East Bay's best
Sora Soba dining, Appellation Healdsburg, Folia Bar & Kitchen, Grand Central Station Antiques, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Cool noodles
The Skinny: Opened last month, Sora Soba Dining is the first US soba spot from Hinodeya Ramen Bar, a much-hyped chain that dates back to 1885. The brand, which began in a Japanese train station in 1885, is already drawing big crowds to Japantown for its buzzy buckwheat noodles.
The Vibe: Sora sits next door to Hinodeya, in the plaza above the pagoda. The line runs long: even in a steady drizzle of rain, it was a solid hour’s wait at . But once you’re finally in the door, the team beats a ceremonial drum, and a chorus of cooks greets you in Japanese. The modern dining room glows with pale wooden lattices and parchment light fixtures. By the time we left, the line had died down — so maybe attempt it in later in the day.
The Food: You’re here for the 100-percent-buckwheat soba, cut square and slender, served cold or hot. It shines especially when served chilled on a woven bamboo plate, with thinly sliced leeks, wasabi powder, and creamy sesame sauce. The menu includes comic strip instructions for how to eat them: season, dip, slurp. We also warmed up with hot duck soup, silky fresh tofu, and delightful tempura of brussels sprouts and teeny tiny scallops. The real treat is a small teapot of soba-yu, leftover cooking water served at the end of the meal. Poured into any remaining dipping sauce, it creates a starchy, restorative soup.
The Drink: Japanese beer, California wine, and assorted sake. Zero-proof options are yuzu soda, ume soda, and hot or cold green tea.
The Verdict:While it’s not your dearly loved fatty pork broth or salty izakaya snacks, for clean, light flavors, you won’t find a more pure, transcendent noodle experience. –Becky Duffett
→ Sora Soba Dining (Japantown) • 1731 Buchanan St • 11a-230p, 530-9p • Walk-ins only.
RESTAURANT LINKS: Wharf institution Alioto’s demolished • Café Jacqueline closes after 46 years • Hamburguesa Bar launches in SoMa • Holbrook House plans rooftop restaurant at 88 Spear St. • Lulu on Solano flips to counter service model.
GETAWAYS • Napa
Last resort
The Skinny: Chef and hotelier Charlie Palmer opened Appellation Healdsburg in September, a resort just north of downtown. Inside, he’s launched a new restaurant, Folia Bar & Kitchen, along with a rooftop bar.
The Scene: With 108 rooms and suites spread across a main hotel building and multiple bungalows, Appellation is already giving the nearby Montage and Meadowood resorts a run for their money when it comes to laid-back wine country glam. Like the Hotel Healdsburg, which Palmer opened over two decades ago, the rooms are modern and unstuffy, with built-in elements, barn doors, outdoor areas, and vineyard-inspired artwork.
The Food: Folia Bar & Kitchen is led by culinary director Thomas Bellec and executive chef David Intonato, who most recently ran the kitchen at Gardenia in Los Gatos. (Palmer’s son, Reed Palmer, is chef de cuisine.) The dinner menu draws on seasonal produce and hearth-grilled meats and fish, with an $85 three-course prix fixe that’s a steal for wine country. There are five starters and five entrees to choose from, as well as supplemental snacks and larger format dishes, including a roast chicken and a bone-in New York strip for two. (An à la carte menu is also available in the lounge.) A clear early hit on the fall menu was a pork schnitzel dish with gin lardo, Brussels sprouts, pickled peppers, herbs plucked from the garden outside, and a bagna cauda-style sauce of anchovy and capers. There’s also a striking starter of house-made country pâté en croute.
The Drink: It wouldn’t be a Charlie Palmer restaurant in Healdsburg without a Sonoma-centric wine list, with a few nods in the direction of Napa and Burgundy, and a Bandol rosé by the glass. Cocktails are decidedly modern and unique without overdoing it on cleverness, like the spicy Whisper & Burn, featuring serrano chile-infused mezcal, aloe liqueur, cucumber, basil, lime, and cardamom. There’s also a selection of classics including a bees knees and a standard daiquiri. For post-wine-tasting sunset cocktails, or after-dinner drinks, head to Andy’s Beeline Rooftop on the hotel’s top floor, which has its own cocktail list, wines by the bottle, and 10 wines by the glass.
Why It’s FOUND: By the time summer rolls around, Appellation Healdsburg is sure to be the new go-to spot for wine country tourists and daytrippers alike, offering several options for drop-in dining or drinks, as well as a new, luxe option for a weekend up north. Get there before the crowds do. –Jay Barmann
→ Appellation Healdsburg and Folia Bar & Kitchen (Healdsburg) • 101 Dovetail Ln • Folia open daily 7-10a & 12-230p; dinner Wed-Sun 5-9p • Reserve • Rooms from $570/night/Jan weekend • Book.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Century style
Midcentury modern may have won the mainstream popularity contest, but when we bought our hundred-year-old house, I committed to the full century. Don’t get me wrong, I love your retro walnut coffee tables and Sputnik-inspired light fixtures, but personally, I’m on the hunt for older English oak and mahogany, Art Nouveau leaded lamps, and Art Deco gilded mirrors. These can be hard to find in San Francisco, until you stumble into Grand Central Station Antiques, an unexpected treasure trove of European antiques on the outskirts of the city near The Old Clam House.
Owner Robert McCartney originally bought an antiques collective on Market Street in 1979 before growing the business, and eventually moving to the current location. He travels to England, France, and Belgium, and arranges shipments every six months.
On a quiet afternoon, it’s easy to get lost wandering around the dining tables, bed frames, and writing desks. I’ve bought a pair of Arts and Crafts nightstands with white marble tops from the 1910s — the same decade as our house — as well as an Art Deco mirror from the 1930s with a peaked frame that crowns our fireplace.
The full inventory is on the website, but insiders know they can shop McCartney’s shipping containers before they’ve even arrived — and that typically results in the greatest finds. –Becky Duffett
→ Grand Central Station Antiques (Bayview) • 360 Bayshore Blvd • Wed-Mon 12-5p.
GOODS & SERVICES LINKS: Westfield Centre mall evicts remaining retail tenants • Berkeley’s Cheese Board expands at last • The richest people in America shop at Woodside’s 37-year-old Roberts Market • Steve Jobs’ youthful relics head to auction.
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RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Fine dining, East Bay
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.
