Finalists for Murphy Goode winery's Really Goode Job were announced Tuesday, and while the competition to be the winery's over-paid social media consultant ($60,000 for six months of hobnobbing and imbibing) seemed like any other web popularity contest, the Chronicle's John Bonne reports today that it wasn't that simple. In fact, it's hard to pin down just what the criteria are or how they're applied. [SF Chronicle]
Recently in San Francisco Category
Whatever happened with that Board of Appeals hearing for the code violations at Medjool? Wasn't it scheduled for July 8? Yes, but spokesman PJ Johnston says the hearing has been pushed back to October to give the restaurant time to work things out with SF Planning. You can look forward to freezing to death on that roof deck all summer long.
If you took our advice and went down to the new Show Dogs yesterday, you may have been disappointed to find out that they were not actually open for business, but you probably forgot about that disappointment immediately when you learned that they were giving away their high-end hot dogs. And if you didn't get by there yesterday, well you can head over today for a free dog. Owner Gayle Pirie tells us that a collection of little things prevented them from opening officially yesterday: "We're trying to get logos on the glass and our ceilings aren't done, we're waiting for wallpaper. Waiting for our big beer delivery, which came yesterday. It's all cosmetic, but we're making food." They're putting in the beer lines right this minute, and the license is good as of Wednesday, so if you play your cards right, you can get a free dog and a beer (though you'll probably have to pay for the suds). They don't make deals better than that on a Friday afternoon. Oh, the official opening will be Monday.
Bad news from the North Bay: The Plumpjack Group has dropped its plan to build a big hotel/spa/restaurant complex in Healdsburg after they couldn't come to an agreement with the city about a timeframe. According to the Press Democrat, Healdsburg wanted to do a long-term study of development options for Mill Street Row, and the developer working with Plumpjack just couldn't wait that long. Peter Schellinger of Santa Rosa's Schellinger Brothers development company told the paper, "We informed staff and many of the City Council members we had a very short fuse on our contract with the property owner." While Schellinger declared the project "dead" in Healdsburg, we can't imagine the group will abandon plans to do some kind of big development up in wine country. The question now, is where?
• Spruce's sister restaurant, the Village Pub in Woodside, is now serving brunch and it looks awesome! [Food Gal]
•: Restaurants get off on the wrong foot when they seat you in an abandoned corner of the room. [Between Meals/SF Gate]
• Happy hours of note: Boozy lectures with free tastings at Elixer, $3 margaritas at Palomino. [7x7]
• A twenty year study found that monkeys on a reduced-calorie diet lived longer and researchers think humans could as well. [NYP]
• It's safe to eat raw cookie dough again! Nestle has reopened its factory after an E. coli scare. [WSJ]
The new, upscale hot dog joint from Foreign Cinema owners Gayle Pirie and John Clark opens today on Market Street, in a part of town you once might have walked swiftly through with your eyes pointed down. Right next door to Secrets Adult Superstore, you can now find Show Dogs, a dog-and-beer palace sporting links from all the top local producers (4505 Meats, Let's Be Frank, Golden Gate Meat Company, Fatted Calf), and ten local beers on tap. According to Urban Daddy, the seating consists of 200-year-old church pews, which makes sense, as a great hot dog can be a religious experience. The new place goes into the space once occupied by Opis, whose outdoor seating never really caught on. There's just something about the middle part of Market Street that makes you want to go inside. But maybe not anymore. [Via Urban Daddy]
Historical preservationists have a new cause to champion in addition to the Tonga Room. It seems the snack bar and boathouse near Stow Lake is in danger of closing, and the San Francisco Bay Area Postcard Club is rushing to its rescue. The Chron's Leah Garchik notes today that the snack bar was one of the first places in the city to sell Coca Cola and It's-Its, and is now one of only two places to get pink popcorn. The city apparently wants to overhaul it into a sit-down casual restaurant. Much as we love sit-down casual restaurants, we're with the Postcard Society on this one. You've got to fight for your right to pink popcorn. [Via SF Chronicle]
Update:@teemoney415 points out you can get pink popcorn at the zoo and at Wishbone on Irving Street.
Things just got a little better at the Ferry Building. That's because Boulettes Larder has finally gotten its beer and wine license. Finally, an end to that nightmarish trek to the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant all the way on the other side of the building.
• San Francisco moves closer to growing its own food, as city departments prepare to audit unused land for culitvation. [SF Chronicle]
• Obesity costs the State of California a total of more than $41 billion, according to a report by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. [CoCo Times]
• Peeps will get their own store in National Harbor, Md., where you can buy everything from the actual marshmallow chicks to Peeps china. [Washington Post]
• Sushi baron Hagen Stehr has figured out how to breed sustainable bluefin tuna. [Bloomberg]
• Testing reveals that menu calorie counts are often incorrect - Taco Bell's fresco grilled steak soft taco, listed as having 160 calories, turned out to have 297. [WSJ]
We have a few openings to report to you this evening. As we mentioned last week, Trademark is now open in Belden Alley. They have this whole stock market thing going on, with their "Closing Bell" happy hour from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Over in North Beach the newly opened Vin Club is a wine bar from Dario Zucconi, whose family owns Tommaso's Restaurant, where he got his start. Mission Mission has a full report (complete with diagrams) on the new Chile Lindo Empanadas, started by "Empanada Lady" Paula Tejeda. Finally, Eater has some exciting early plywood reporting for us: Looks like Mayes Oyster House will re-open in its original 1867 space, where the now-shuttered Midpoint once operated. Also, it seems Gussie's has been delayed just a little while longer. Look for Michelle Wilson's new Fillmore District soul place on July 20.
Previously:
Downtown Openings Going Strong This Weekend [MenuPages SF]
Gussie's Sets Date, Shares Menu [MenuPages SF]
