‘Top Chef’ Alum Chris Cosentino Collabs With Vans for Kitchen-Ready Shoe

Welcome to p.m. Intel, your bite-sized roundup of Bay Area food and restaurant news. Tips are always welcome, drop them here.

• Vans sneakers has teamed up with Top Chef Masters winner and former San Francisco chef Chris Cosentino — of Cockscomb, which closed in October 2020 — for a new “Made for the Makers” shoe design. Apparently, Cosentino is a skater, but the shoe is designed to be worn in kitchens, as they are slip and stain-resistant. The Vans x Chris Cosentino project will first be available for purchase by way of a cooking event that’s set to take place on the NTWRK app on March 25 at 3 p.m. PST.

• Public Taps, the brewery and taproom from Anchor Brewing, will reopen for beer consumption on Friday, March 26, as San Francisco has announced its plans to move to the orange tier of the reopening plan as soon as Wednesday, March 24. Public Taps will allow for outdoor dining with reservations required. As part of the reopening, Anchor Brewing says that it will introduce new experimental specials with its regular beer offerings — the brewery is always testing different varieties through Public Taps drafts.

• Fried chicken sandwich shop the Bird opened its second San Francisco location over the past weekend. The restaurant offers its signature sandwich with berbere-spiced chicken topped with apple slaw, biscuits, wings, salads, curly fries, and apple fritters. Located at 406 Hayes Street, the new shop is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

• Oakland’s long-standing Grand Bakery reveals its famous coconut macaroon recipe, just in time for Passover, which begins in the evening on Saturday, March 27. The Jewish bakery turns out 15,000 cookies leading up to the holiday, but now fans can make them at home — if they have a bit of patience. The only ingredients are egg whites, sugar, coconut, and vanilla, but caramelizing the mixture takes at least 90 minutes, according to the recipe. [SF Chronicle]