CHOW NOW
For anyone left in the city and celebrating a playa dust–free Labor Day weekend, you’ll want to consider checking out this pop-up brunch, Ante Meridian, Sun/31. Anthony Yang, who has worked at Per Se and Michael Mina, offers a four-course brunch for $40 (all-inclusive) and it’s BYOB (or should I say BYOC: Bring Your Own Champers) — or spend $65 for premium seating and Champagne mimosas. Yang’s menu will be celebrating the summer season: Potential dishes include a poached egg with toasted Panorama Bakery sourdough English muffin, creamed forest mushrooms, and crispy ham — and there’s a good chance his black truffle waffles will make an appearance. 11:30am–2pm. If you can’t make this one, Ante Meridian happens a few times every month at Naked Kitchen (945 Valencia, SF. www.nakedkitchensf.com) in the Mission, a space for chefs to host pop-up dinners and events.
Another event at Naked Kitchen is an evening event Saturday, Sept. 6, Dux Duck Dinner, a collaborative event from Eddie Lau and Luis Villavelazquez of Dux. It will be a six-course feast celebrating duck, a redux (ha-ha) of the very first Dux pop-up dinner. Expect creative dishes like duck fat brioche, and Dux tsukemen with house noodles and roasted duck vadouvan butter. You can preview the menu at www.fortress-sf.com. The dinner is $55 (gratuity included), and there’s the option to have pairings — including some fabulous Chenin Blanc and Chablis — for $20. Two seatings: 6pm and 9pm.
Fans of Italian wine and bruschetta (say it with me, “broo-skett-ah”) will want to head to limited pop-up Troëggi a Biondivino (1415 Green, SF. www.biondivino.com), at Ceri Smith’s fab Italian wine shop on Russian Hill. Guest co-host Emanuele Fromento of Ai Troëggi in Genova is making a bunch of classic Genovese bruschette, on Josey Baker bread, $4–12 — one sports Taleggio, zucchini, and prosciutto cotto, another Gorgonzola and mostarda di Cremona. You can also try a variety of natural wines for $10, from sparkling to whites and reds, plus some cheese and salumi plates, and tiramisù for dessert. It makes a great happy hour (or evening snack), since hours are Wed-Sun 5pm to close, through Sun/31.
On Wednesday evenings, swing by Linea Caffe (3417 18th St., SF.) in the Mission and you’ll discover a new pop-up called Nudnik Foods (www.nudnikfoods.com) from Dena Ehrlich. Her modern Israeli menu includes a variety of items, like a weekly brik (a meat hand pie—although she also has made one with tuna), grain salads, dips, ratatouille, pickles, and date shakes. The pop-up starts at 5pm and goes until it all runs out.
An intriguing and mysterious upcoming dinner series is launching Sept. 7: Charin (www.charinsf.com), a pop-up project from Charles-C Onyeama, a self-taught chef who has worked at SPQR, Benu, and Manresa. The 15-table restaurant (said to be in the Noe Valley-Bernal Heights area) will only operate approximately once every three weeks, serving a seven- to eight-course tasting menu of haute cuisine. There will also be wine pairings from Michael Ireland, formerly the wine director at The Restaurant at Meadowood, and a sommelier at Benu, Quince, and The French Laundry (he is currently consulting on the wine list at Verbena, which rocks). Sign up for the Charin newsletter on its website for details about how to make reservations online, cost, and more. Just FYI in case you were planning a big group dinner: Reservations will primarily be for parties of two; four-person tables will be available on a limited basis.
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.