworth, who's worked at Michelin-star restaurants in Chicago. They'll also open an outpost of Somm Cellars next door, with retail bottles, tastings, a market, coffee and its own food menu. — E.K. Projected opening: late July Gelateria di Cotogna One of the delights of eating at San Francisco's Cotogna has long been the abundant gelato cart that roamed the Italian restaurant's dining room. Soon, the housemade gelato will have its own home: a shop a few blocks away. Jennifer Felton, executive pastry chef for Cotogna, Quince and Verjus, is behind the gelato program. Expect flavors from vanilla honeycomb and chocolate stracciatella to seasonal creations like aprium (an apricot-plum hybrid fruit) or strawberries grown on the restaurant's private farm. Until the gelateria opens, catch an ice cream cart parked outside Cotogna Thursday-Saturday, noon to 4:30 p.m. — E.K. Projected opening: late summer The Happy Crane Given his fine-dining background, you might expect chef James Yeun Leong Parry to devote his upcoming Cantonese restaurant, the Happy Crane, to inventive reinterpretations of classic dishes. He will. But Leong Parry also wants to perfect those classics, like Peking duck and char siu. The chef, who previously worked at the three-Michelin-star Benu in San Francisco as well as Michelin-starred restaurants in Hong Kong, became known at his popup of the same name for dishes that meld his half-Chinese identity and culinary expertise, like char siu made with pork jowl smoked with compressed apple and fennel. Expect the same creativity at the Hayes Valley restaurant, on a prominent corner with floor-to-ceiling glass walls. — E.K. Projected opening: August La Cigale La Cigale, an ambitious, regional French restaurant from a veteran chef, will arrive in San Francisco's Glen Park neighborhood this summer. Joseph Magidow, who previously worked at top San Francisco restaurants including the Delfina, Locanda and the now-closed Tawla, will channel the cuisine of the Occitania region in southwestern France. Every dish will be cooked on a wood-burning hearth in the center of the restaurant, and served by Magidow from behind a 15-seat chef's counter. — E.K. Projected opening: summer 679 Chenery St., San Francisco. Parachute A bakery with Michelin-star cred is headed to San Francisco's Ferry Building. Parachute comes from the team behind fine-dining restaurant Sorrel, which has held a star since 2019. It will be devoted to laminated pastries that highlight seasonal produce from the famed farmers market located steps outside its front doors, plus coffee and other confections. Executive pastry chef Nasir Zainulabadin, formerly of Sorrel and the two-Michelin-star Saison, will oversee Parachute. The owners will open Parachute in the former Slanted Door space along with Arquet, a full-service restaurant focused on Californian cuisine and wood-fired cooking coming later this year. — E.K. Projected opening: July 1 Ferry Building, Suite 5, San Francisco. Quack House After moving out of Chinatown last year, the family behind storied Cantonese barbecue shop Hing Lung will soon reopen at its relocated, and rebranded main shop. Going by Quack House, expect the same expertly roasted ducks and racks of pork ribs from brothers Eric and Simon Cheung. Also making a comeback are duck liver sausages, Chinese bacon and traditional Hong Kong-style rice plates. The new operation complements the siblings' other project, Cantonese barbecue restaurant Go Duck Yourself, but in a return to Hing Lung's origins, Quack House will offer birds and pork chopped up and served by the pound. — M.C. Projected opening: late summer 927 Post St., San Francisco. Stereo 41 A former PG&E customer service office is shaping up as the place to be in Walnut Creek. Starting this summer, Stereo 41 will offer Middle Eastern dishes in a space channeling the style and sounds of Japanese hi-fi bars. Stereo 41 comes from an ambitious team that includes Victor Ghaben of hot chicken specialist World Famous Hot Boys and Sofia Sabet, his sister and owner of adjacent restaurant Lita. The siblings worked with Andres Giraldo Flores of Oakland's Snail Bar in developing the menu. Leading the kitchen is executive chef Jonathan De La Torre, who has worked at San Francisco landmark restaurants such as Mourad, Nopa and Quince. — M.C. Projected opening: late summer 1535 Bonanza St. Walnut Creek. Soba Dining Sora Soba noodles don't often get the spotlight in the Bay Area, where only a few restaurants specialize in this Japanese buckwheat noodle. But Soba Dining Sora is adding to the local roster this summer. The restaurant, with two locations in Japan's Saitama Prefecture, will open in Japantown next to sibling restaurant Hinodeya Ramen. The restaurant has become known for its nutty noodles made fresh and served with bonito dipping sauce and tempura, or as part of a set meal which can include duck loin or assorted sashimi in a relaxed, casual environment. — M.C. Expected opening: midsummer 1731 Buchanan St., San Francisco. Super Mensch There's a new restaurant paying homage to East Coast-style Jewish delis coming to San Francisco's Marina District. Super Mensch is the newest venture from the Causwells team, who operate next door, with chef Adam Rosenblum serving nostalgic homages to the Reubens on rye and other Jewish American dishes he grew up eating. Expect sandwiches stacked with pastrami cured in-house and fresh baked bagels topped with lox. As expected from the Causwells team, bar director Elmer Mejicanos has prepared elaborate cocktails that tap into New York deli staples like black and white cookies and celery-flavored sodas. — M.C. Projected opening: August 2336 Chestnut St., San Francisco. Tsujita Artisan Noodle One of Los Angeles' most famous ramen shops is coming to the Bay Area: Tsujita Artisan Noodle, opening its first Northern California location in San Jose this month. People line up at Tsujita for its speciality: tsukemen, or cold ramen noodles served with a warm dipping sauce on the side. Tsujita serves bowls of thick, chewy noodles crowned with chashu, seasoned eggs and other toppings; plus spicy and vegan variations and Japanese beer and sake. It will join only a few other dedicated tsukemen restaurants in the Bay Area, including the popular Taishoken and Shutgetsu. — E.K. Projected opening: June 21
