Steiner Street to Close for Outdoor Dining, While Castro Closure Incites Ire

Welcome to p.m. Intel, your lunchtime (or so) roundup of Bay Area food and restaurant news from publications near and far. Tips are always welcome, drop them here.

• Patricia Vaughey of the Marina Cow Hollow Neighbors & Merchants Association tells the Marina Times that plans are in the works to close a portion of Steiner Street to allow outdoor dining. In fact, Vaughey says, a permit was issued but it “it was ‘ambiguous’” and “there was no explicit approval of the closure,” so her group has gone back to the city for clarification on when and where they can close the road to traffic.
• Meanwhile, the closure of 18th Street in the Castro is only in its second week, but is already in trouble, as Hoodline reports that attendees say there was “a lack of enforcement of masks and social distancing” when it launched. “It was a complete and utter shitshow there,” one attendee said, while another says that the closure featured “large groups together, people hugging and kissing total strangers, all standing with drinks and no food.”
• Eclipse, a Bay Area-based, Y Combinator-backed vegan ice cream line that’s been available at Mitchell’s and Milkbomb, is moving into retail, the East Bay Times reports. Look for it at the Market in SF, where it goes for $7 per pint.
• Petaluma-based Miyoko’s Kitchen has scored a victory in its fight to use words like “butter” and “cheese” to describe its plant-based goods, as VegNews reports that a federal court has granted a preliminary injunction preventing the California Department of Food and Agriculture from demanding that the company stop using dairy words to describe non-dairy foods. “The state’s showing of broad marketplace confusion around plant-based dairy alternatives is empirically underwhelming,” District Judge Richard Seeborg said in his ruling, writing that “Miyoko’s decision to label its product as ‘butter’ is entitled to First Amendment protection.”
• Make your outdoor dining plans now: Forecasters say that the Bay Area’s 20 days of polluted air are likely to wrap up by Wednesday, ABC 7 reports, as a high-pressure system is moving into the area.
• With downtown workers still at home, lunch-focused restaurants are crumbling, with FiDi soup and salad destination Ladle & Leaf shutting down seven spots for the foreseeable future. [SF Chronicle]
• The Presidio Trust has mounted a search for operators for two new restaurants in its Tunnel Tops development. Ten-year leases are available for a new, 6,200-square-foot restaurant space, as well as a 1,000-square-foot spot with a wood-fired oven and outdoor seating area where the Transit Cafe once stood. [SF Business Times]