Metallica, Dave Matthews, G-Eazy Headline Wine Country Benefit Concert at AT&T Park

Band Together Bay Area announces benefit concert

As firefighters near containment of the North Bay’s destructive wildfires, artists including Metallica, G-Eazy, and Dave Matthews have announced plans to headline a benefit show at AT&T Park called Band Together Bay Area in support of fire relief efforts. They’re collecting funds for the Tipping Point Emergency Relief Fund, a charity that will distribute it to North Bay community foundations. The fundraising effort, as rumored earlier this week, is also orchestrated by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who is already using AT&T park for his company’s conference, Dreamforce, just days earlier. In a video promotion, Metallica’s Lars Ulrich explains that his local group “has been proud to represent all things San Franciscan and the Bay area,” adding that “the recent tragic events up in Napa County, Sonoma County, Mendocino, have left us all saddened.” Kirk Hammett, the band’s guitarist, nearly lost his home in Sonoma to the fires.

Coffee is the new metal

Speaking of Hammet, the Metallica member is also in the news for dipping his toes into the coffee game. His guitar pedal company, KHDK, collaborated with Chicago’s Dark Matter Coffee to create a roast named Ghoul Screamer after his signature pedal effect — very metal.

Cheese School relocating to Ghirardelli Square

Owner Kiri Fisher has announced she’s moving the “campus” of her SF Cheese School to Ghirardelli Square, departing her current Folsom Street digs behind Stable Cafe. Fisher will add a counter service cafe and retail space at the new location, opening sometimes this spring, while continuing to offer classes and tastings.

Patrick Wong

Smitten cross-pollinates with Boba Guys

Smitten Ice Cream is taking Boba Guys milk tea and churning it (instantly, with the help liquid nitrogen, as is their method) into ice cream, starting tonight with a launch party event. Flavors will include dirty horchata strawberry matcha, and “duke of Earl Grey.” The flavors, starting with dirty horchata, roll out at Smitten locations in the first week of November.

Japantown sushi boat restaurant abandons ship

Isobune, a restaurant of the conveyor belt sushi ferry variety, has closed in the Kintetsu Mall. Yelpers had reported a hard tack toward poor quality and service, including many an empty sushi boat.

Wine is back at Winehaven in Richmond

In what the mayor of Richmond calls a symbolic victory, wine has returned to a building that, before it was shuttered during prohibition, ranked as the world’s largest winery, Winehaven. The winemaker was run by the California Wine Association, which controlled 80 percent of the state’s wine production at the time. These days, without running water, the site is really just suitable for storage, but it’s a start.

New deli cracks open the door

Newkirk’s, a new, East Coast-style spot for fried egg sandwiches and more, is kinda-sorta open near the hospital at 1002 Potrero Avenue (at 22nd). Apparently, owner Ryan Blumenthal has even commissioned a custom kaiser roll for his creations. Follow Newkirk’s Instagram for the details.