SOMA—While the SoMa Grand awaits the incoming Charles Phan project in its bigger restaurant space, the second space—most recently abandoned by Estela's Sandwiches before work began—has seen some action lately. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a false alarm, as the space is being transformed into the new sales center. No word on why the restaurant concept was abandoned (or if it has been ditched for good), but based on the Mission/Seventh Street location (and various other factors), we could toss out a few guesses. [EaterWire]
GHIRARDELLI SQUARE—We mentioned it last month, but this Saturday is the third annual Uncorked Wine Festival, which should be a nice drinking precursor to the Bay to Breakers. Marche on the Square, though not yet open, will be on hand with food. Tickets are $40 beforehand and $45 at the door; more info here. [EaterWire]
Please join us for another edition of Adventures in Shilling as we celebrate the grossest shills from around the 'nets. As always, you too can help fight shills.
Nothing spurs shills quite like some neighborhood competition, and no collection of restaurants vie so directly for the same diners' cash quite like the Financial District's many lunch destinations. Up first, Cello's, where perfect kebabs surprise unsuspecting folk:
It's not too often that a kebab can surprise me, but this one did. Out scouting for a quick lunch today in FiDi and lines were huge everywhere because its so nice out, then I remembered this place, because a guy had handed me a menu on the street a couple weeks ago, which I figured was a sure sign they wouldn't be busy. And they weren't. Ordered a chicken kebab and steeled myself for the overcooked dry chicken with a few limp grilled veggies over rice that is so typical of what you get at places like this, and was surprised to find that, what?, the chicken was actually moist, full of flavor, and perfectly cooked. Not your typical chunk of chicken that's been sitting on a skewer for an hour waiting for someone to order it...
The post goes on to boast about the menu prices, but since it's a regular poster, odds are it's not a shill, but rather just a Chowhound unusually smitten with the new find. Shill Probability: 18%. Fortunately, there's more shilling to be had. More from the FiDi Lunch Front, Including Chiaroscuro, Best-O-Burger and More >>
As luck would have it, we took a good look at Kasa Indian Eatery just yesterday, and soon thereafter, the press releases made the rounds. In addition to sharing a few more tidbits on the Castro's upcoming restaurant (there will be Kingfisher on tap), the blast also revealed a trio of early, prospective names for the Indian taqueria: Spice/Cart, Tamasha and best of all, Urban Turban. Urban. Turban. Some things you just can't make up; we can only wonder what could have been.
· Plywood Update: Kasa Will Be a Rockin' Indian Taqueria [~ESF~]
Following a landslide council vote, silly Chicago has finally overturned its foie gras ban: "... the ban has been a source of embarrassment for the city and the repeal comes as residents have accused officials of trying to micromanage people’s lives, with talk of prohibiting smoking even outside along the lakefront and eliminating transfats from restaurants. No other American city has prohibited foie gras' sale, but California has passed a law banning it as of 2012." Wait, what was that about micromanagement? [NYT]
See what you did, Blue Bottle? With the coffeemediaspotlightshining more brightly than ever, local vendors are taking the Gourmet Java Wars one step deeper: coffee in obscure back alleys. The progenitor of this movement, of course, is Blue Bottle in Hayes Valley's Linden Alley. More recently, the Mission's Four Barrel continues to create a buzz—and not only amongst local "subversive muralists"—with its kiosk in a dead-end alley out of The Wire, and just yesterday, Cafe Lambretta spinoff Cento started serving up Blue Bottle at 360 Ritch Alley in SoMa. San Francisco loves its counterculture movements, doesn't it?
· Four Barrel Won't Tolerate Subversive Muralists' Quips [~ESF~]
· Experiments in Caffeine: Four Barrel Will Eschew WiFi [~ESF~]
Tonight's episode of Top Chef will once again center on healthy eating. The remaining cheftestants must re-invent the salad for the Quickfire, turn an unhealthy meal healthy for the EC, and Season Two alum and rep for diabetes everywhere, Sam Talbot, guest judges. The above preview clip is once again the product of some sneaky editing by Bravo, but it appears that a storyline involves some good ol' fashioned sabotage! Lisa is in big trouble for her mysteriously-burnt rice, while a flustered Dale and twitchy Andrew scramble in front of the judges.
· Complete Top Chef Coverage [~ESF~]
Although favorites pepper the menu, offerings continue to expand with new dishes. Yet, some of them seem in a time warp. The special one night was New Zealand grouper ($25.95) served with asparagus, fingerling potatoes and shocking-pink strawberry Cabernet sauce. It had a 1980s feel and tasted nearly as strange as it sounded. On a subsequent visit we tried a more successful new dish from the printed menu: a rabbit roulade ($23.50) where the meat, wrapped in bacon, encased a cornbread stuffing and a cider mustard sauce.
SOMA—While the SoMa Grand awaits the incoming Charles Phan project in its bigger restaurant space, the second space—most recently abandoned by Estela's Sandwiches before work began—has seen some action lately. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a false alarm, as the space is being transformed into the new sales center. No word on why the restaurant concept was abandoned (or if it has been ditched for good), but based on the Mission/Seventh Street location (and various other factors), we could toss out a few guesses. [EaterWire]
Nothing spurs shills quite like some neighborhood competition, and no collection of restaurants vie so directly for the same diners' cash quite like the Financial District's many lunch destinations. Up first, Cello's, where perfect kebabs surprise unsuspecting 
