Bay Area Restaurants

The TCHO factory on the Embarcadero. [Photo: bluehillranch/Flickr] THE EMBARCADERO—The Young Professionals group of the local chapter of the Michael J. Fox Parkinson's Foundation is throwing a special fundraiser next Friday, May 31, at TCHO. Attendees will be able to sample unlimited wine and chocolate pairings, take a tour of the TCHO facility, and nosh on cheese paired with unlimited beer. Tickets are $75, and all proceeds will benefit efforts for Parkinson's research; a scientist studying the disease will talk about the latest findings as well. [EaterWire] THE MISSION—Hot on the heels of Chris Cosentino's foray into fashion design comes Mission standby Bender's Bar, which has teamed up with local boutique Self Edge to sell a special Bender's T-shirt. It comes in two versions: regular Gildan cotton for the plebes for $25, or The Flat Head loopwheeled heavyweight cotton for $125. (We're sure it says absolutely nothing about the current state of SF that you can drop $125 on a dive bar-themed T-shirt.) They're throwing a launch party tonight from 7-11 pm for those who want to snag one; drink specials will be available as well. [EaterWire] OAKLAND—Upstart Oakland food company Chunky Pig, which makes bacon chocolate-chip cookies and bacon caramel corn, is currently in the midst of a Kickstarter to raise funds for a commercial production facility, and to help pad their coffers, they're also throwing an "Oaktown Pig Out" at Kitchener next Tuesday, with a whole pig roast, bacon mac and cheese, and their aforementioned treats, plus $3 beers. Pledge $35 to get in. More info here. [EaterWire] RUSSIAN HILL—In addition to their aforementioned Spaghetti Sundays, Capo's is offering two more special deals, one for pizza and one for drinks. The pizza deal is Thin Thursdays, on which diners who order any cracker-thin crust pizza get a free house salad to go with it. It's supposed to be a diet/lighter eating thing for summer, but can easily be torpedoed with the other deal: a Build Your Own Old Fashioned bar, available from 5-6 pm each Wednesday-Monday through August 1. For $6, drinkers can choose either Angels Envy or John E. Fitzgerald Larceny bourbon, and modify it with their preferred sweetener and garnish. Bartenders and brand reps will be on hand to discuss the whiskey and offer pairing suggestions. [EaterWire]

I know there aren’t many of you looking for non-alcoholic drinks to sip on when your friends go out for cocktails but this is a great NA drink featured at the Paradox Hotel (Solaire Poolside Bar) in Santa Cruz.  I am not exactly sure of the name of this drink but twice now I’ve just asked the bartender to make me a good NA drink and the photograph above shows off what they make! For your drinking friends, they do offer some local beers on draft (Santa Cruz Ale Works i.p.a. and amber ale) and wine too of course.  At the moment they only have Soju cocktails but they are inline for a liquor license beyond beer and wine.  We like munch on their Marcona almonds. You can order drinks and sit outside by their pool and sip away! Cocktail Bar Menu The Solaire does have a happy hour too: Solaire Happy Hour $5 Apps & Drinks Sunday – Thursday 4:00PM – 7:00PM Restaurant Hours- Open Daily Breakfast 7:00AM-11:30AM Lunch 11:30AM-5:00PM Dinner 5:00PM -10:00PM Happy Hour- 4:00PM- 7:00PM, SUN-THURS For reservations, please call (831) 600-4545. Linked Photos of the Pool

Troya has a new chef at its Fillmore location: Kevin Davidson, who was previously a chef de cuisine at Foreign Cinema and more recently spent some time traveling. Previous chef Philip Busacco left amicably; he's taking time off to pursue an interest in photography. The Clement location's chef remains the same. [Tablehopper]

Welcome to Curbed Cuts, where Curbed SF editor Sally Kuchar shares the most important real estate stories of the week. Mark di Suvero's "Old Buddy (For Rosko)" at its new home on Crissy Field. [Photo via SFMOMA] CRISSY FIELD— This week, an outdoor exhibition of eight large sculptures by artist Mark di Suvero officially began its year-long residency on Crissy Field. The giant orange, steels structures span up to 50 feet high and 40 feet wide. As with all change (even temporary), there's a small group of neighbors that think the sculptures are a monstrosity, and have asked that the "eye-sores" be taken down. TENDERLOIN— The Lofts at Seven in the Tenderloin are ready for their close-up. What used to be home to KGO-TV Channel 7's West Coast broadcasting facilities is now gearing up to be 88 loft and studio rentals. BAY BRIDGE— Here's your first look at the almost completed east span of the Bay Bridge. Photos galore! INNER RICMHOND— Looking to buy in the very lovely Inner Richmond? We've rounded up the five least expensive properties currently for sale in the neighborhood. MISSION DOLORES— The corner of 15th and Dolores streets is now home to newly built condos. There's 13 total "boutique residences," and will likely be in the $1,000 per square foot price range. SOMA— Located under and adjacent to parts of the Central Freeway near Otis, Stevenson, and Valencia streets, a new 17,000 sq. ft. skate park and a 28,000 sq. ft. dog park and parking area have been approved. SAN FRANCISCO— The top three residential properties sales for the past seven days include a $2.995M penthouse in Russian Hill, a $3.2M 5-bedroom single-family home in Lower Pac Heights, and a $3.8M 5-bed single-family home in Presidio Heights. NOB HILL— The Marlow is the latest development to come to Nob Hill. It's located at 1800 Van Ness, and is a 98-unit mixed-use building with 4,900 square feet of commercial space. We've got renderings of the exterior and interior. The units are pricey, but that didn't stop the 18 pre-released units selling out completely in just eight days.

