Welcome back to the Plywood Report, your regular, all-encompassing chronicle of the next generation of restaurants to grace our fair city. Spot something new on your block? Let us know. Bonus points and an Olympic torch if you include photos.
1) Hayes Valley: Continuing to approach the post-plywood finish line is Frjtz on Hayes Street. After the original Hayes Valley location closed in '07, the Belgian fries joint had to take the space directly next door. Since the shuffle, they've opened a bigger, trendier joint in the Mission, and from a look inside the upcoming one, it will probably be smaller than the Valencia one, but may incorporate many of the same trendy design elements like the molding, chairs, etc. [PLYWOOD]
2) Noe Valley: Up next, we have the second branch of Toast in the old Herb's Fine Food location at 3991 24th St. The entire facade has been covered up by fresh plywood, and a peek above reveals that there's a whole new exterior on the place. Apologies to all those who wanted them to keep that bright lime green Herb's facade. [PLYWOOD]
3) Noe Valley: A few blocks down 24th Street from Toast, Contigo is also recently covered up at 1320 Castro Street. Clearly, the old computer store look is not the preferred one for a trendy new restaurant by a blogger-chef. [PLYWOOD]
4) The Mission: It's been some time since we've checked in with Pizzeria, the Italian restaurant (and pizzeria!) next door to New Yorker's Buffalo Wings at 659 Valencia between 16th and 17th. Back in November, it looked like it was ready to roll out, with staffing underway and a dining room set for service, but since then, it's been gaining cobwebs. All logos are down, as are help wanted ads. Did it die before getting off the ground? [PLYWOOD]
5) Union Square: New Starbucks signage is up in the Hilton lobby, right next to Donna Scala's upcoming Urban Tavern. Please plan your weekend accordingly. [PLYWOOD]
6) Financial District: Part one of our mystery plywood tour brings us to the corner of Montgomery and Washington, right at the base of the TransAmerica Building and next door to Chiaroscuro. The address: 582 Washington. The liquor license applicants is Aventine, LLC and there's no DBA. Looking inside, the space is still very raw but work is underway. Anyone know anything? [PLYWOOD]
7) The Mission: More mystery plywood is at 530 Valencia (16th/17th) in the Mish, where there is a change of use application up (zoom in version here). The plan is to install a "full-service restaurant" on the ground floor in the retail space. This would never fly in North Beach; the Mission, though? Probably. [PLYWOOD]
