Eats and Beers

Meet "Reclaimed Wood + Subway Tiles," Hopefully Opening Soon on Valencia

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

The burgeoning restauranteurs behind “Reclaimed Wood + Subway Tiles” just dropped Eater SF a note about their new Valencia hot spot:

I just wanted to give you a heads up on our new restaurant project in the works, hopefully opening soon on Valencia! Our restaurant name is: RECLAIMED WOOD + SUBWAY TILES. We are housed in an old factory that, you guessed it, used to manufacture reclaimed wood, and before that, subway tiles for the BART stations back in 1972. We plan to source all of our ingredients from the Hayes Valley farm, and/or “pop-up farms.” Our chef has worked in many famous kitchens around the world, and once parked Thomas Keller's Prius when he was a valet parker at Solage in Calistoga. We plan to change our menu Hourly, as to provide the freshest ingredients and trends available.

They've got a bunch of good stuff planned for their menu, including “ponzu spiced tofu, four-leaf clovers, eggplant marinated in Blue Bottle Gibraltar,” “guinea pig dumplings with chamomile broth,” “Tripe Tartare, desert salt,” and no foirkage fee for all the rebellious foodie badasses that want to bring their own foie gras to the restaurant.

(And let's hope they open a pop-up in Dear Mom's kitchen whenever we get bored of whoever's in there now!)

[Eater SF]

The California Burrito Was Actually Invented in Australia

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

That's the bold claim from The Original California Burrito Company in the middle of Sydney, where you can get a “Fishermans' Wharf” shrimp burrito instead of the famed “Mission Burrito” more commonly found in San Francisco, the oft-mistakenly claimed birthplace of the burrito.

At least the guts don't look tthhaattt bad:

[Signage shot by Katherine, Burrito porn by Moira Clunie]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

No More Talking About "Annoying Hipster Topics" and "Who You Fucked Last Night" at Four Barrel

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Alley Barrel, Four Barrel's back-alley weekend coffee joint, is laying down the law, hoping to keep nice with the neighbors.  They won't tolerate further littering, dirty dishes left outside, and customers being oblivious while in traffic—common sense stuff I think we can all agree is good for everybody.  But their last law is a doozy: “Not talk about annoying hipster topics, or who you fucked last night.  You shouldn't do that anyhow, but our neighbors actually can hear you.”

Now, we're not particularly sure what qualifies as “annoying hipster topics”—the quality of various local music festivals? Mission vs. Public bikes? Telling the barista what kind of coffee you want?—but rest assured, Four Barrel Coffee wants none of your hipster hooey.

[Pic and Further Analysis by MrEricSir]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

The Fizzary to Serve Us SEVEN HUNDRED Different Sodas

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

That's the claim from Taylor's Tonics, a Redwood City Redwood Country-based soda company that plans on opening “The Fizzary” at Mission and 25th on August 16th.  From Tablehopper:

The Fizzary will offer retail sales of Taylor’s Tonics sodas, which include Chai Cola and Maté Mojito, as well as over 700 unusual sodas from around the world, unique local sodas, and nostalgic candies. They are hoping to branch out into house-brewed sodas and a full soda counter with taps in the future, but they need to get the space permitted first.

The Fizzary's website also promises a “beverage museum” and a “craft beverage incubator for the budding brewmaster.”  But forget all that: a soda fountain is opening in the neighborhood.  It's bummer news to our city supervisors and anti-delicious-empty-calorie NIMBY neighbors, but the rest of us are jittery with excitement.

No word if they'll have WiFi.

[Tablehopper]

Chipotle Knockin' on the Mission's Door

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

Chipotle, America's “feel good” Taco Bell and 5th best carne asada burrito manufacturer in San Francisco, is closing in on the hallowed grounds of the Mission District.  According to Grub Street, McDiego's tenth SF location is set to open in mid-2013 at Church and Market—a mere 5 blocks away from La Cumbre, where burritos are claimed to have been invented some 43 years ago.

But this is no boring old Mission Street taqueria.  They're improving upon that stale taqueria experience with a big ass outdoor patio, beer and margarita service, fountain soda for days, and a variety of salsa.

Chipotle's spokestaco filled in Grub Street on that this means for the company's future:

“Our locations so far in the Bay Area have been in high-traffic areas or more suburban areas, and this marks the start of a move into more urban neighborhoods which we're really excited about.”

I'm not exactly sure what that means, but they're probably not planning on plopping down location #11 in Union Square.

Oh, in case you were wondering…

[Grub Street]

Previously on Uptown Almanac: 

Impolite "Modern Asian Urban" Restaurant Coming Soon to Valencia

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

“Didn't your mother teach you it's rude to point?”

“Modern Asian Urban,” or MAU (which, shockingly, isn't a fancy new acronym for the ethnic yuppie), recently posted up their remarkably Westfield Mall Food Court-y signage in the old NY Buffalo Wings space.  At first glance, we're not sure what the make of the place: it's being run by a former Slow Club chef, so that's probably a good thing.  And it's not like anyone ever ate at the wings place.

However, that name is criminally obnoxious—never mind that someone in the city is making a wicked Chairman Mao pun.  Also, they're claiming the restaurant will be kid-friendly.  We hate kids.

Anyway, they're supposedly opening in the coming weeks with a mess of $15 rice bowls and noodles, so get ready.

(Oh, and you can follow 'em on Twitter, too.)

First Look: Thai Idea

— By Kevin Montgomery (@kevinmonty) |

This is the exterior of Thai Idea, the latest restaurant to open in La Lengua, right next to The Knockout.  I know what you're thinking, “Thai Idea?“  I know I know, it's a shit name.  And the “IT IS VEGGILICIOUS” signage?  Also a touch lame.

But, marketing blunders aside, this place is good.  Not just good, but good.

See, there aren't just that many vegetarian restaurants in the greater Mission District.  There's Herbivore and Gracias Madre, but they're “good” at best, “okay” if we're being honest.  And there's plenty of great restaurants with vegetarian plates, but they're usually limited in offerings and force you to settle.  So when a vegetarian joint opens that is actually good, we take note.

Please refrain from dipping your fingers in the sauce until the plate is clean. We didn't.

Their “wing bomb” is good as hell and, fortunately, doesn't give you explosive diarrhea.  Plus, they're easily better than the equivalent fake-chicken-on-a-stick appetizer at Golden Era in the TL.  The pineapple fried rice was also packed full of more particularly delicious mock chicken, and the rice itself was still good and moist unlike that of most of the other exceptionally edible Asian restaurants around.

The one drawback is the place is oddly comfortable (there are pillows everywhere), but when the most expensive dish tops out at $12 and the food is that good, it's easy to get past it.

[First pic by WBTC]

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