Big eater
Morella, The Rusty Ladle, Lost & Found, Anchovy Bar, Golden Gate Heights listings, Khao Tiew, Sonoma recs, best SFO dining, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Ciao, olá
Restaurants celebrating all manner of Italian cuisine have landed and thrived in San Francisco over the years, but if hyper-specific niches are your thing, we’ve been lacking a spot acknowledging Italian immigrants’ considerable influence on Argentina. That changes with Morella, opened last month by Kingston Wu and chef Jesus Dominguez in the high-ceilinged Marina space last occupied by the Dorian. The restaurant features a menu of dishes with specific Argentine lineage (empanadas, picanha steak), plus Italian pastas and offerings that deftly blend the two culinary traditions.
One dish on the opening menu is Dungeness crab sorrentinos, large-format round ravioli specific to Argentine-Italian cuisine. Here, they come stuffed with crab as advertised, along with ricotta, fontina, and parmesan, plated on a rich crab bisque sauce. Pan-seared scallops are served with an Italian-leaning white wine caper sauce and morel mushrooms, while long-braised short ribs arrive with a truffle-beef sauce and fresh horseradish. The star of the entree section — an array of sausages — is paired with mustard, pickles, and optional sides like yuca fries and fried zucchini.
With its airy, tropical-inspired interior and grand bar area up front, Morella is clearly aiming for crowds at happy hour and (a forthcoming) brunch service. Cocktails, therefore, are far from an afterthought. Standouts include a Summer Martini with Bombay Murcian lemon gin, Cointreau, fino sherry, and Cocchi Americano; also, the Give Me a Melon Reasons, a spritz featuring Casamigos blanco tequila, watermelon, lime, basil, and kombucha. They’re unlikely, curious combinations that — like Morella, writ large — also somehow work. –Jay Barmann
→ Morella (Marina) • 2001 Chestnut St • Tues-Sun 430-11p • Reserve.
RESTAURANTS • Intel
SECRET SAUCE: It isn’t officially open yet, but The Rusty Ladle (Outer Sunset, above) is already a bona fide SF scene. On a recent visit, a big-name founder was slurping a bowl of tomato soup, a surf star was holding a kimchi grilled cheese, and the husband of an Academy Award-winner was picking up a clam chowder. Full menu and regular hours launch in late Jan.
STAY GOLDEN: Lines at the Parkside outpost of 1970s-era North Beach institution Golden Boy have been wild since its open last month, with pick-up waits topping two hours. The move is a drink or two at next door cocktail spot Lost & Found, which has a snappy menu of Asian-inflected tipple like the J-Town Matcha (Japanese green tea, oat milk, ginger, and Old Forester bourbon).
GONE FISHING: Nicole Krasinski and Stuart Brioza’s Anchovy Bar went dark in September, spurring rumors that the State Bird Provisions founders had shuttered their pandemic-era fish spot. But after a lengthy, seismic retrofit, the spot started serving again last Friday, and reservations are back online.
SF RESTAURANT LINKS: A restaurant boom in Mission Rock • The Peach opens for brunch in Oakland • Left Bank Brasserie shutters in Jack London Square • Oakland’s Kon-Tiki to close Dec 22 • Nostalgia for Bay Area oysters • Year-end best lists: Chronicle (dining rooms)... Chronicle (anticipated)... Diablo (East Bay)... Resy.
REAL ESTATE • On the Market
Facing south
Residents of Golden Gate Heights all have stories to tell about calls from frustrated delivery drivers, or first-time guests who arrive late, their navigation systems confounded by the steep and twisty roads leading to these hillside homes. But once you make it there, you’ll be stunned: Views are sweeping and grand, and the residences themselves are 1910s-1930s gems, well-kept by longtime owners, often with original details intact.
The steeply-angled streets mean parents would be wise to test the brakes on their strollers before heading out, and the trudge back uphill from the business districts of neighboring West Portal or the Inner Sunset is more workout than ramble. But the neighborhood’s precipitousness is also why it remains as close to “hidden gem” status as anything in the city, as real estate agents showing in the area will volunteer. But not that hidden, as 24 homes have changed hands there in the past year, Compass reports, at a median price of $1.82M. Here, three listings that illustrate the area’s cool quietude:
→ 154 Lomita Ave (Golden Gate Heights) • 3BR/2.1BA, 2007 SF home • Ask: $1.89M (originally $1.89M in June, then to $2.28M in September, and back down) • 3-level with original owner and ocean views • Days on market: 95 • Agent: David Yip, BarbCo.
