Lunch money
Quince, best cheeseburger in the Bay Area, Dolores Heights listings, Japantown's best, non-power lunches, Yonder Shop, Cavana, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Quince, for lunch
Quince co-owner and chef Michael Tusk always envisioned offering lunch service at his Jackson Square flagship. After all, Tusk’s more casual restaurant next door, Cotogna, is one of the most popular lunch spots in the city, with lines out the door every day.
The time has finally come. Last month, Tusk kicked off a six-course Friday-only summer lunch at Quince, priced $195 per. A flurry of canapés come gratis, supplemental add-on courses are available, and a wine pairing tallies an extra $145 per.
The restaurant underwent an 11-month renovation last year. Gone is the dimly lit, windowless room with tables dressed in ironed white linens. In its place is a space filled with spectacular natural light; now, you feel as though you’re dining in someone’s home. The color scheme runs green and tan, lighter than before, with cushioned wooden chairs and polished tables. It gives a relaxed counterbalance to the formal, detailed, attentive service.
At a recent Friday lunch, a trio of pastas included handmade trofie with a Hokkaido sea urchin “carbonara,” fresh squid and mussels from Monterey Bay, as well as tomato, basil, and sea grapes. Tusk also steamed suzuki — the Japanese sea bass seen frequently as an upscale sushi offering — and served it with demi-sec tomatoes, roasted fennel and pattypan squash, and a drizzle of lemon verbena pistou. A chop, saddle, sausage, and spit-roasted leg of lamb sourced from Don Watson’s milk-fed Napa flock rounded out the savory courses.
For dessert, there are duel chariots of sliced-to-order tarts and highly allocated vintage amaros. A lunch like this (in a room like this) will have you forgetting you’re not in Paris. –Lee Pitofsky
→ Quince (Jackson Square) • 470 Pacific Ave • Lunch Fri 12-1p, Dinner Tues-Sat 5-9p • Reserve.
SF RESTAURANT LINKS: China Basin destination Saison opens wine bar down the street • Tenderloin Indian spot New Delhi is where the deals happen • Buzzy pizza pop-up Jules has Tartine roots • Airbnb work-from-home policies shutter SoMa’s Bellota.
REAL ESTATE • On the Market
Sunny and steep
Dolores Heights sits atop a hill so steep, Muni’s Metro light rail system had to be rerouted around it or risk sliding off its tracks. Bordered by the Castro, Noe Valley, and Upper Market, it’s got a multitude of amenities within walking distance, though the trip to those spots is notably easier than the trip home. On the plus side, your fitness tracker will light up with all those inclines you’re tackling.
About 50 homes sold in Dolores Heights and the adjacent Eureka Valley in the last 12 months, with a median sales price of $2.59M, per Compass. That brisk trade made for a fascinating mix of polished renos, multi-unit opportunities, and rough gems waiting for the right buyer. Here, three current listings that reflect that spectrum:
→ 405 Hill St (Eureka Valley, above) • 3BR/3.1BA, 2835 SF house • Ask: $3.9M • 1908 free-standing home with Noe Valley view • Days on market: 3 • Agent: Rachel E. Swann, Coldwell Banker.
→ 851-853 Church St (Dolores Heights) • 5BR/2.2BA, 2750 multi-family • Ask: $1.5M • 1909 two-flat corner building with five parking spaces and vacant top-floor unit • Days on market: 5 • Agent: Robin Whiteside, Corcoran Icon.
→ 108 Chattanooga St (Dolores Heights) • 4BR/2BA, 3084 SF house • Ask: $1.7M • 1878 Victorian fixer-upper with original rosettes and wainscoting • Days on market: 11 • Agent: Barry Brostoff, Coldwell Banker.
SF WORK AND PLAY LINKS: Tony climbing gym Touchstone Climbing headed to vast Outer Mission space • Hardly Strictly Bluegrass (Oct 4-6) drops lineup featuring Robyn Hitchcock, Glen Hansard • Napa’s Vintage Wine Estates files Chapter 11, will sell all assets • LinkedIn survey records career confidence at four-year low • How to manage the career arc of superstar employees.
GETAWAYS • Bodega
Feeling lucky
The best cheeseburger in the Bay Area can be found at the Casino Bar & Grill in the tiny community of Bodega (not to be confused with Bodega Bay). The landmark roadhouse saloon is off the beaten path, 60 miles from San Francisco, in western Sonoma County.
The ride out — take Lucas Valley Road in Marin County off 101 — is one of the most beautiful in the world. Once there, find a pool table, a jukebox, and a pinball machine. The rustic cash-only Casino Bar entertains a mix of bikers, locals, marijuana trimmers, and coastal travelers, with seating inside and out.
The smashburger sits under a toasted bun, pickles, ketchup, and a secret sauce — all for nine bucks. Other choices include a grilled cheese sandwich, a hot dog, tuna melt, and Polish sausage. All are served in an open box like you get at the fairgrounds.
