On The Menu: Poached Sous Chef At Bistro 24

The Chronicle provides more info on Bistro 24:

Coppola opened City Grille in January after the space became available last year, figuring, he says, that "it could pretty much run itself." That turned out to be a mistake, he readily admits. "I was blinded," he says. "It was way too much to try to manage two places at once." Coppola closed City Grille after just three months and was getting ready to sell it when things took another turn. With Bistro 24, he's teamed up with Pierre Mange, opening sous chef at Contigo. Instead of City Grille's diner approach, Bistro 24 will serve, in Mange's words, "contemporary American comfort food with Mediterranean influences."

(Remember Coppola's plans for City Grille? "Classic American fare.")

Opening Date? Next Week.

As for Contigo, Brett Emerson has been posting ads for a sous chef and line cooks since mid-May. We try not to read too much into job descriptions, but experience has shown they're often written with a prior employee in mind. Just speculating, but it's a good bet Brett isn't too happy about this development.

[SFGate: Inside Scoop: Second Chances]
[NVSF: Announced: Bistro 24]

Announced: Bistro 24

Yet another restaurant is to open at 4123 24th St: Bistro 24. So far there's just a sign in the window that says "Coming Soon: Bistro 24." No building permits have been filed. The domain name bistro24sf.com is currently parked on godaddy.com. And the beer and wine license is still held by the previous tenant, Stefano Coppola of Lupa.

Just speculating, but all this looks like how Mr Coppola opened the last business here. Could it be that City Grill is no longer for sale?

[NVSF: Another Noe Valley Restaurant/Cafe For Sale]
[NVSF: Opening: City Grill]

NVV April 2013: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are notable highlights from the latest issue. Links are to stories we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories online until the middle of the month.

April 2013

Front Page: The faces of Noe Valley - a photo collection of local residents from the NVV archives.

Letters: A neighbor's harrowing tale of being almost run over at 24th and Douglass (and breaking her wrist) while trying to walk her dog; another walker complains of stroller pushers and dog owners running solo pedestrians off the sidewalk and into traffic; a whistle-blower sends the license plate of a blue bin recycling thief; and curious minds wants to know why the flats at 1220-1222 Church St. next to Happy Donuts have been empty for so long [Ed.-- no answer from NVV, but according to the DBI the building is listed as abandoned and currently under investigation].

Store Trek: Little Folkies.

Cost of Living in Noe: Very little inventory is driving up prices for rentals and homes. Case in point: An Eastlake Stick Victorian that was once the home of August Coppola in the 90s (brother of Francis Ford Coppola) listed for 1.79 million and sold for 1.93 million.

Rumors: A history quiz of Noe Valley designed to make you feel like an interloper (unless you're from here); "Ninety-generian" Jeanne Galarza will celebrate her birthday eating out at a 24th St restaurant (for the first time) with SFPD officer Lorraine Lombardo; Everyone likes the new Happy Donuts sign; Mark Zuckerberg was spotted buying flowers at The French Tulip; Chris Cosentino of Incanto was nominated for a 2013 James Beard Award; Contigo and La Ciccia get a nod in 7x7 for best Spanish and Italian restaurants in SF; Selecta Auto Body is moving to Bernal Heights and Noe Valley Autoworks is expanding upstairs; Noe Valley Deli is under construction; the Asian fusion restaurant on 25th and Church has passed inspections but an open date is still unknown.

Notable: No back page full of April Fools stories. What replaced it? A Zephyr ad.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

Update: Bistro 24

In the event you missed it in the comments, Bistro 24 is confirmed as a new venture for Stefano Coppola: "Spoke to Stefano last night and he is indeed reopening himself, as a French bistro, and says he has an awesome chef ('you'll love') lined up already."

[NVSF: Announced: Bistro 24]

NVV: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year, and while we love the idea -- it's pretty lightweight. Here's everything you want to know from the latest issue.

December 2008 / January 2009

• Front Page: Noe Valley Farmer's Market 5 years strong; founders/volunteers still lament Real Foods.
• Obits: Historian Paul Kantus; Architect Albert Lanier.
• Planned: Bell Market closes on Valentine's Day, Whole Foods takes over March 1st and plans to be open by September - expect community meetings with the NVMPA and Friends of Noe Valley; FoNV is also meeting with the City to replace the individual news boxes on 24th St with "news-rack pedestals;" Streetlight Record's space may be turning into a clothing retailer.
• Opening: Kookez is slated to become City Grill, according to Stefano Coppola (Lupa), and promises "classic American fare" by mid-December; Just Awesome Games is opening in mid-December at 816 Diamond St.
• Open: Jeff & Eddie's Henry's Hunan; Cary Lane; Jewelry Box.
• Closing: Glare.
• Events: Noel Stroll - Dec 13
• Charity: Drop off toys at Hill & Co; SF Food Bank (PDF) has no drop-off locations in Noe Valley. The SF Food Bank has three year-round drop off locations in Noe Valley: Terra Mia, Bell Market and Noe Valley Ministry. More info here. (Our mistake, not the NVV's.)
• Cost of living in Noe: single-family residences unchanged year-on-year; condos up. And don't forget the new record $5.8M SFR. Rent: slowly increasing.
• Award: Noe Valley Association: "Best Community Benefit District" in San Francisco.
• News of the Weird: John Adams has been reincarnated as NV resident Walter Semkiw (really - there's a full page about it).

