Chef Rick Hackett and his wife Meredith Melville are jumping back in the business as restaurant owners. If all goes as planned they will open a pan-American grill called Bocanova (new tastes) by the end of June in Jack London Square.
The space formerly housed the Old Spaghetti Factory and is about 6500 square feet. They’ll have about 250 seats, which includes patio dining and the bar. Private dining for 28 should be a draw in that neighborhood. The address is 66 Franklin St.
Hackett’s former sous chef, Ross Kaplan, is coming back from Baltimore to be chef de cuisine.
Hackett and Melville had a good run at Enrico’s, although the eleven-month delay in opening racked up debt they were never able to overcome. In 2000, Hackett left Enrico’s and began cooking at Doug Biederbeck and Joseph Graham’s
Florio on Fillmore. When they opened Market Bar in the Ferry Building, Hackett was tapped as exec chef.
In the meantime, Melville was doing event promotions, and is now selling olive oil and working a couple of nights at Florio. Once again living in the East Bay, they heard about the developments going on at Jack London Square and hopped on it.
(Photo: Yucatan Seafood stew)
“I’ve been working with Latino cooks for many years now, and I’ve picked up recipes, ideas about New-World flavors,” Hackett explains.
Designer Michael Guthrie will do the interior. He is also the designer behind
Bottega, Michael Chiarello’s new place in Yountville.
Meanwhile at the square, Il Pescatore, Scott’s Seafood, and Kincaid’s are rumored to gross $18 million among them. A new contender, Miss Pearl’s Jam House is packing them in.
(Photo: “Lomo” Steak filet with aji panca sauce)
And in the best of all worlds for restaurateurs, the developer is providing more parking spaces, valet parking, and a shuttle from the 12th Street BART station.
Across the new plaza, Ellis Partners are building a six-story, mixed-use building, which will house a market hall on two floors and three or four restaurants and office space. Daniel Patterson, the well-known San Francisco chef behind Coi, will open Bracina, a 3,000-square-foot restaurant on the market hall’s ground level. In June, the Oakland farmers’ market moves to the plaza.
Who says there’s no “there” there in Oakland?
Giovanni Toracca is a man on a mission. He helped open Palermo Deli, recently purchased the Italian-French bakery, and now is poised to open a deli on Vallejo Street in North Beach.
Ever the builder, Toracca has gutted a shop on the 700 block. Details are slim, so we don’t know the ETA or the name. With all those policeman toiling away across the alley at Central Station, he’ll have lots of customers.
Bruno’s Pizzeria Cucina, across the street from Yoshi’s a couple of weeks ago. The address is 1375 Fillmore Street.
Also across the street from Oliveria’s new venue (his other restaurant is in Livermore for 10 years, and before that Pleasanton for 20 years) is a Domino’s Pizza.
Oliveria says he decided to open a place here because the Fillmore culture is on the rise with
The night I was there, a Friday, pizzas were flying out the door for delivery. The whole scene was happy chaos: Oliveria was stretching dough and manning the gas-fired pizza oven, all the while barking orders to his cooks. You can order online or go see the action in person.
Once again, the haircuts — see picture of Steven — that would be Steve and Jared Rivera of Rivera Public Relations, mounted a great Battle of the Chefs at Macy’s Cellar in San Francisco.
(Photo: Steven Rivera talks to me about scoring)
It was a battle of old and new styles, an older chef, Hoss Zare of Zare at
The secret ingredient was beef; so when it was unveiled, the chefs politely selected cuts. I have judged several of these matches, but this one was the most frenetic.
Zare’s offerings included a yogurt-marinated steak grilled, and topped with an herb salsa. Leiva made an amazing empanada, which he bathed in hickory smoke and then served in a covered cloche.
I scored both the chefs on taste presentation and use of ingredients and when I added up the scores, it was a tie. I thought each had done a great job within the context of their styles. The other two judges pushed Leiva over the top.
