Grub StreetSan Francisco

• New York
• Los Angeles
• San Francisco
• Chicago
• Philadelphia
• Boston

San Diego chef and Top Chef: Miami finalist Brian Malarkey has built quite the empire for himself down south, with five restaurants in and around San Diego all with fabric-based names — Denim, Burlap, Gabardine, Gingham, and his Gaslamp flagship, Searsucker. (Sidenote: Grub Street has eaten at Searsucker in recent months, and it's pretty good! Especially for San Diego.) He and business partner James Brennan are opening a branch of Searsucker in Scottsdale, Arizona this fall, and he just told Eater LA that he's got expansion plans for San Francisco, Santa Monica, and Orange County in the works, and he hasn't yet decided which will come next. Given what a tough crowd S.F. can be, we're going to wager that he'll stay down south for now, but who knows! And re: Eater's possible name suggestions, we'll vote for Tweed or Wool over Hemp. [Eater LA]

In case you missed the news, the foie gras ban isn't really going to have much effect on your food world. The SFPD and LAPD have said they're basically not going to enforce it, and if chefs are importing the stuff from out of state they're totally going to turn a blind eye. So everyone really needs to cool it with the foie gras panic. That said, if you're the indulgent type and still haven't had your fill and still want to pretend like this prohibition is a big dramatic deal, OR if you're interested in previewing what the food and drink is going to be like at the forthcoming Trick Dog in the Mission, then we've got just the event for you.

It didn't take long for the restaurant industry to express "deep disappointment" after the Supreme Court announced its decision today to uphold Obama’s future health-care plans. That's because, according to the law, food and drink establishments with 50 or more full-time employees must now offer health insurance to all of their workers. Depending on which side of the weeds you're standing on, this a major turn of events (come 2014). [NRN]

A Peninsula chef appears to be taking over the space currently known as Sage Lounge (1601 Howard Street), a lunch spot at the corner of Howard and 12th Street. Chef Brian Fernando — who most recently helped open Plates Bar & Grill in Los Altos and formerly was sous chef at longtime San Jose French restaurant Le Papillon — is the man behind the new project at the space, which will be called 1601 Bar & Kitchen (that's the working title anyway). Grub Street catches the news over the liquor license wires today, and judging from Fernando's background it sounds like the restaurant will be a bit more ambitious, and dinner-focused, than Sage.

This week the Bold Italic shines a spotlight on the much spotlighted (and slightly over-exposed) Ike's Place. Owner Ike Shehadeh makes a mean sandwich, don't get us wrong, but good sandwiches aren't so hard to come by in this town, and we're not sure Ike's always deserves to be on such a high pedestal. That said, the sloppy behemoths make for pretty good sandwich porn. See a rundown of Ike's "milestone inventions," including the colorful Paul Reubens, with pastrami, purple slaw, and French dressing; and the famed Menage a Trois (chicken, honey, BBQ sauce, honey mustard, and three cheeses) which was featured on Man vs. Food. [Bold Italic]

Those from around here may be familiar with the historic Fagiani's Liquor Store & Bar at 813 Main Street in downtown Napa, which was the site of a gruesome sexual assault and murder in 1974 that has haunted the town for decades (speaking of restaurant crime scenes). The bar, which originally opened in 1945, has sat dark and dusty ever since, and two years ago, shortly after the unsolved murder of Anita Andrews was solved, we heard rumblings that the family who still owned it was trying to reopen it as The Bar. That project never came together, but today the Chron brings the news that the place will be reborn as early as August at the hands of New York-based AvroKO Hospitality Group.