Dear Inga Will Be an Ode to an Eastern European Grandmother in the Mission

Since the newest restaurant from the team behind Liholiho Yacht Club was announced early this spring, updates have been scarce. Now, the restaurant has a name: Dear Inga is named after chef David Golovin’s grandmother. It also has an opening timeline, with plans to open the doors in September 2019.

Golovin — who has cooked at SF heavyweights like Spruce, Rubicon, La Folie, and Nopa — will harness that Eastern European heritage as a focal point for the restaurant; he and partners chef Ravi Kapur (Liholiho Yacht Club, Louie’s Gen Gen Room) and Jeff Hanak (Nopa, Liholiho Yacht Club, Louie’s Gen Gen Room) have been traveling in Georgia, doing research for the menu. Fermentation, live fire cooking, and smoking will all be favored techniques, with grilled meats and platters of smoked fish as prime examples of the cuisine. There’ll be local beer, wine, and cocktails, with an added emphasis on Georgian wines.

Dear Inga’s well-placed location on 18th Street (in the former Farina space) will feature two outdoor dining options: sidewalk seating (a draw for diners with dogs and families with strollers), and a rooftop patio and bar. Seth Boor (Boor Projects) is working on the redesign of the space.

If all goes according to plan, when the restaurant opens in September it will serve dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., with brunch planned for the future.