EaterWire: Fifth Floor Revamping Again, Pi's $3.14 Slice

SOMA—Roughly 18 months or so after he first took over the restaurant food operations, Laurent Manrique has bowed out of Fifth Floor, per tomorrow's Scoop. Manrique says the move is motivated by economic reasons. Executive chef Jennie Lorenzo will take the restaurant in another direction: New American cuisine with a "casual dining aspect." [Scoop]

THE MISSION—For all those wondering: yes, Valencia Street's Pi Bar will indeed offer (cheese) slices for the tidy sum of $3.14 and the plan is to be open until midnight. [BJ, previously]

TIPPING POINTS—Get this man to Fish & Farm, because Corby Kummer has had it up to here with this whole tipping thing: "It was all enough to make me get behind the China system, as the whole business of tipping in coffee shops let alone restaurants is fairly recent and fairly vexing...The current system doesn't seem to please anybody, so consider this an invitation to submit solutions." [The Atlantic via Eater NY]

SAN FRANCISCO—Even though it's still rough out there for restaurants, don't think for a second that restaurateurs are sitting on their hands: "Businesses that appear to be searching most actively for space in San Francisco include restaurants, markets and drugstores, according to Edward Plant, owner of Edward Plant Co. Inc., which specializes in leasing retail space in San Francisco." [SFE]

[Photo: Jennifer Yin]