Restaurants

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.

[Daniel Krieger] Mighty Quinn's is arguably the most successful restaurant to come of the great Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens barbecue boom of late 2012/early 2013. And now, the restaurant is expanding from the East Village to Battery Park City's Brookfield Place, which is a revamp of the World Financial Center space. This complex will also soon be home to Num Pang, Dos Toros, Dig Inn, Sprinkles, and Umami Burger. Now, the Goldman boys and BPC dwellers will get to pick between Blue Smoke and Mighty Quinn's, which are both great for different reasons. The new Mighty Quinn's should open in early 2014. · Mighty Quinn's Will be Joining the Dining Area at Brookfield Place [PRN via Grub Street] · All Coverage of Mighty Quinn's [~EN~]

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

Memorial Day marks the beginning of the summer season, which means sunsets at 8 p.m. (or later), outdoor concerts around the city, and plenty of opportunities to party poolside from this weeken...

Slice gets to the newer, bigger Franny's location to see what's changed. Though the appetizers are largely misses, the takeaway is this: "[I]t turns out that surprisingly little has changed—if you're hungry, the wait is still uncomfortably long; it's also still entirely worth it." [Slice/SE]

I'm not a drinker so this isn't a contest for me, but I know my readers and there are some fantastic rib cookers out there. And I'm sure one reader of Embers & Flame is good enough to take home the grand prize. The Gnarly Head Ribs Recipe Contest turns five this year! Help them celebrate their Wooden Anniversary by submitting the most ama-ZIN ribs recipe for a chance to win $5,000. So, dust off your cutting boards, sharpen your knives, break out your secret rubs and show Gnarly Head what you've got by coming up with your best ribs recipe. Be sure to enhance your dish by pairing it with a Gnarly Head wine. A panel of experts will judge your ribs based on originality, taste appeal, wine pairing and simplicity. If you need a little inspiration with Memorial Day Weekend approaching take a look at the winner of the 2011 rib challenge.  Tal's Adam & Elvis Ribs has an interesting combination of flavors that create an interesting flavor profile. Print The Gnarly Head Rib Challenge: Tal's Adam & Elvis Ribs Author: Tal Goldsby 2011 Gnarly Head Rib Challenge winner Ingredients 2 racks loin back ribs 4 cups apple juice 1 cup apple cider vinegar 1 cup Memphis style BBQ rub Yellow Mustard Glaze 2 Cups Brown Sugar 1 Ripe Banana ½ Cup Honey ¼ Cup Creamy Peanut Butter. Instructions Combine apple juice, vinegar, BBQ rub in a shallow pan. Add ribs and cover with plastic wrap. Marinate ribs in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, remove ribs from marinade and pat dry. Using the yellow mustard coat the ribs with a thin layer. Cover the mustard with the BBQ rub. Smoke, using indirect heat, at 250 degrees until ribs are golden brown, about 3 hours. Add another coating of mustard and rub, and then tightly wrap each rib in aluminum foil with ½ Cup of apple juice. Cook for an additional hour or until tender and meat starts to withdraw from the bone. Remove from foil and glaze. Cook until glaze becomes tacky. Glaze Combine all ingredients and gently heat until well combined. Wordpress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe 3.2.1753 If you need a little inspiration for the Memorial Day Weekend take a look at last year's winning recipe by Tal GoldsyThe post The Gnarly Head Rib Challenge appeared first on Embers and Flame.

For her latest Hungry City review, the Times's Ligaya Mishan recommends SakaMai on the LES: "SakaMai is less rarefied than Yopparai to the east; quirkier and more personal than Blue Ribbon Sushi Izakaya to the north. It is an inclusive place, gentle on neophytes. The décor is understated: sheer white curtains, votives, eroded brick. Tucked in the back is a semisecret den, complete with a fireplace and a kilim." [NYT]

