Kokkari Suffers Fire, Bluestem Loses Another Chef

Kokkari. [Photo: Flickr/Bill in DC]

JACKSON SQUARE — A fire today at Kokkari (200 Jackson) caused a full evacuation, but there has been no damage to the restaurant. It's now closed until the fire department says it can reopen, so rushing over for dinner tonight is probably not the best thought. [ISSF]

HEALDSBURG — Ari and Dawnelise Rosen plan to follow up their acclaimed Italian restaurant Scopa with a new restaurant around the corner. Informally dubbed Scopa II for now, the name will change by the time it's tossing out wood-fired pizzas to al fresco diners in (hopefully) June. [7X7]

CHEF SHUFFLES — The second recent lineup change at Bluestem Brasserie since chef Sean Canavan left finds consulting pastry chef James Ormsby making way for a new hire who is able to devote full-time efforts to the restaurant. It sounds like Ormsby has plenty of other stuff to work on, including book proposals. [ISSF]

KELLERVERSE — Thomas Keller isn't particularly impressed by locavorism. "What restaurant isn't farm to table?" he asks the NYT. "I think about quality, not geography." Zing! [NYT via Eater National]