culture@sfbg.com
CHOW NOW
The next time you’re in North Beach and you — or your guests from out of town — are craving some classic San Francisco seafood, head on over to the new location of Ferry Plaza Seafood (653 Union, SF. www.ferryplazaseafood.com), right off Washington Square. While the original location at the Ferry Building Marketplace is no longer with us, this iteration has an actual kitchen, so you’ll find an expanded menu with all kinds of hot dishes, not just oysters on the half shell. Dinner service is kicking off first, with plenty of tables in this light-filled spot, and there’s a long counter where you can sit and enjoy a variety of quality wines and beers too. In a few weeks, you’ll be able to return for happy hour specials and lunch. For now, hours are Mon–Thu 5:30pm–10pm and Fri–Sat 5:30pm–11pm.
This coming weekend (Fri/1 through Sun/3) is Eat Drink SF (www.eatdrink-sf.com), with a variety of tasting events, demos, workshops, dinners, and more. A bunch of the city’s better chefs will be there, along with fab bartenders, too. The Grand Tasting Pavilion at Fort Mason will feature busy tastings throughout the weekend, and yours truly is moderating a demo with Fabio Viviani, Sat/2 at 10:30am. Fabio will be preparing orecchiette pasta with pesto, why don’t you join us for some sassy Italian banter? Tickets start at $30 for single events, but lots of packages for events and pavilion tastings are available. And here’s a special offer for all tablehopper friends (that would be you, darling): receive 15 percent off all Lexus Grand Tasting events with the code TABLEHOPPER. Sweet!
BALLIN’ ON A BUDGET
Anyone who loves fried chicken is going to want to check out this new pop-up on Tuesday evenings at The Residence (718 14th St., SF.) called Uncle Brother’s Chicken (www.facebook.com/unclebrotherchicken). Wes Rowe, of WesBurger fame, and his brother Walker Rowe are frying up different regional styles of fried chicken — from around the world! — each week. Last week’s Southern fried chicken with pimento mac and cheese and fried okra was $12. There are some other items too, like chicken on a biscuit with pepper jelly and honey butter ($6). Bwok bwok gobble gobble. 6pm–10pm.
The charming Biondivino (1415 Green, SF. www.biondivino.com) wine shop in Russian Hill is hosting a fun wine bar and bruschetta pop-up for the next month, Troëggi a Biondivino, and trust, you’ll want to check it out. Owner Ceri Smith is hosting Emanuele Fromento of Ai Troëggi of Genova, a well-known natural wine bar that is also famous for its menu of bruschette. For the next month, Biondivino is going to be offering 15 classic kinds of Genovese bruschette, all on Josey Baker bread, with toppings like Taleggio, zucchini, and prosciutto cotto, or the “spussona,” with Gorgonzola, onion, and spicy arugula.
Prices range from $4 to $12, which will pair well with a variety of natural wines that will be poured in tandem (two sparkling choices, three to five whites, three to five reds, plus a rosé), all for just $10 a glass. Best of all, come by 5pm–7pm to experience Italian aperitivo, which means you get a complimentary mini bruschetta with pesto, tomato, garlic, and olive oil with your first glass. If you want to hang out some more, you can also order cheese and salumi plates, and tiramisù for dessert. Hours are Wed–Sun 5pm until closing (probably 11pm or so), through Aug. 31. Cin cin!
Marcia Gagliardi is the founder of the weekly tablehopper e-column; subscribe for more at www.tablehopper.com. Get her app: Tablehopper’s Top Late-Night Eats. On Twitter: @tablehopper.