Eater
06-06-2025
- Business
- Eater
This NYC-Based Wine Shop From Michelin-Starred Vets Puts Roots Down in the Bay Area
A wine shop with Michelin-starred cred behind it is set to open in Menlo Park in late July: Somm Cellars is a wine retailer based in New York City that opened in 2020, and now, founders and sommeliers Jason Jacobeit and Daniel Jung are bringing their popular shop to the Bay Area. But it's not just a copy-paste version of the original; the duo expands their concept further and will fuse their wine shop with a daytime food menu and specialty market, along with an adjoining restaurant dubbed Cafe Vivant. It's an expression of the hospitality the duo always wanted to bring to their original shop, but haven't been able to due to limitations of the liquor license laws in New York. 'We still say to each other on a weekly basis, we're sommeliers that are playing at retail,' Jacobeit says. 'That's at least partially tongue-in-cheek, but we're restaurant people, and so the hybrid license opportunity [in California] was a no-brainer for us because it allowed us to put our first restaurant location on the map, to have this retail business... [that] synergizes closely with the restaurant.' Jacobeit was formerly the wine director of Michelin-starred (but now closed) Bâtard, noted for his knowledge of Burgundy wines and the extensive selection he built at the restaurant over his 10 years there. Jung was the head sommelier at Tribeca Grill (also closed) for six years, earning attention for the restaurant's Rhone collection and Burgundy program. For the California restaurant and accompanying daytime menu in the retail section, they've recruited chef Jared Wentworth, previously of Chicago's Longman & Eagle and Dusek's Board & Beer, both of which held a Michelin star for a number of years, and the Dining Room at Moody Tongue, which also earned a Michelin star during Wentworth's time there. Under Wentworth, Cafe Vivant will highlight heritage-breed chickens on its menu. The team works with farmer Rob James in Pescadero to raise the birds that will be served at the restaurant, and sold at the Somm Cellars market. Jacobeit and Jung partnered with James and purchased a piece of the farm, per the San Francisco Chronicle . But on the bottle shop side, Wentworth will produce a daytime menu composed of bites and dishes that are meant to be wine-friendly, which is great for those hanging in for a glass or bottle, or produced quickly for those looking for a quick bite on their lunch hour. The duo teased a 'pretty baller' fried chicken sandwich using those aforementioned chickens, deviled eggs from those same birds, as well as rabbit pate, pork rillettes, chicken liver mousse, and a Dungeness crab roll. Although wine will be an obvious, hefty focus on the beverage side, there will also be a selection of bottled cocktails and beers on hand, as well as a pour-over coffee and high-end tea program, the team shares. While Jacobeit and Jung say they have a contingency of West Coast fans and followers of their New York shop, those wandering in will find a wine selection that echoes their wine backgrounds. They promise a wide, 'enviable' selection of Burgundy wines, including chardonnays and pinot noirs, but they'll also branch into its California counterparts and local examples of those wines. One other distinction will be the inclusion of older vintages. 'A lot of wine shops in the area have a great selection across regions, but no depth in vintages,' says Paul Jones, the general manager for the Menlo Park establishment. 'Because of our access to local sellers, we're going to be able to offer top domains from older vintages, and that's going to be a regular feature in both the retail and the restaurant, too.' Along with the plentiful wine offerings and the daytime food menu, a retail shop will highlight products from the farm as well as home goods like specialty and vintage glassware and flatware. For grocery offerings, they're moving away from olives and Marcona almonds, and toward farm products like fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers, along with poultry, lamb, and pork — 'a high-end farmers market sort of setup,' Jacobeit says. 'It allows us to really reach the community at a much deeper level, than just a restaurant,' Jacobeit says. 'That's not to say that we wouldn't have opened the bottle shop without the market, but certainly, for both Daniel and me, the market has totally transformed our sense of what is possible and the extent to which we can really become an important part not just of the restaurant scene, but the high-end grocery scene in Silicon Valley.' That's not to mention the wine event programming. Now that they have both the restaurant and retail space available to them, the ideal scenario is to have wine offerings that feel inclusive at various prices. As an example, they may invite a winemaker to do free tastings of a 2022 vintage with small bites where visitors can learn about the wine. Afterward, the night might expand into a four-course seated dinner in the restaurant, where perhaps an older bottle or some magnums from the winery will be shared with the meal. 'There's this very inclusive, very educational, easy to access component of that event, and then it transitions to something much more aspirational, more high-end,' Jacobeit says. The team will accent the space with tables and a comfortable couch, all fitting with their vision of a high-end hospitality environment rather than a 'normative' retail environment, they say. 'We didn't want the retail-meets-hospitality to be an abstract part of the concept,' Jacobeit says. 'We want even passersby who are peeking through the window to really see that there's a cozy living room, a community space feel to the design.' Somm Cellars (720 Santa Cruz Avenue, Menlo Park) debuts late July. Sign up for our newsletter.
