Cinderella Bakery opens their big new location in the Mission, Prelude calls it quits in the FiDi, and Mister Jiu’s is relaunching their fancy coffee window, all in This Week in Food.<\/p>\n
The biggest restaurant news this week is the remarkably on-time opening<\/a> of Sergeant Ma, the China Basin restaurant we first heard hints of back in February, which debuts September 9. The latest project of Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group is being billed as a California restaurant with Asian influences, specifically Chinese and Vietnamese flavors via chef Jason Halverson and his Vietnamese-born mom \u2014 both the “ma” and the “sergeant” in the restaurant name. It’s opening in a space facing Mission Creek, just across Third Street from Oracle Park, and there are big indoor-outdoor vibes for the sunny days to come.<\/p>\n Little Russia’s own Cinderella Bakery, which began life back in 1953 on Balboa Street, has opened a large new location in the former home of La Victoria Bakery at 2937 24th Street in the Mission District. The 3,500-square-foot space will allow the team to expand their lineup of cakes and breads, having long ago outgrown their 1,600-square-foot Richmond District space, as Eater reports<\/a>. And dinner service is reportedly going to be coming soon at the new location, once they’re settled in. Otherwise, Cinderella’s honey cake, piroshki, soups, breads, and more are all now available to Mission residents, starting today.<\/p>\n The chef and the restaurateur behind acclaimed Bay Area Indian spots Copra and Eylan, Sri Gopinathan and Ayesha Thapar, are opening three new concepts in San Jose at the historic, newly renovated Hotel De Anza. These include Hedley Club, a Northern California bistro concept in the hotel’s Art Deco bar; Palm Court, an outdoor space that will serve the same menu; and Tejer, a new modern Mexican restaurant from chef Enrique Gonzalez, who previously worked with Gopinathan at Campton Place. As the Chronicle reports<\/a>, Hedley Club and Palm Court open in September, while Tejer will follow this winter.<\/p>\n There’s some sad news in the FiDi, which is that chef Celtin Hendrickson-Jones’s Southern-inspired prix fixe restaurant Prelude is closing next month at the Jay Hotel. The acclaimed restaurant, both for its food and its swank, richly textured design, will serve its last meals on September 19, two years after its debut. Omakase Restaurant Group, which opened the restaurant, tells the Chronicle<\/a> that it wasn’t attracting enough customers, and they’re seeking a “better fit” for the space and the neighborhood.<\/p>\n Over at Nightbird in Hayes Valley, chef-owner Kim Alter and partner Ron Boyd have been celebrating the restaurant’s 10-year anniversary with several events. One was a fun sandwich pop-up<\/a> this past Monday featuring guest chefs \u2014 including New Orleans sandwich man Mason Hereford of Turkey and the Wolf fame<\/a> \u2014 modeled after Wiener Circle in Chicago, featuring a lot of yelling. Next up will be the return of Primebird, Alter’s slightly elevated spin on the menu at House of Prime Rib, which she first did two years ago<\/a>. For $85, diners get a menu of salad, dry-aged prime rib, creamed spinach, truffle-cheddar Yorkshire pudding, and more. Find reservations here<\/a> for that pop-up starting September 1, next door in the NightJar space.<\/p>\n Mister Jiu’s is reviving their tiny coffee-window operation from 2021\/2, called Soon and Soon Souvenir Shop (731 Grant Avenue), starting today (August 28), in partnership with Paper Son Coffee<\/a>. Per the Chronicle<\/a>, the window serves single-origin pour overs of Chinese-grown coffee, which are reportedly floral, fruity, and unexpected, as well as cookies from Mister Jiu’s. And, coming soon, there will be baked goods from the pop-up To You<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tablehopper has word<\/a> about a new Japanese-Korean katsu spot, Yumee Katsu, in Anza Vista (2340 Geary Boulevard at Broderick). $21 reportedly gets you a hearty portion of fried chicken katsu, along with curry sauce, broth, rice, and assorted banchan, and that is a legit steal in this economy.<\/p>\n In some legal strife news, Vine Hospitality, the restaurant group behind the recently closed LB Steak and Left Bank Brasserie mini-empire, is being sued by a merchant cash advance company to the tune of $2.4 million. As SFGate reports<\/a>, the lawsuit is a clear indicator of the financial hole that the restaurant group was in before abruptly shuttering seven restaurants<\/a> in June, and laying off around 300 employees.<\/p>\n