→ 1728 11th Ave (Inner Sunset/Golden Gate Heights) • 4BR/4BA, 2426 SF home • Ask: $2.699M • Renovated 1923 home with roomy back yard • Days on market: 13 • Agent: Jeff Guan, Re/Max.
→ 601 Moraga St (Golden Gate Heights, above) • 4BR/3.1BA, 3640 SF home • Ask: $3.79M • Double-wide corner lot with carriage house • Days on market: 40 • Agent: John DiDomenico, Compass.
SF WORK AND PLAY LINKS: Lake Merritt BART Station name change proposed • Bay Area tops in $1M+ worker salaries • Are coastal real estate prices worth it? • Bosch dropping $1.9B on Bay Area chip play • The money is fine, but how ’bout a little attaboy • ‘Perks culture’ is under siege • The (mostly losing) case for holiday party plus-ones.
WORK • Wednesday Routine
Get to know me
CRAIG STOLL • co-owner • Delfina Restaurant Group
Neighborhood you live in: Upper Haight
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
My wife [and business partner] Annie and I host a quarterly get-to-know-you orientation for anyone hired during the previous three months — and today’s the day! So we all meet, coffees in hand (and a plate of Tartine pastries to share), in a corner of the Delfina dining room to go over our history and core values and to get a little face time with the newbies.
What’s on the agenda for today?
After the orientation, I meet our culinary director and chef in the Delfina kitchen to run a dress rehearsal of the caciocavallo impiccato dish we're serving at an upcoming fundraiser. This involves propping a somewhat janky Argentine Grill mechanism I bought on Etsy up on a stack of stone pavers in the bed of our woodfired grill, hanging orbs of caciocavallo cheese above the fire, scraping off the cheese onto bread, and tasting about a pound of the stuff. Gotta get it done before the cooks come in for their shift so we're not in their way. We’re running late because this involves a couple of trips to the hardware store for miscellaneous parts to MacGyver this crazy thing into reality. (I look for any excuse to go to Cliff's Variety!)
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I'm headed to a new Thai restaurant in West Portal, Khao Tiew, with a couple of buddies I try to get together with on a somewhat regular basis. The family might head up to Sonoma this weekend, and if so, we might go to Valley or El Molino Central. Or Cafe La Haye, still a fave after all these years! My recent SF faves have been Rintaro, San Ho Wan, and, of course, The Progress. We regularly order in from Beit Reima and Lers Ros Thai — they have this insanely huge menu that I'm still trying to work my way through, only it's hard because I always want to order my faves.
How about a little leisure or culture?
I see a fair amount of live music, which is one of the great things about living in San Francisco. I saw White Fence at The Chapel in October, and Yo La Tengo at The Fillmore before that. I also saw King Gizzard at the Frost Amphitheatre in Palo Alto last month.
What was your last great vacation?
We went to Japan this past June: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kanazawa.
What store or service do you always recommend?
Bi-Rite Market! Bernal Cutlery! Cliff's Variety! Ape Do Good Screen Printing!
Photo: Albert Law
CULTURE & LEISURE • The Night Before
Emily Catalano • Punch Line (FiDi) • Thurs @ 8p • GA, $28 per
Wooli • Mind Warp Tour • The Midway (Dogpatch) • Fri @ 9p • VIP, $105 per
Elf: In Concert • Davies Symphony Hall (Civic Center) • Sat @ 2p • Orchestra, $259 per
GETAWAYS LINKS: Sonoma’s Cafe La Haye changes hands • The inside track on Siargao • JetBlue plans new ‘Mini-Mint’ first class starting next year • American’s AAdvantage changes for 2025: nothing bad is good!
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Dining, SFO
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Napa Farms Market (terminal 2, int’l terminal G), wood-fired pizza, salads/sandwiches, charcuterie from Tyler Florence