All stories about "Kabuki Kitchen"

Japantown/Fillmore: Now that it has been open for a solid six months, let us count the ways to not call Kabuki Kitchen, the restaurant next door to Robert Redford's fancy new Sundance movie theater extravaganza on the corner of Post and Fillmore:

1) Phone number on 411: N/A
2) Number upon opening (409.6878): "The number you are calling has been changed."
3) Number on Yelp (929.4650): "Hello and thank you for calling the Sundance Cinemas, Kabuki! ... Drop by for dinner at the Kabuki Kitchen, right next door! For today's schedule press 1, for future schedules press 2, for additional information press 3, for ticket prices press 4." No restaurant extension option.
4) Number on website (346.3243): "Thank you for calling the Sundance Kabuki Cinema ... For the Kabuki Kitchen, please press 3."
5) Press Three: "Thank for calling the Sundance Kabuki Kitchen ... for reservations and general information, please press 1."
6) Press One: "Extension 308 is not available"

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

The Fillmore location of Dosa has kicked off its sizable build-out of the former Goodwill space on the corner of Post and Fillmore. We've already shared our preliminary impressions of the location, but now that work is underway, it's clear that there's a lot to be done in the 5800-square foot space. The plan is that there will be upwards of 120 seats, plus a private room for two dozen, which means that Dosa 2.0 will be roughly twice the size of the original 70-seater in the Mission. Current due date for Dosa Fillmore: early fall. Be warned, Kabuki Kitchen; you have until then to get your act together.
· Pre-Plywood Report: First Impressions at the New Dosa [~ESF~]

Back when we reported the departure of opening exec chef Vincent Schofield from the months-old Kabuki Kitchen, the restaurant told us directly that the Boulevard veteran left to take a job in Atlanta (the city), but now, an animated note from a tipster—definitely not Schofield himself, should you be wondering—suggests that rumors of Georgia were greatly exaggerated. Now, take it with a grain of salt, since there's definitely some bias at work here, but it's safe to say that the Kabuki Kitchen's high-profile flop of a reopening may have been even more of a shitshow than seen from the public eye:

Chef Schofield did not take a gig in Atlanta ... He quit after upper management put there head so far up there ass that they could no longer see the vision they once had ... Sundance has gone from what they said was a self standing establishment to an amenity to the theatre and they plan to cookie cut the rest of [their] establishments...

All news fit to run goes in EaterWire. Your sightings and dirt to the tipline, please.

FILLMORE/JAPANTOWN—On the eve of the three-month anniversary of the new Kabuki Cinema and the overhauled Kabuki Kitchen comes word that the place is in the midst of a mini-revamp. Opening executive chef Vincent Schofield is gone—we heard he got a gig in Atlanta?—and taking his place are Mark Lackie and Ryan McDonald, who have already ditched Schofield's Mediterranean concept in favor of a more French-centric menu that will evolve as they settle in. And they may be involved in some shilling. [EaterWire]

You can't have a proper cult sans a child god to worship. [Photo: Flickr/rafaeljarmann]

· Cafe Gratitude Makes the List of Local Cults; Congrats Hippies! [G'skip]
· Kabuki and Its Restaurants Leading the Gourmet Movie Movement [NYT]
· More on Oxbow Market's Grand Opening This Weekend [SJMN]
· Musing on In-N-Out's Response to the Beef Recall [Eater LA]
· Local Blog Star Amy Sherman Gets a New Gig [CWA]

[Photo: Flickr/Monica]

· Brenda's French Soul Food Servin' Up Bargain Creole Fare [Chron]
· Taking a Quick Preliminary Look at Frontera Fresco [Bits + Bites]
· Dinner and a Movie at the New Kabuki [CWSTG]
· Tartine's Bread Pudding Makes an Ed Levine List [Serious Eats]
· Hundreds Waited For Hours to Get Absinthe in Oakland [NBC, via Alcademics]

All new openings—big and small— are served up on a regular basis by The Dish. Notice a debut in your 'hood? Your sightings to The Dish Hotline.

