Tapas Restaurant Cha Cha Cha Poised to Start Brewing Beer

Beer beer beer

Upper Haight staple Cha Cha Cha is getting into the beer business. Owner Irfan Yalcin has transferred the restaurant’s beer and wine license into an on-site brewing license. (Said license will also allow the bar serve margaritas, Puerto Rican punch, and other cocktails.) According to Hoodline, Yalcin plans to renovate the back bar soon to accommodate a small brewing facility and then start brewing by early November, though he hasn’t hired a head brewer yet.

Chef change at Copita

Joanne Weir’s contemporary Mexican restaurant Copita Tequileria y Comida has a new executive chef: Daniel Tellez. Tellez has already been managing the kitchen at the Sausalito restaurant for two years, but in his new role, he’ll launch new menu items starting Friday, October 5. Before joining Copita, he was an executive chef at Anona Neobistro and Starwood Hotels Westin Santa Fe Hotel, both in Mexico City.

Legendary Sonoma restaurateur dies

Willie Benedetti died last week at age 69. He was renowned both for his free-range turkeys, raised on Benedetti Farms, and Willie Birds Restaurant, an old-school favorite in Santa Rosa.

Season is out today

Oakland writer and SF Chronicle food columnist Nik Sharma’s much buzzed-about debut cookbook, Season, is finally here. And Eater has a story today with Sharma and prolific cookbook writer Julia Turshen discussing the need for diversity in the cookbook world.

What a mess

Sacramento’s Mexican restaurant chain Casa Ramos is facing a state Department of Justice investigation. The family-run company’s future is being threatened by a lawsuit alleging embezzlement, with the whole disagreement stemming from the sudden death of a family member.