Dunkin’ Donuts Hits South SF, Chicago’s In Situ Ripoff, and More A.M. Intel

Dunkin’ Donuts creeps ever closer to SF proper

Today marks Dunkin’ Donuts’ arrival in South San Francisco, marking the closest location yet to San Francisco proper. It’s located at 180 S. Airport Blvd., and it opened at 5 a.m. today for eager East Coast transplants and anyone in need of a caffeine and sugar boost. From here on out, the coffee and doughnut shop will be open daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. This is the fourth Bay Area location, following Walnut Creek, Half Moon Bay, and American Canyon. There are 24 more to come in Alameda and San Mateo counties over the next few years.

Chicago’s Next rips off In Situ

It’s the culinary version of Inception: the premise of San Francisco’s critically-acclaimed In Situ is that it presents dishes from famous chefs around the world — with permission from those chefs — in their exact form. So it’s basically an allowed version of copycatting, since credit is being given. Now, though, In Situ’s copycatting is being copycatted, by Chicago’s critically-acclaimed Next, which switches concepts three times a year. The restaurant’s last concept of 2017 will feature replicate dishes from restaurants off of the World’s 50 Best list. This time, though, Next is not giving any credit to In Situ for having the idea first, and some of the chefs are even the same (Massimo Bottura, Tim Raue, Virgilio Martinez-Feliz). Drama, drama, drama.

An update on Lefty O’Doul’s

The battle for Union Square baseball-themed hofbrau Lefty O’Doul’s rages on, but in the meantime, current owner Nick Bovis is holding a closing party tonight, Wednesday, February 1, with two bands and resident piano player Frank O’Connor taking the stage. Mayor Ed Lee and several current and former baseball players are expected to be in attendance, SF Examiner reports. The controversy here stems from the fact that Bovis claims he owns Lefty O’Doul’s, while the building’s landlord, the Handlery family, also makes the same claim. They have taken the fight to court.

Omakase’s little sister restaurant Okane adds brunch

Michael Ogata

Brunch is now part of Okane’s repertoire, the casual sushi restaurant from the Omakase team in SoMa. It starts Saturday, February 11 as a prix fixe brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a kaiseki-style meal. For $18, $20, or $22, dishes include salad, miso soup, pickles, and rice, as well as four choices of things like grilled fish, chicken teriyaki, sesame tofu, and more. Check out the full menu below.

Former St. Vincent owner makes his next move

David Lynch, former owner of the now-shuttered Mission wine bar St. Vincent, has resurfaced in a new role: editorial director of SommSelect. It’s a Sonoma company that sends a daily wine offer via email, Inside Scoop reports. Lynch will be overseeing the writing of the daily emails as well as adding a blog, combining his wine background with his editorial experience as James Beard Award-winning wine writer and the author of “Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy” with Joe Bastianich and “The Wine Snob’s Dictionary” with David Kamp.