A couple of Turkish halal places to note: The Sini, which actually opened in 2017 but never showed up in Yelp’s “Hot and New” cagegory (hence missed by my list). It’s in the 300 block of Kearny St., which I once dubbed the most culinarily diverse block in San Francisco (time for a resurvey!) The Sini seems pretty generic but Marcia Gagliardi stuck the Turkish label on it, and I’m with her, as they say.
The other, Tuba Express at 1550 California, is a bona fide 2028 addition and appears to be more Turkish than The Sini. It may or may not be related to Tuba on Guerrero St.
Lokma in the Richmond (thanks, Yelpers) is the THIRD Turkish restaurant to open in SF just a month and a half into 2018, after Sini on Kearny and Tuba Express on California.
While the new restaurant’s menu isn’t completely set, Wong promises a “totally different menu” from the original Z & Y, one prominently featuring hand-pulled noodles. The new bistro will also feature a full bar, Wong says, a relative rarity in Chinatown.
Z & Y Bistro Wine Bar Restaurant.
606 Jackson Street (the space, formerly Chung King)
The new Japanese place on Clement and 23th- Nobuyuki- is owned by a Turner 2 Corporation according to ABC. The owner is Lena Turner. I wonder what the background behind that group is.
Yuanbao Jiaozi is a new dumpling shop at the fickle 2110 Irving space (formerly Cherimoya 2, formerly Class 601, formerly Q Moffle, formerly K.O. Combo). From the Yelp pics, they’ve put some effort and money into making it attractive; let’s hope the dumplings are good and it sticks.
It’s northern-ish, with appetizers like shredded potato, pigs ears in chili sauce, ets. Despite the name, the dumplings are not “yuanbao” shape. They are made to order behind glass in an open kitchen area, and are available boiled, in soup, or fried.
Looks like a new Sichuan Place is coming to 714 Kearny. The storefront, which formerly was an annex to the recently remodeled Garden Restaurant, now has its windows covered and signage above the door consisting of the lonely characters 川味 (Sichuan Taste) with no English yet.
I frequently catch the bus in front of this place, so I’ll keep on top of it.
It’s another small step in Sichuan cuisine’s world takeover.
The new cafe at the Asian Art Museum is going to be run by Deuki Hong, who wrote the cookbook Koreatown and ran the popup Sunday Bird. That looks like an promising cafe.
I tried to go to Alta MSP a few times but found the menu a little restrictive. Perhaps the change to a Gujarat-Californian restaurant will make it interesting. Late April is when the change will complete.