On Friday and Saturday nights, the bar offers a live band and a more extensive dinner menu, ingredients for which come from the garden in back and are otherwise sourced locally (including fish fresh out of the Pacific). Order local wines, draft beer from the Anderson Valley, and any cocktail you desire. An empty seat at the bar can be tough to find midday on weekends, but that’s okay, you’ll wait. –Brad Inman
→ Casino Bar & Grill (Bodega) • 17000 Bodega Hwy • 10a-9p daily.
GETAWAYS LINKS: In SFO’s Terminal One, Alaska Airlines launches new lounge • Stateline Road Smokehouse will be Napa’s first Kansas City BBQ spot • Top Chef alum Richard Blais to open Kestrel at Indian Wells Golf Resort in Palm Springs this fall • Why airlines in Hawaii are always one step away from chaos.
WORK • The Cafeteria
Non-power lunches
Last week’s news that chef Daniel Boulud is launching a corporate catering business in New York seemed like a natural evolution in the world of office amenities.
Meals are a key battleground in the war against work-from-home, and it’s hard to compete with a well-stocked refrigerator. Boulud could do it, though maybe not for everyone (prices start at $30 a person for breakfast and could hit $1000 for “a parade of caviar and truffles,” per Bloomberg).
Fresh out of college, my investment banking friends used to crow about free dinner via Seamless every time they stayed late to work, 18-hour days a small price to pay for Sparks at your desk.
I used to enjoy bringing lunch back to my office from the neighborhood, too, even though it was usually on my own dime. It was better in the East Village — where the options weren’t tailored to office workers — than in Midtown, where they definitely were. But in all locations, the novelty inevitably wore off.
Now, in the home office, I usually piece together some leftovers in a way that feels luxurious only in that I’m in complete control. It’d be a hard routine to give up.
Of course, when a business lunch with an old friend is an option, I’ll happily make exceptions. I might even come into an office for Boulud delivery. Maybe I’d stay past dinner as a fair trade for the caviar parade. –Josh Albertson
CULTURE & LEISURE • Mix It Up
Esperanza Spalding • Fox (Oakland) • Fri @ 8p • PIT Row C, $142 per
Olivia Rodrigo • Chase Center (SoMa) • Sat @ 730p • 223 Row C, $258 per
Matt McCusker • San Jose Improv (San Jose) • Sat @ 7p • GA, $30 per
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Look yonder
Ceramicist Linda Fahey is no stranger to pivots. The hand builder (“I don’t do wheel,” she says with a slightly dismissive brow furrow) quit her corporate job after an unexpectedly massive order from Urban Outfitters, and a shop in Pacifica soon followed, featuring her work as well as a selection of home goods and apparel that passed her discerning muster.
A move for the business to San Francisco — where her family goes back five or six generations — was cut short, after the newly built-out shop caught fire in 2018. Things had just gotten back to normal when the pandemic hit. So: Fahey put the store behind glass, and threw her lot in with high-end design gallery Coup d’Etat. Collabs with big names such as Ken Fulk followed, as did custom tile commissions for clients too famous to mention.
But now her sunny corner shop is back open for customers, fully restocked with Fahey’s coastal-meets-anti-hero work and what the leads of AbFab would call “gorgeous little things” such as sheepskin rugs, unusual leather placemats, or impulse pops like hand-milled soaps or candles. Fahey is almost always there, punching some clay in her studio in the back — and there’s typically a dog or two to greet you. –Eve Batey
→ Shop: Yonder Shop (Inner Richmond) • 701 11th Ave • 11a-4p Wed-Sun.
BARS • First Round
Rooftops rising
Cavana, on the top floor of Mission Bay’s Luma Hotel, has been buzzing since it opened last year, for good reason. It’s a full-fledged rooftop scene that also serves serious drinks (it just won a Spirited Award for the best new cocktail bar in the West).
On a recent Friday night, plenty of tech dudes in backpacks wandered through the jungle plants, along with a party of women wearing flower (bachelorette or birthday) crowns. My friend and I managed to avoid them all, as we looked at the view of the ballpark before sinking into a couch by a fire pit.
Many of those award-winning cocktails feature tequila, mezcal, or rum, like the pretty pink Guyaba (tequila, guava, rose), the crystal clear Hoja Santa (mezcal, kiwi, and savory herb hoja santa), or the coffee lover’s Banano (rum, coffee, banana milk). Also a hit: the Michelada Verde, with its tangy tomatillo. It all went down easy, all the more so with fresh snacks like halibut ceviche and good guac — and, of course, that view, as great a chaser as you’ll find. –Becky Duffett
→ Cavana (Mission Bay) • 100 Channel St, 17th Fl • Sun–Tues 4-11p, Wed & Thurs 4p-12a, Fri & Sat 11a-1a.
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GOODS & SERVICES • The Nines
Japantown, shopping & dining
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Nari (1625 Post St, above), Pim Techamuanvivit’s awards-bedecked plant-filled Thai destination