1) Kabuki Kitchen: Opening right on schedule tonight are the trio of establishments in the remodeled Sundance Cinemas Kabuki complex. Everything opens tonight: the third-floor bistro, the second-floor bar and the main event on Post Street: the new and improved Kabuki Kitchen spearheaded by Vincent Schofield (menu here). The good folks at the restaurant have been quite adamant about not being photographed, so we have no images to share of the interior, but delectable eye candy on the bistro, bar and cinema lobby (pictured) can be had in our sneak peek from earlier in the week. 1865 Post Street at Fillmore, Japantown/Fillmore; (415) 409-6878, website [Eater Staff]

2) La Trappe: The curious doings on the corner of Columbus and Greenwich continue. As far as we can tell, after La Trappe plastered its windows and walls with announcements of its December 1st "grand" opening, it did indeed host guests that weekend, only to be open intermittently since then, confusing many a prospective diner. A new note on the website now declares the following: "Thank you all for coming out and making our opening night a success. We will be open for normal business hours starting Saturday December, 15th at 6pm." Memo to La Trappe: for future reference, a soft opening does not a grand opening make. 800 Greenwich Street at Columbus, North Beach; website [Eater Staff]

[Photo: Curbed's Jimmy Stamp]

The Kabuki bistro: one of the complex's three dining/drinking venues. [Photo: Curbed SF]

· More on the Revitalized Kabuki Development [Chron]
· Bar Crudo to Alter Menu Slightly, Make Locals Sad [B&P]
· Bourdain Makes Us Feel Better About Eating Foie Gras [EfV]
· New Presidio Starbucks Causing a Stir [SFBG]
· Reactions to the Cafe Flore Victory [SFBG]
· Serpentine Gets the Daily Candy Treatment [DC]

As you can tell by the above exterior shot, things aren't quite complete at Kabuki Kitchen on the corner of Post and Fillmore, but rest assured the mega-project is close to completion and still slated to debut Friday. Surely you remember all the details, but if not, here they are: there will be three separate dining/drinking venues within the remodeled movie theater, all under the control of Boulevard vet Vincent Schofield. The top floor of the new cinema will house a casual bistro eatery. On the second floor, there will be a self-contained bar, and pictured above is the adjacent, street-level restaurant. Of the three, the restaurant has the most ways to go in this final week, but lucky for you, while exploring the new theater, the kids over at Curbed also took a look inside the (quite picturesque) bistro and bar areas. Their mass of findings follows:

The Kabuki Kitchen: 10 days away?

Last week, the restaurant at Yoshi's experienced the difficulty of meeting a firm opening date, as it was forced to postpone its publicized Wednesday debut. Yoshi's delay serves as Exhibits 1 and 1A why restaurants don't often set opening dates in stone; simply put, there are just too many issues that arise. We reference last week's happenings at Yoshi's because just up the street lies another sizable project with a firm date in mind. Thus far, the unpredictability—not to mention difficulty—of the steadfast opening hasn't deterred the three-tiered Kabuki Kitchen opening in the Sundance theater. They are maintaining their "set in stone" December 14th opening date, which is quite admirable considering the scope of the project: three distinct establishments—a bar, a bistro and restaurant—scattered across three floors in the theater space. How will the next 10 days play out down on Post Street? Rest assured we'll be watching.
· Eater Exclusive: Kabuki Kitchen Arrives in December [~ESF~]
· Breaking Yoshi'sWire: Restaurant Won't Open Wednesday [~ESF~]

Ask and ye shall receive. After yesterday's reader query as to the doings at the Sundance Kabuki Kitchen right next door to the newly-opened Sundance Cinema, a little Japantown investigation was in order, and as it turns out, quite the renovation is taking place at 1865 Post.

Here's the scoop: it's a complete overhaul, but the Kabuki Kitchen name will remain and is still owned by Sundance Cinemas. Not one, not two, but three new establishments are underway. Breathe in. On the third floor of the movie theater will be a bistro-type eatery, and on the second floor, there will be an over-21 bar/cocktail lounge. Both will be open to the public, so you won't have to buy a movie ticket to frequent said establishments.

But the main event is on the ground floor: the Kabuki Kitchen will be a spacious, restaurant-lounge serving upscale New American-Mediterranean cuisine. With booths and bars aplenty, they're going for a trendy, chic atmosphere. Overseeing the entire operation is Executive Chef Vincent Schofield (who worked at Boulevard), and all three aspects of the project will debut together on the steadfast date of December 14. Fillmore rising, indeed.