It's almost Memorial Day, so plenty of people will be headed out of New York City this weekend, which means you might actually be able to eat at Lafayette without having to endure an interminable wait (no promises, though). In any event, after a string of big openings, things finally settled down a bit this week. But even if there's no single spot you must hit ASAP, there are still a bunch of solid new options worth checking out. See it all, straight ahead. 1. Lafayette (Last week: 5) Reviews are coming in for Andrew Carmellini's Noho blockbuster (including one from New York's Adam Platt), and they are overwhelmingly positive. Printed praise certainly isn't going to make the place any easier to get into. 2. ABC Cocina (1) It seems Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Dan Kluger, and chef Ian Coogan have another full-blown hit on their hands with this sorta-Spanish, sorta-Mexican ABC Kitchen. 3. Carbone (2) Not everyone is so smitten with the theatrics at Team Torrisi's new restaurant, but it's hard to argue with praise from an authority like Alain Ducasse, who revealed in last week's Grub Street Diet that he's a big fan. 4. Dominique Ansel Bakery (4) Here we go: Demand for cronuts continues to rouse people from bed bright and early just so they can stand in line on Spring Street hoping — praying — this bakery won't run out before it's their turn. The cronut craze might die down one of these days, but that day is not today. 5. Costata (6) It's not like Manhattan needs another steakhouse, but when that steakhouse is from Michael White, that's a different story. 6. Montmartre (7) Good news: Ryan Sutton this week echoes Platt's review from a week prior and discovers that, despite the opening-month hiccups that plagued this place, Tien Ho and Gabe Stulman appear to have permanently righted the ship. 7. Alder (3) The lines have died down outside Wylie Dufresne's modernist pub, but that might change as more reviews get filed — the general consensus is that the place is a winner. 8. Uncle Boons (14) It opened several weeks ago, but only in the last couple of weeks has this Thai spot from two Per Se vets become the place to talk about. Even Danny Bowien is a fan. 9. Pearl and Ash (11) Richard Kuo's small-plates place on the Bowery continues to win fans thanks to its novel food (Kuo's a wd~50 vet, and it shows) and a wine list that Pete Wells loved. 10. Betony (9) It only opened last week, but reports back from this Brasserie Pushkin replacement have been few and far between. Even still, the space is plush, and the menu is full of upscale takes on people-pleasing dishes, so expect to hear more about this spot very soon. 11.The Pines (8) Good word of mouth continues to surround Angelo Romano's ambitious Gowanus spot, and last week Time Out complemented the buzz with a full-out rave of a review. 12. Le Philosophe (13) The Noho bistro opened quietly but has become a bona fide hit, with a crowded dining room every night. Chef Matthew Aita's menu is a textbook example of how to properly take French classics and update them for current-day New York diners. 13. Pok Pok Ny (Off last week) It was a long, line-free winter over on Columbia Street, but things are really starting to pick back up now that the weather's warm: Andy Ricker's got a new cookbook coming out very soon, he's ever-closer to opening a Whiskey Soda Lounge down the street, and, yes, the lines are back. 14. Franny's (10) The threat of long lines at the newer, bigger Franny's doesn't seem to deter people from checking it out. And, speaking of cookbooks, expect the crowds to grow as the PR for this spot's new cookbook, out in a couple of weeks, kicks into gear. 15. Fatty 'Cue Brooklyn (12) Even if Zak Pelaccio is busy upstate with his own new restaurant, the Fatty Crew appears to have a handle on things in the city with the recently reopened Fatty 'Cue in Williamsburg. 16. The Fourth (15) The couple behind

Eater scanned through all 1,418 NYC restaurants on OpenTable with reservations for two still available for tonight. Here's the best of the bunch. Get 'em while they're hot: · Gramercy Tavern (9:30) · Daniel - Lounge Seating (8:00, 8:15, 8:45) · Del Posto (8:15) · Tocqueville (7:45, 8:15) · Gotham Bar and Grill (7:00, 9:00) · 'Cesca (8:30) · Union Square Café (7:00, 9:00) · Yopparai (7:45, 8:00, 8:15, 8:30) · Café Boulud (8:00) · Corton (7:00, 8:00, 9:00) · Strip House (7:30, 8:45) · Ai Fiori (8:30, 8:45) · Wallsé (7:30, 9:00) · Bar Room at the Modern (7:30, 8:15, 9:00) · L'Apicio (7:30) · Lincoln Ristorante (7:00, 7:45, 8:00, 8:45) · Mas (La Grillade) (7:30, 7:45, 8:00, 8:15, 8:30) · Sant Ambroeus (8:30, 8:45) · Thalassa (7:30, 8:00, 8:30) · Nougatine at Jean Georges (7:00, 7:45) · wd~50 (7:00) · Aldea (9:00) · Red Rooster (9:30) · Sorella (7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30) · Tiella (8:00, 8:15, 8:45) · Hearth (8:30) · A Voce Madison (7:45, 8:00, 8:15, 8:30) · Kin Shop (7:00, 7:15) · Maysville (7:15, 7:45, 8:00, 8:15) · OpenTable [Official Site] [L'Apicio by Krieger]