Your guide to the tastiest foodie happenings going down this week. Bon appetit!
Onsen Opens in the Tenderloin
Onsen, a new Japanese-inspired bathhouse and restaurant concept, opened last week in an old automotive repair shop in the Tenderloin. Customers can enjoy a soaking room, a dry sauna, steam room, and alternative healing treatments then followup with a dinner of Japanese-influenced seasonal cuisine by Chef George Meza (Oro, Ame). Think rice porridge with house kimchi, maitake dumplings with cabbage, sweet yam, mushroom broth and dill, and a daily sashimi offering. If this doesn't sound like the most relaxing evening ever, we don't know what does. // Closed Tuesdays, 466 Eddy St. (Tenderloin), osensf.com
Free Pizza at Tony's Slice House Walnut Creek
The only thing better than pizza is free pizza, which is exactly what you'll find at Tony's Slice House in Walnut Creek this Thursday. Twelve-time World Pizza Champion and local demigod Tony Gemignani will be on-hand for a ribbon cutting ceremony as he introduces the restaurant's brand new patio. // Thursday, Nov. 17, 12pm-1pm, 1500 Mt. Diablo Blvd. (Walnut Creek), slicehousewalnutcreek.com
The vegan, gluten-free squash pie. (Courtesy of True Food Kitchen)
Vegan, Gluten-Free Squash Pie at True Food Kitchen
Vegans looking to have a bountiful spread this Thanksgiving need look no further than True Food Kitchen, now open in Walnut Creek. Their guilt-free squash pie features a gluten-free graham crust filled with a signature blend of butternut squash, ginger, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg and topped with whipped coconut cream. Best of all, it tastes just like (if not better!) than the original. Pre-order yours by November 21st and pick them up in store November 22-23. —Sarah Medina // 120 Broadway Ln. #1044 (Walnut Creek), truefoodkitchen.com
Dandelion's 12 Nights of Chocolate Tickets on Sale
Kick off your holiday season with Dandelion Chocolate's fourth annual 12 Nights of Chocolate. Each year the chocolate factory brings together SF's best chefs to create a dinner featuring single origin, two-ingredient chocolate. On the roster this year is Avery Ruzicka (Manresa Bread), William Werner (Craftsman & Wolves), Christopher Kostow (The Restaurant at Meadowood), Brandon Jew (Mister Jiu's), Sarah Rich and Brandon Rice (Rich Table), and more. All proceeds go to the SF-Marin Food Bank. // December 1-12, 756 Valencia (Mission), Get tickets here.
Fat Rice Dinner at Motze
Motze, the newly opened Japanese restaurant from former Bar Tartine chefs Nick Balla and Cortney Burns, is hosting chefs Abraham Conlon and Adrienne Lo from Chicago's Fat Rice to celebrate the release of their new cookbook with a three-course dinner. The cookbook, which explores the food culture of Macau (a melting pot of Chinese, Portuguese, Malaysian, and Indian cuisines), will be the inspiration for the dinner. Copies of the book will also be available for purchase. // $58, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 983 Valencia St. (Mission), Call for reservations 415-484-1206
Marc Vetri Opens First Westcoast Project
James Beard Award-winning chef Marc Vetri will open his first West Coast project Terrain Café at Anthropologie & Co. in Palo Alto this Friday. Marc is the chef-founder of Vetri in Philadelphia and operates a few acclaimed restaurants on the East Coast. He's serving as a consulting chef for Terrain Café and will bring along some of his most loved dishes such as cartoccio, a classic Italian seafood dish with albacore tuna, clams, spot prawns, and cannellini beans, as well as his take on cacio e pepe, served with young pecorino. // Open daily, 180 El Camino Real, Ste. 1301 (Palo Alto), shopterrain.com/palo-alto
Okonomiyaki bites at Ramen Bar.(Courtesy of Ramen Bar)
New Happy Hour Bites at Ramen Bar
Is it hard being Ramen Bar, lingering in the shadow of sister restaurant, next-door neighbor, and highly acclaimed sushi joint, Pabu? Maybe. But sometimes it pays to be beclouded, because then your path to greatness—in this case, an awesome new happy hour menu—comes straight out of the blue, and no one, not even your haughty big sis could see it coming. That's how good Ramen Bar's new okonomiyaki bites are, miniature versions of the ultimate Japanese veggie pancake, deep fried and served with a special Worcestershire-like sauce, and, of course, that staple of Japanese cuisine, mayonnaise. The popcorn is straight-up addictive—large kettle-corn kernels are tossed in butter and furikake (a Japanese condiment of dried seaweed, sesame seeds, salt), like they are in our umami daydreams. Whatever you do, don't miss the garlic-chili edamame: A bowl of these, plus a cold-crisp Miller High Life pony, on the Ramen Bar patio during one of our few remaining Indian summer evenings, is as lovely an after-work experience as we can conjure. That is, it sure beats a sardines-packed BART train. —Leilani Marie Labong // Monday through Friday, 4pm-7pm, theramenbar.com
