After Much Mourning, Kennedy’s Irish Pub & Curry House Remains Open After All

After posting a sad farewell, the North Beach mainstay Kennedy’s never wound up closing

It seems all our mourning turned out to be premature: Two months ago, Kennedy’s Irish Pub & Curry House — one of the quirkiest longstanding North Beach neighborhood institutions, serving up that ever rare Indian-Irish food and beverage combination — announced that it was closing, prompting a flurry of sad tributes from the Bay Area food media (including Eater SF). But many of Eater SF’s brilliant readers wrote in say that Kennedy’s never actually closed — as evidenced by the bar’s still-active Facebook page, currently promoting a New Year’s Eve dance night. A quick call to Kennedy’s this morning confirmed that the the pub is, in fact, still open for business, ready and willing to satisfy its customers’ Guinness and samosa cravings. Eater SF has reached out to the bar’s management to find out what caused them to have a change of heart — and what, if any, “major changes” are in the works. Stay tuned for more details.

UC Davis researchers have developed new wine grapes built to withstand climate change

Winegrowing researchers at UC Davis have just released new wine grape varietals for the first time since the 1980s, according to a university press release. The five new grapes have names like “paseante noir” (a red grape) and “ambulo blanc” (a white), which might not yet roll off the tongue, but the grapes themselves were created to resist Pierce’s disease, a deadly ailment for grape vines that has become more and more of a prevalent threat due to climate change. Even better news for wine connoisseurs? ““People that have tasted the wine made from these varieties ... are impressed that they’re resistant but also that they make good wine,” says Andrew Walker, the UC Davis professor who developed the new grapes.

Peninsula and East Bay food writers share their year-end lists

‘Tis the season for year-end roundups, which, of course, Eater SF has in spades. However, if you’re looking for even more recommendations outside of the usual San Francisco ‘hoods that tend to get the most press, both Berkeleyside Nosh and the 650 have nice “best dish”/”best meal” lists with a focus on the East Bay and Peninsula, respectively.

Contrary to popular belief, Guy Fieri and Paul Hollywood are not, in fact, the same person

After a New Jersey comedian tweeted that Great British Bake Off judge Paul Hollywood is the “fancy Guy Fieri,” based on his uncanny resemblance to the NorCal celebrity chef, Flavortown stans came out in force — pointing out, in particularly notable rejoinder, that Fieri has a reputation for doing “a bunch of charity work” while Hollywood is known for the widely publicized allegations of his marital infidelity. Ouch.