The food media continues to place bets on Peruvian cuisine as the next big thing, and Gaston Acurio and La Mar Cebicheria will be ground zero: "Acurio hopes to inundate the U.S. and European markets with his many brands, from a mall-friendly stuffed potato franchise to microwavable Peruvian favorites ... There's also a benefit to being unique, says Tanya Steel, editor-in-chief of Epicurious.com. 'There's not a top-notch Peruvian restaurant in America right now, so I think there's room for one,' she says." [NYDN/AP]
Napa: Not one, but two Wine Country restaurants were given the green-light for brewery operations last week. Aside from capitalizing on the more-or-less untapped (sorry) beer market, we have to say that Piccolino's, pictured, and Tuscany are kind of brilliant in another way, because a brewery license also allows for mixed drinks sales:
A Type 75 license is a more economical way to obtain the right to sell mixed drinks than it would be to bid on the open market for a regular liquor license, Joe Salerno, Piccolino's owner, said Friday.
Liquor licenses for restaurants have sold for as much as $275,000, while a brewery-liquor license is costing him $14,800, Salerno said.
Proposal info on the left; the plywooded space on the right. [Original photos: Flickr]
Berkeley: The rise of the Bay Area gastropub continues, just a few years behind everyone else. We've already got the new Magnolia in full swing, with promising upcoming projects like Urban Tavern, Mint Plaza and Yoffi also using variations of the term. And now, Berkeley's getting in on the action, with Meridian International Sports Cafe. The project at 2050 University Avenue—dubbed an "exciting gastropub in downtown Berkeley"—will encompass 7500 square feet, including 2000 on an outdoor patio, plus "a virtual theater of televisions." Sure the menu is, ahem, eclectic and uses the local-organic-seasonal buzzwords, but seriously people, not everything needs to be called a gastropub. Bars with good food are still OK. It's prime real estate; the college kids will still like it. Due date: late September, just in time for school/football season.
· Meridian International Sports Cafe [Official Site]
· Gastro-Pub Kitchen Manager (berkeley) [CL]
We suppose it was only matter of time before the gourmet coffee supertrend spawned a gourmet donut shop, and 7x7's food blog has the deets on one called Dynamo Donut and Coffee: "The new, admittedly thrilling, venture, opening on 24th Street between York and Hampshire at the beginning of July, will be serving up Four Barrel Coffee and handmade, yeast-risen donuts in flavors such as lemon-thyme with honey glaze, chocolate with spice cinnamon, bacon-apple with maple glaze and caramel fleur de sel, as well as a traditional glazed with a touch of vanilla." [B+B]
Union Square/The Marina: Down on Scott Street, right off the corner of Chestnut, the shuttered Kwanjai Thai space will soon play host to Ramen Club. Simultaneously, plywood vet Asuka Ramen is getting very close to opening itself up on Bush Street. Sure, there are a few nondescript specialty ramen joints already in town—including whatever Yelp shilling hijinks Caffeine is pulling on Friday and Saturday nights—but when the movement pops up in the Marina, well, you know a trend just might be brewing. And let's not forget about Joseph Manzare's incipient ramen plans either. Trend: certified.
Depending on how you look at things, the rash of unfortunately-named froyo shops (which often eschew capitalization), dessert lounges and other various sweet specialists is either incredibly entertaining or incredibly annoying. Either way, a tipster passes along news of a "frozen dessert shop" that might put names like yoCup, Candybar and Candy Darling to shame: currently applying for a change of use permit on Arguello is Kaleidoscoop. The preliminary recommendation for the 12-15 seat quick service restaurant is approval with conditions, and unfortunately, if scoops are involved, it's probably not another Pinkberry clone. Unless, of course, there has been a yogurt breakthrough.
Not to be outdone by cupcakes and frozen yogurt, dark dining is the latest trend to make its way north from Southern California: "Ben Uphues hired only blind and sight impaired staff for his restaurant called Opaque. The restaurant had a dry run Tuesday night at San Francisco's Ritz Carlton, but will open next month. Opaque is already a hit in Los Angeles and San Diego. Patrons eat in complete darkness while being served by the blind wait staff. The idea is one's sense of taste heightens when their sense of sight is gone." Video of the aforementioned dry run is up on CBS, complete with spilled wine, abandoned silverware, frustrated eaters and cackling blind people. [CBS]
Opening today way up in Sebastopol is Dean Biersch's Hopmonk Tavern, the latest entrant in gourmet beer bar craze. On tap (sorry) are food-beer pairings, a landmark building as the setting, and perhaps most notably, an 85-seat outdoor beer garden. According to the press release, "Hopmonk Tavern is poised to revolutionize the way we think of beer and food while reintroducing world-class craft beer to Northern California Wine Country—the little-known birthplace of craft beer." William Brand has much more on Hopmonk. 230 Petaluma Avenue, Sebastopol, (707) 829-7300; website [EaterWire]
Two days ago, Michael Ruhlman announced on his blog that he is writing an article about upcoming food trends for a "prominent cooking magazine." As of 11:30am today, he had over one hundred suggestions from his eager foodie readers. Will he find the signal in the noise? Here is a sampling of the reader ideas: "I think a nut revival, more uses of the many varieties of nuts out in the kitchen", "Foraging", "I agree with the person who said lard", "Urine salt... ugh... yeah, why not", "Cancer", "And chia seeds as an ingredient ... I think they could be the next pomegranate.", "As EVOO is now part of the general vernacular, lard will soon follow." "Crock pots, lots of crock pots", "Farm-raised elk", "Vitamin D. It's the new health scare." [Ruhlman via Eater]
Last month saw the arrival of the area's first dessert lounge proper in NoPa's Candybar, and whether you want it or not, (at least) a pair of followers are currently ramping up in its footsteps. Your sightings are encouraged. See what you started, Candybar? [Photo: Jennifer Yin, 3/31/08]
1) The Richmond: Details are still a bit murky on this one, but down on Clement and 26th Avenue, 100% Dessert Cafe will be moving into space occupied by Mario's Steak and Chops (2512 Clement). Going strictly off the name—and its liquor license application as a "beer and wine eating place"—it looks like a dessert place, but no word yet on whether it will veer more towards a casual cafe or like Candybar, towards a lounge. [EaterWire]
Comments
Napa: Not one, but two Wine Country restaurants were given the green-light for brewery operations last week. Aside from capitalizing on the more-or-less untapped (sorry) beer market, we have to say that Piccolino's, pictured, and Tuscany are kind of brilliant in another way, because a brewery license also allows for mixed drinks sales:
