Big country
Pacifico, Valley Club, Breadbelly, Steakhouses, global media, Mister Jiu’s, John Varvatos, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Flip it
The Skinny: Originating as a pop-up last year, Pacificio is now the latest restaurant at B-Side, the rotating venue at SF Jazz. Chef Daniel Morales Vallejo and wife/partner Laura Gelvez serve dishes that speak to Morales Vallejo’s upbringing in Colombia, his culinary education in Peru, and his experiences making ceviche at La Mar’s Miami and Embarcadero locations.
The Vibe: B-Side’s bustling, central Hayes Valley location at Franklin and Fell Streets offers a chic, modern blank slate for Morales Vallejo’s vibrant cooking. The dining room is dotted with low tables for two and larger high tables for groups or communal dining.
The Food: Start with ceviche, given the chef’s mastery of the form. The catch of the day is playfully paired with leche de tigre made with rocoto chili peppers, corn nuts, red onion, and cilantro. Empanadas and arepas are also specialties — notably, Colombian-style beef empanadas served with aji criollo. There are also great vegetarian options to be had, including an entree of roasted cauliflower with romesco sauce and vegan ceviche made with beet and sunchoke.
Brunch offerings include plenty of egg dishes like Huevos Pericos — eggs scrambled with scallions and tomatoes, served with cheese arepas — and Calentao, a traditional Colombian breakfast dish of braised meat (in this case, pork belly) with lentils, plantains, scallions, rice, Thai basil, and a fried egg. A whole fried fish is occasionally on the menu, served with coconut curry sauce.
The Drink: B-Side is set up with a full bar, which Pacifico makes use of via cocktails like a coconut-washed daiquiri, featuring rum, lime, and cane sugar; and the La Puerta Del Llano Old Fashioned, featuring bourbon, agua panela syrup, and bitters. There are also fun classics and riffs thereof, like the Refajo a la Brooklyn (Aperol, orange juice, and beer), and the Carajillo Andino (Licor 43, Colombian coffee, and orange zest). NA options include the Verano Sin Licor, with pineapple and lime juices, orange shrub, and sparkling water.
The Verdict: Pacifico brings delicious South American flavor to Hayes Valley, providing a convenient treat for concert-goers at SF Jazz, too. –Jay Barmann
→ Pacifico (Hayes Valley) • 205 Franklin St • Summer hours: Wed 1130a-230p, Thur-Sat 1130a-230p and 530p-8p, Sun 11a-230p • Reserve.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUNDLISTING
Gourmet meals, no planning required
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WORK • Modern Media
Growing up
Last week’s Eater layoffs — reportedly 15 people, approximately one-third of the brand’s union jobs, mostly at the city site level — are yet another reminder: media is hard and local media is harder. We knew it when we sold Eater (and Curbed and Racked) to Vox Media in 2013. But we were doing it, piece by piece, market by market.
Vox management never quite bought into the local approach, even as they grew the sites over the next decade (and even after they’d evolved from SB Nation, a network of local sports blogs). In the Vox venture capital era, everything was oriented around attracting a mass audience for big, national ad campaigns.
Eventually, Racked fell away, Curbed folded into NY Magazine, and now Eater looks vulnerable as it continues to pare back and zoom out.
Sometimes we reductively describe FOUND as a more grown-up version of Curbed, Eater, and Racked — upmarket, global, hopefully a little sharper. But we’re still building like we did in the 2000s, piece by piece, market by market. The goal: to fashion the next great global media company, sustainably.
We invite you to join us and bring your friends. Here’s how:
Writers and people of taste, pitch us ideas (found@itsfoundsf.com). Ex-Eater friends, we welcome you especially.
Brands, consider us an effective new way to reach discerning consumers of quality products, services, and experiences (sales@itsfoundsf.com).
New readers, subscribe today in SF, LA, NY, Miami, London, and Paris.
Loyal readers, upgrade to paid for best results!
