SF Champagne Bar the Riddler Reopens After Retrofit

“Hello, old friend”

Hayes Valley’s popular wine bar the Riddler starts popping bottles again this afternoon following a month-long seismic retrofit. That was a city-mandated earthquake safety measure, but the bar took the opportunity to refresh its interior design (by celebrated group ROY) and its menu, with seasonal items like melon and prosciutto with chili oil joining old favorites like their tater tot waffle. Up next is an East Coast sibling: Riddler owner and PR maven Jen Pelka is opening the Riddler NYC sometime this month.

Union City becomes latest to ban plastic straws

The city council of Union City, California, has voted unanimously to ban single-use plastic straws at restaurants and cafes, the Mercury News reports. The new rules go into effect next year, meaning Union City will join such other Bay Area cities as Alameda, Richmond, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco, which already have straw laws in place.

East Bay Cooks

A new cookbook by James Beard Award-winning food writer Carolyn Jung provides a snapshot of East Bay restaurants through their dishes: Recipes for items like Spanish slaw from Duende, moong dal from Vik’s Chaat, and shrimp alambre tacos from Nido. The book, East Bay Cooks, is out today.

A sushi disaster story

What happened when conveyor belt sushi chain Blue C Sushi (whose SF location was located in the Stonestown Galleria) ground to a halt? According to Eater Seattle, it’s “a cautionary tale about what can happen to a restaurant when inexperience, ample cash flow, and unchecked ambition collide.”