San Francisco is currently going through a chocolate renaissance – new artisan chocolate makers and chocolatiers are popping up at every food festival and in every neighborhood. One of these chocolatiers, though, is actually a Bay Area classic making a welcome return – Charles Chocolates. I’ve been a big fan of Charles Chocolates ever since he opened his Emeryville store. Fair warning (or you long-time readers with excellent memories might remember) – I even wrote a piece for Edible East Bay on his chocolates so I guess you can say I’m an original fangirl. When Charles Chocolates first opened the chocolate scene was bustling in the Bay Area but focused in a different direction- there were mainly chocolate makers like Guittard, Scharffen Berger, and Ghirardelli, and some small boutiques selling imported chocolates. Today the Bay Area is a chocolate mecca, with the bonus of much of it locally crafted. After a short hiatus from chocolatier-ing, Charles is happily part of the scene again with a new shop and cafe opening in San Francisco. Charles Siegel welcomes all his new chocolate compatriots. “We’re no where near close to saturation for chocolate here,” he says. What I’ve always admired about Charles is his generosity of spirit and love for his craft. He’ll happily share the chocolate brands he uses in his creations, and he’s genuinely excited at the all the creative chocolate energy swirling through the city. He envisions San Francisco becoming like Paris, where every neighborhood has its local patisserie and chocolate shop, each with their own specialties and each a beloved part of life for the residents. I finally had a chance to drop by Charles’ new store on Florida Street. Although their outdoor patio space was not finished when I went, it has been fitted out now with picnic tables so visitors can enjoy their hot chocolate outside, or some of the new pastries from their case. In addition to his chocolates, Charles is branching out and also serving up cookies, tarts, mini cakes, and other baked goods from their kitchen. They’ve also paired up with Samovar Teas and will start offering afternoon tea on their patio – starting this weekend. I have to admit one of the things I’m most excited about is that the patio will be dog-friendly. Charles is an avowed dog lover and said he’s made it his mission to get to know all the dogs in his new neighborhood. So the café patio will be equipped with water bowls and Charles’ own doggy treats to entice dog owners to stop by. Chocolate and treats for Fido – can it get any better? Charles let me take a look around his kitchen space – it’s separated from the retail store and patio by glass so customers will be able to look in and see chocolates being made. Copper pot goodness! Almost all of Charles Chocolates’ original items will be coming back, but I’m really looking forward to his pâte de fruits. The tables where much of the chocolate work is done. The pastry team was off when I visited, but it’s easy to imagine them industriously working away, turning out boxes and boxes of chocolates. You can catch a glimpse of the retail portion of the store through the glass walls to the left – I didn’t get any photos as it was constantly filled with customers.  Charles Chocolates has just started giving tours of the store as well, so you can learn about chocolate-making while sampling some of Charles’ chocolates at the same time. Some more equipment Charles is very proud of – the one on the right is a panning machine, or panner, used to evenly coat nuts with a layer of chocolate – you can see the results here. Chocolate bars ready for labelling. Charles has kept the same wonderful logo from Hatch Design, and worked with them to revamp the packaging for his new products. Charles has greatly expanded his chocolate bar line, to my

Three months ago, Mira Winery in Napa embarked on a grand experiment: It lowered 48 bottles of its 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon into the ocean outside Charleston, S.C. in a custom-built cage to see ...

And they’re so exclusive we can’t even buy them yet! They look like they’re gonna be tough and pretty and totally expensive, but you know what? Quality vegan shoes aren’t cheap. Not to knock cheap vegan shoes! But generally shoes at a higher price point come with things like padded footbeds, a little arch support, and consideration that they have to be worn on actual human feet. I’m super into the Keely booties above in black; I love that buckle underneath! The 100 percent lack of functionality, without even a pretense of usefulness! It’s so insouciant, right? I also really like the Hazel slip-ons in this crinkly metallic orange. If you’re going to wear a shoe with such a basic shape, you ought to get creative with the color and materials. You can wear boring shoes when you’re dead! Krže Studio was created by Leila Tamar Kerze, who studied fashion design at college and worked for BCBG and Donald J. Pliner before striking out on her vegan own. When can you buy these shoes? Where can you buy them? I have no answers for you. What I do know is that these shoes have a lot of attitude and I am glad people see a market for luxury vegan footwear. Leather is so passé. Super important update!!!: Megan loves this pair! -MR [images via Krzhe Studio]

If you want to see Guy Fieri in action, get yourself over to the SOMA StrEat Food Park, like, now: "Guy Fieri is hanging out all day filming an episode of his show featuring KoJa Kitchen," a park rep told us via e-mail, including the photo at right. (As discussed yesterday, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives is filming all over town this week.) Update: The DPT, ever-mindful of expanding their empire of evil, tried to ticket his Camaro. [EaterWire]

Our early memories of Bay Area flea markets tend to be dusty: yeah, that $0.15 purple sweat shirt perfectly completed our non-ironic Flashdance look, but getting the goods was usually a hot, cr...

Master Sommelier is a very elite title, with the Court of Master Sommeliers having named only 133 professionals to their ranks in the U.S. (the whole world has 201 total). So it's a big deal that the Bay Area has a new one: Emily Pickral-Papach of Napa's Chappellet Winery, who was one of only four people to pass this year's exam (taken by 63 advanced somms). A whopping seven Bay Area professionals were named to the Court last year; we also have by far the most in the country. [EaterWire]