[The Noe Valley Voice]

This Week In Noe Valley: Free Beer, Get Your Wax On, And The Google Bus Presages Dystopia

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• What? There's a Game this weekend? [Caterina]
• La Tira now open for your waxing needs [La Tira]
• Free beer: local brewers open their homes during Beer Week [Barrel Walk]
• Essay: the significance of the Google Bus [Rebecca Solnit]
• Turn your Victorian into a sanitarium [Remodelista]
• Four bedrooms, $3.6M, and a possible new comp [Socketsite]
• Buy this house and you can name-drop Coppola [Curbed SF]

[Photo: kslatz312]

Kookez to Become Lupa?

Eater SF has the scoop on what's to become of the Kookez space: "It looks like the deal to the mysterious Tangerine Restaurant Group...has fallen through, because the new name on a new, pending liquor license is Stefano Coppola, who just happens to be the owner/chef of Lupa."

Details as we get them.

[Eater SF: NoeWire: Lupa Taking Shuttered Kookez Space?]
[NVSF: It's Official: Kookez Is Closed]

Little Chihuahua To Take Over Bistro 24

Yet another great tip from a reader:

...Some people have overheard the owner of The Little Chihuahua saying that he plans on opening a 2nd restaurant near 24th & Castro. It sounds like it might be the Bistro 24 space. Build-out to be complete in late May or June. Little Chihuahua, if you've never been, makes a damn good burrito... rivaling Papalote IMHO.

We sent a note to owner Andrew Johnstone but haven't heard back yet. But check this out: Stefano Coppola has (finally?) sold his beer and wine license to Andrew Johnstone, who intends to open The Little Chihuahua at 4123 24th St. Status: pending.

What to Expect? From Little Chihuahua's website: "Our goal is to make delicious, healthy, Mexican-inspired food, while at the same time, make choices that help protect our Earth. The key to our concept is preparing food fresh and in-house, with a conscience." And don't forget the beer and wine.

Stay tuned.

Update: we heard from Andrew Johnstone:

Yes! The rumor is correct.

Hopefully we will be open in May after some interior updates to fit the concept. We will be operating with the same menu and format as our Divisadero restaurant, with both takeout and dine-in etc. We will expand into our brunch menu once we are up and running.

We are very happy to be coming to Noe Valley. The bigger space will be great and we are excited to share what we have to offer to the neighborhood.

[The Little Chihuahua]

Food Bites: What's New In Noe

A quick round-up of the latest Noe Valley food news:

Incanto is now offering a Leg of Beast dinner as a simpler version of Cosentino's popular Whole Beast events. Best for 6-8 people, the meal "is centered around a whole leg of beef." Reservations and pre-order required; $200.

La Ciccia is hosting another of its popular Cena di Porco dinners on January 26th featuring a whole roasted suckling pig and wine pairing. $75 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations by phone only - (415)550-8114.

Firefly celebrated its 15th anniversary in November. (We ate there the first month they were open and can't believe it's been 15 years!)

Contigo hired a General Manager and hopes to announce an opening date soon. Go Brett!

City Grill opened as expected on January 14th. The website isn't up yet (citygrillsf.com), and the menu is evolving. But for now they're offering steak, a pork chop, burger, and fish, chicken and veggie options. Now we know what "classic American fare" means to Stefano Coppola.

Cooks Boulevard has announced their new class schedule, and classes are filling up fast. Also be sure to check out the upcoming events at Omnivore Books.

It may be January, but the warm weather continues to bring crowds to the Farmer's Market. This week there was a new vendor selling organic vinegar, and there's talk of more vendors to come - possibly on a rotating basis. Spring is just around the corner...

Nothing new to report on the "Vietnamese Fusion" at 1298 Church St. except that there's nothing new to report. There's been no work on the space for a couple of months. Anyone have details?

Finally, Elizabeth Street Brewery. Yes... Noe Valley has a brew pub. They Tweeted this weekend that they're set to brew another 200 gallons of beer this year and hope to keep up with ever-increasing demand. Drink up!

[Food Gal: Take Five with Chris Cosentino, A Chef Who Is Offal Good At What He Does]
[NVSF: Opening: City Grill]
[NVSF: Update: "High End Vietnamese Fusion"]
[Image: Elizabeth Street Brewery]

Closed: Bistro 24

Bistro 24 closes after just 3 months. Stefano Coppola need more time for Lupa? Again?

[ESF: Three Months Later, Bistro 24 Is the Short-Lived Bistro 24]
[NVSF: Another Noe Valley Restaurant/Cafe For Sale]
[NVSF: Announced: Bistro 24]