Jessica Battilana

zoomphotography.net

Ah, if only all transformations could as be as seemingly effortless as Madonna's. From Like a Virgin to Blonde Ambition, that lady made it all look so easy. The reality of reinvention, of course, is much trickier, particularly for restaurants, who are now getting into the game with increasing frequency. Marlowe reopened in mid-February after transitioning from their previous incarnation as the South Food and Wine Bar.

I'm not even a huge churro fan. I like fried dough, sure, but given a choice of desserts it wouldn't top my list. But the churros at Chilango, which opened earlier this fall on the site of the forgettable Aztec Taqueria at Church and Market, are so good that they make the other very good food that you might order before dessert almost pale in comparison. With their crisp exterior, just-cooked almost custardy interior and generous dusting of granulated sugar and Mexican cinnamon, these set the gold standard.

Several minutes into poring over our menus at Delarosa, my dining companion looked over at me and muttered, "This place is totally ripping Beretta off." That would be true if not for one important fact—Delarosa, which opened in mid-November on Chestnut street in the Marina—shares the same owners as Beretta, and ripping off is part of the plan. Consider for a moment the following: San Francisco can at times be a fractious town. Neighborhoods, like boroughs in New  York, are clearly delineated, with crossover limited to a few choice restaurants.

For every restaurant that has closed (and this year, there have been many) another opens in its place. The natural ebb and flow is what makes this a good eating town, constantly in a state of change and renewal.

Courtesy of Ironside

If Ironside was a girlfriend, she'd be the kind that you really like a lot, that you enjoy spending time with, but who you aren't sure you are going to marry. Ironside is a good-time girl, and sometimes a good-time girl is exactly what you need. The month-old restaurant, opened by the owners of District around the corner, have created a place that speaks to these times. It's casual, it's affordable, it doesn't take itself too seriously, and the eclectic menu has a more refined version of the something-for-everything ethos.

I'm not saying, I'm just saying.

rapposterous @ Flickr

The first thing that you might notice about SF chef Hubert Keller's new Burger Bar, situated directly below the Cheesecake Factory in Macy's, is the merchandise. There, behind the bar, a headless, legless, busty mannequin sports a tank top and bikini underwear, both emblazoned with a sparkly martini glass and the Burger Bar logo. Upon seeing that, I remembered that the first—the original—Burger Bar is located at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas (there's a second in St. Louis).

If I were to lay all the pizzas I have eaten in San Francisco end-to-end, chances are they'd nearly reach back to my old East coast stomping grounds. OK, maybe not—but the point is, I have eaten a lot of pizza since moving out here. And while New York may be widely considered to be the hometown of pizza, SF comes in a not-too-shabby close second. Evidence of its popularity is everywhere, including in the build-up to the opening of Pi Bar, which opened two weeks ago in the former Suriya Thai space on Valencia.

Porchetta: It's what's for dinner.

Courtesy of 4505meats.com

Who knows exactly why things suddenly become popular. You could blame it on the media (although, as of now, there's a one less media outlet to blame), or you could blame it on the power of suggestion—a chef sees something on a menu someplace, it lodges in his or her consciousness, and before you know it they've put it on the menu at their restaurant without even realizing. Think of it like seeds scattered in the wind, trends moving from coast to coast.

One of the hazards of my job is that I never get to return to restauants I love as often as I'd like—it's always on to the next, the newest (I know, I'm sure you're ready to cry me a river). Such is the case with Bar Bambino, a spot I really like and where I often intend to go for a glass of wine and a panini or one of their wine-and-cheese classes. Well, while I've been busy meaning to go, the Bar Bambino team has been busy making other plans. Lots of them.

In my five years as a San Francisco resident, all of which I've spent living in the Mission, I've never once wished for a place in lower Pacific Heights. Sure, when SPQR first opened I thought about how nice it might be to live around the corner, to pop by for carbonara and a quartino of wine. When Pizzeria Delfina 2 opened, I simply thought, "How nice for those people!