Thanks for being with us for the early stages of FOUND. More soon. –Josh Albertson
BARS • First Round
Secret affair
The Skinny: An ultra-cool den off Union Square formerly home to cocktail bar Benjamin Cooper has found new life as Valley Club, a tucked-away spot from Mitch Lagneaux (Brass Tacks).
The Vibe: Behind an almost unmarked door at the Hotel G, Valley Club exudes sex appeal and a sense of clandestine, illicit fun. After a flight of stairs from Mason Street, you’re in a glam 1980s stage set, with channel glass windows, ultrasuede swivel barrel chairs, and mauve carpet. Glowing, circular chandelier fixtures add a futuristic touch, and Lagneaux’s background as a graphic designer and illustrator is put to great use on the elaborate, glossy cocktail menu. The website lists only two rules: “Be cool” and “Dress how you want to be remembered.”
The Drink: Valley Club’s selection of signature cocktails shows a keen sense of balance along with a sense of humor. The Midas Touch is a creamsicle-esque concoction of bourbon, Galliano, vanilla, orange, lemon, and egg white with a touch of gold leaf. The Nightvision, displayed on a two-page spread with a glowing silver cassette tape, features gin, peach Moscato, shiso, absinthe, and lemon. I opted for the Coconut Situation, a Rob Roy-like mix of Scotch, Meletti, amontillado sherry, coconut, and coffee liqueur.
The Verdict: An exciting rebirth for a space that’s been waiting for some love and attention — and a more-than-welcome addition to the pre- and post-theater cocktail scene. –Jay Barmann
→ Valley Club (Union Square) • 398 Geary St • Tue-Thu 6p-12a, Fri-Sat 6p-1a • Walk-ins only.
RESTAURANT LINKS: Chinatown’s Mister Jiu’s pivots to à la carte • FiDi Crustacean debuts • Boulette’s Larder closes Ferry Building doors • Beretta reopens in the Mission after two-month reno • Bar seating gets trickier • California barbecue more exciting than ever • Trendwatch: restaurants shrinking food due to GLP-1s.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Bakery
Belly laughs
From its opening in 2018, Inner Richmond cafe Breadbelly’s kaya toast was a sensation. The bright green squiggle of pandan jam on pillowy soft milk bread proved to be a rare artifact: the Instagram-trendy dish that’s also delicious.
The redevelopment of Pier 70’s historic shipbuilding warehouse, Building 12, offered an opportunity for Breadbelly owners Clement Hsu, James Wong, and Katherine Campecino-Wong to expand beyond their small Clement Street space. The new location in Dogpatch, which opened in early summer, has quadrupled the size of their kitchen, so in addition to a long counter and pastry case, there’s a glass production room to watch the bakers at work.
At the new location, I happily tried Breadbelly’s iconic kaya toast, kaya bun, thick sandwiches, and seasonal croissants, and dearly loved them all. But a chef recently recommended the shrimpwich, and I was aghast to have missed a seafood sandwich. “Is it too early to order a shrimpwich?” I asked at 8a sharp, of the crispy shrimp patty with as much bounce as a dim sum ball, stacked with candied walnuts and iceberg lettuce, all on the loftiest of buns. It was not. It was, in fact, very much a breakfast of champions — par for the course at Breadbelly. –Becky Duffett
→ Breadbelly (Dogpatch) • Pier 70, Bldg 12, 1070 Maryland St • Thu-Sun 8a-2p.
GOODS & SERVICES LINKS: Mission icon Rainbow Grocery turns 50 • Just For Fun and John Varvatos launch in Union Square • Eyewear chain Moscot plots another SF location • Shoulder bags are over.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Steakhouses
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of the best in the Bay Area and surrounds. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundsf.com. For the full archives, click here.
House of Prime Rib (Van Ness), legendary for prime rib on carts, salads tableside, martinis w/ sidecar, reserve