Two Injured After Driver Crashes Into Mission Restaurant Parklet

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• A driver smashed into the outdoor dining parklet at Mission District Irish pub and restaurant the Napper Tandy Monday night, striking and injuring two pedestrians at the scene. Both were transported to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to SF Gate, and the driver was cited for a lane violation. Since San Francisco launched outdoor dining in June, hundreds of parking spaces across the city have turned into dining areas, which one urban design critic has said is an “accident waiting to happen.” At least two similar incidents have occurred in the Bay Area in the last year, one that resulted in a woman’s death. Photos posted to Reddit after the crash Monday night show Napper Tandy’s parklet appearing mostly destroyed; Eater has reached out to the restaurant for comment and will update this post if we hear back. [SF Gate]
• Marin county will not move into the yellow tier as previously expected, Marin health officer Dr. Matt Willis announced Tuesday, and will instead remain in orange, the second-least restrictive of California’s four-tiered reopening. Marin was on track to be the first county in the Bay Area to move into the least restrictive yellow tier, but Willis says spring break travel earlier in the month has led to a slight uptick in local coronavirus cases. Indoor service at Marin county bars will remain prohibited until the number of daily new cases stays in the single digits for two weeks straight. [SF Chronicle]
• Longtime South Beach restaurant and bakery Town’s End, which closed in November 2020, has been reopened by Nimer and Jennifer Massis, the owners of El Capitan Taquerias in San Francisco and San Bruno. The address at 2 Townsend Street is now a dual space, with one side offering Town End’s original menu and a new location of El Capitan Taqueria operating out of the other. Importantly, the original owners of Town’s End, Mary and David Sperber, have stayed on as part of the team, Mary told Eater SF. Both restaurants are open for counter service and outdoor dining, with indoor dining opening soon.
• CUESA, the organizers behind the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, is bringing back its annual summer party on June 13, this year in the form of a peak-season picnic basket. The baskets come in three different summer produce themes — berries, stone fruit, and cucurbits (the cucumber and melon family) — and include seven food items and five seasonal beverages to make “an extravagant summer lunch for one.” Baskets can be ordered to pickup at the Ferry Building through June 10 or for home delivery on Sunday, June 13.
• Two Bay Area chefs, Victor Aguilera of Arepas en Bici and Solomon Johnson of the Bussdown in Oakland, are appearing on the 420 version of Food Network show Chopped, which debuted yesterday. On the episode of “Chopped 420” three chefs compete for a $10,000 prize in the given time using a surprise basket containing a marijuana-based food item they have to use in their dish, along with a special “cannabis pantry” for them to work with. “Chopped 420” is currently streaming on Discovery+. [SF Gate]