The next Battle of the Chefs will be Jennifer Biesty of Scala’s vs. Dominque Crenn of Luce onMarch 4 at 6 p.m. in the Cellar at Macy’s. Admission is $10; cocktails or wine is served and hors d’oeuvres. Don’t miss it!
Part of the secret of life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.
— Mark Twain
The greenest chef in San Francisco, that I’ve met, is Steven Levine. Levine first came west to open Freestyle in the town of Sonoma for restaurateur for Drew Nieporent. Nine years ago he took over a star-crossed space in the Rincon Annex and has made the
I stopped by to try his new menu. If you’re in the neighborhood, be sure to tuck into his Wagyu beef carpaccio, served with artichoke fritters and caper and lemon aioli, or the juicy Niman Ranch burger with all the bells and whistles.
But the green story is that Levine, sick like the rest of us from paying through the nose for gasoline, bought a 1978 Mercedes Diesel — 300D for $3500 on EBay. For only $900, he converted it to run on the used canola oil from his restaurant. Levine says the only extra cost is that he has to change the fuel filter more often. “Sometimes when we’re driving, one of my daughters says she can smell French fries. I don’t know why every chef doesn’t do this,” said Levine with a chuckle.
SKKY, has launched a new infused flavor: pineapple. This new flavor joins its line of fruit-infused libations: citrus, cherry, passion fruit, raspberry, and grape. All the flavors are made from real fruit.
SKKY Spirits is totally owned subsidiary of Gruppo Campari. The idea behind the pineapple flavor is that mixologists and plain old bartenders will use pineapple SKKY in Tiki cocktails like Scorpion Bowls, Mai Tais and Pina Coladas.
The bottles are priced as follows: 50 ml $1.99; 750 ml $18.49 and 1 liter $26.49. I tasted the pineapple and the passion fruit — both are yummy. Locally, Steven Oliver at
Le Colonial invented a new drink with the pineapple vodka. It’s called a Shaka Shocker. Drink wiz Oliver mixes together SKKY pineapple vodka, Cointreau Noir, orange juice, a splash of pineapple juice, and a dash each of Angostura Bitters and Maraschino liqueur. He garnishes it with a flamed orange peel. Zowie!
My intrepid spy in Santa Rosa opined that with two new restaurants opening in town, it’s almost like there is no recession.
Jack and Tony’s opened last Thursday at 115 Fourth St. in Railroad Square. Step up to the bar for 100 labels of fire water (whiskey) and classic all-American dishes. The chef-owner is Jack Mitchell, formerly of Sassafras. And something called GG’s Earth and Surf is coming to 630 Third Street most likely in late February. It’ll focus on locally sourced veggies and seafood.
Second SCOOP contest:
Translate this phrase and win my signed copy of A16’s cookbook:
For more information about GraceAnn’s tours of North Beach, Chinatown, The New Mission, and Nob Hill, visit www.graceannwalden.net or contact her at gaw@sbcglobal.net.
The night I was there, a Friday, pizzas were flying out the door for delivery. The whole scene was happy chaos: Oliveria was stretching dough and manning the gas-fired pizza oven, all the while barking orders to his cooks. You can order online or go see the action in person. 
(Photo: GAW, DAVE KARRAKER AND JESSICA BATTILANA)
But the green story is that Levine, sick like the rest of us from paying through the nose for gasoline, bought a 1978 Mercedes Diesel — 300D for $3500 on EBay. For only $900, he converted it to run on the used canola oil from his restaurant. Levine says the only extra cost is that he has to change the fuel filter more often. “Sometimes when we’re driving, one of my daughters says she can smell French fries. I don’t know why every chef doesn’t do this,” said Levine with a chuckle. 
The bottles are priced as follows: 50 ml $1.99; 750 ml $18.49 and 1 liter $26.49. I tasted the pineapple and the passion fruit — both are yummy. Locally, Steven Oliver at
