EaterWire: Manzare Takes Moose's, Front Room Doneski?

James Newman, 12/20/07

NORTH BEACH—With the paint on the remodel still wet, and just when you thought that Moose's was in stable mode, Joseph Manzare goes ahead and buys the place: "Sometime next month, Moose's (1652 Stockton St.) will become Joey & Eddie's ... Manzare and [Ed] Maiello will run the space as Moose's for the next few weeks before changing it to the family-style Italian restaurant modeled after some of their favorite childhood haunts." Major props to Manzare and Maiello for resurrecting the old school (we heart the old school), but um, a classic Italian-American joint ... in North Beach? [Inside Scoop]

NOB HILL—It's an old-timer day, we suppose, as Lady Hopstress has it that the Front Room has joined Scott Howard in the "not reopening after all" category. Probably. Quoth the Hoppa: "I'm sorry to report that it appears the ~FRONT ROOM~ has closed for good, after 40-plus years of business (Sam Duvall originally opened it in 1967). After getting squeezed out of its 1500 California Street home by the [insert whatever adjective/string of descriptors you want] landlord Luisa Hanson, it moved down the street to the tinier space at 1550 California last year. The phone is now disconnected..." Maybe they went on vacation and forgot to pay the Verizon bill? [Tablehopper]

CHAINLAND—Alice Waters, your Edible Schoolyard project just got a little more challenging/urgent, as Burger King is teaming up with Kraft for mac n' cheese: "Burger King next week will start offering single servings of macaroni and cheese in test markets, said Heather Krasnow, a company spokeswoman. 'It's something we are considering for kids,' Krasnow said, though she added that the product is not aimed solely at children." [Chicago Tribune]