NPS Has Chosen Someone to Take Over the Historic Cliff House but They Won’t Say Who

More than a year after announcing plans to seek out a tenant for the historic Cliff House, the landmark restaurant situated above Ocean Beach, the National Park Service has made its pick. It just won’t tell anyone who, exactly, has been chosen. The San Francisco Standard reports the NPS has selected a restaurant vendor to operate both the Cliff House space and the café at the nearby Lands End visitor center, according to lease documents. But the NPS refuses to share the name of the entity due to “reasons to do with contract privacy.” The park service expects to make more announcements about the vendor in the coming months.

The white neoclassical building has been dark since 2020, when the restaurant’s former owners shut down the business and made headlines for citing “federal mismanagement” as the cause of its demise. Since then, residents have been dismayed to see the iconic building subjected to vandalism, though the building also hosted two pop-up museums featuring Cliff House memorabilia in 2021 and 2022.

Board of Supervisors loosens restrictions on SoMa leather bars

Good news for patrons of SoMa’s Leather LGBTQ Cultural District: the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to lift some restrictions around entertainment licenses in parts of the neighborhood. Previously, the city banned entertainment permits for venues within 200 feet of residential households. Effectively, this meant a “de facto moratorium on new entertainment,” SFist quotes supervisor Matt Dorsey as saying. But the new looser restraints eliminate the 200-foot buffer rule for some high-profile corridors on Folsom and 11th streets.

Napa resort restaurant sued for allegedly serving foie gras

Animal rights activists are suing the parent company of the Auberge resort Stanly Ranch in Napa, after the resort restaurant allegedly planned to serve foie gras on its Valentine’s Day menu, the Chronicle reports. Gourmands may recall that California banned the sale of the ingredient, which is often produced by force-feeding geese in order to fatten their livers, in 2012 — though the law has been challenged repeatedly since then. The resort has not responded to the lawsuit but a spokesperson for Auberge told the Chronicle a “foie gras dish is not on the Valentine’s Day menu.”

Check out the barbecue chicken pizza baron’s fancy mansion

Larry Flax, the co-founder of the California Pizza Kitchen chain, has put his Beverly Hills mansion up for sale which means you can get a peek inside the $48.5 million home. SFGATE has photos including an aerial view that shows a pool, tennis courts, and a big-ass driveway.

Think love bites? Lean in at the Ferry Building

Whether you’re coupled up or not, the Ferry Building invites you to Love Bites, a tasting event hosted by Foodwise, the nonprofit operator of the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, happening Thursday, February 9. The fundraiser features a slew of merchants and wineries who will serve food and drinks at the tasting event. Notably, chef Charles Phan’s Slanted Door will be participating, bringing spring rolls and daikon radish cakes to the table. Purchase tickets in advance online.