Mission Mission

The Napper Tandy on 24th S. Van Ness launched their new look last Friday. The exterior has been overhauled and lit with extra-bright fog lights. The interior has been completely redone to match their discerning, classy clientele of football fans (no, not “American football”).

What, you don’t hang out at the Napper Tandy? I’ll have you know that Irish Public Houses are part of a rich, worldwide tradition of capitalizing on Ireland’s drinking culture, and providing a safe haven for English visitors who too squeamish to socialize in unfamiliar countries. Take part in that rich tradition this weekend, won’t you?

Not only that, the Napper Tandy one of the few Mission purveyors of the full Irish Breakfast, which basically two of every animal you can think of. This “noah’s ark” diet is excellent fuel for a mid-day nap. Come to think of it, maybe that’s why “Napper” is in the bar’s name.

Pig and Pie, the restaurant poised to take over the ex-Discolandia space, made a showing at 24th St. First Fridays last week. Hog and Rocks, now Pig and Pie? What’s next, Swine and Sushi?

During the event, they were selling some tasty-looking bratwurst and pickles. Unfortunately, I was too stuffed with tacos to partake. Sorry, but you try walking down half of 24th without gorging every two blocks.

The restaurant is scheduled to open in a couple of weeks, pending city paperwork approval. The fellow above confirmed that the “DISCOLANDIA” sign will stay to satiate whiny bloggers such as myself, but the hanging sign which currently reads “RECORDS” will be replaced with one that reads “SAUSAGES”. I guess that’s cool, since sausages are actually one of the few things I like as much as records.

You can scope the hand-drawn menu in the pics, or head over to their site for their predictably not-too-vegetarian-friendly full menu.

The talented ladies from Rice Paper Scissors are back this Saturday with another popup dinner straight from Saigon, and this time they’re bringing you the Vietnamese answer to fried chicken. Com Ga is the name of the game, a treat which Katie and Valerie first stumbled upon in a garage in Saigon where they witnessed folks cooking this  in a vertical drip fryer which basically cooks the heck out the chicken by streaming hot oil all over it. The perfect pre-Mother’s Day meal!

Check out all the details here, and full menu after the jump.

So says Eater SF, who also recently published this tiny picture of the restaurant’s progress. Read on.

Heidi Swanson of the excellent 101 Cookbooks snapped these lovely photos of the Kinfolk brunch at Heirloom Cafe over the weekend. Sounds like these Kinfolk brunches are a traveling series that bring together local artisans and small businesses in various cities.

I’ve never eaten at Heirloom Cafe, but I have friends who live above it and I’ve peeked in a few times while waiting for one of them to answer the door. Anyone know if it’s worth a try?

See the rest of the photos here.

Reader Beth sent in this delightful video of my two favorite fried potato dipping condiments settling the score on the Dolores Park playground today. Never has there been a more exciting food war!

The closeup on the ranch bottle at the end of the clip reveals that it’s probably part of Hidden Valley Ranch’s quest to become the “new ketchup,” but whatever, this totally made my day. In fact, I think I’m going to head over to Bender’s right now and eat some tots with ketchup and ranch dressing.

Bender’s has two amazing vegan tacos on its menu: the seitan taco and the grilled veggie taco, which, in addition to grilled veggies, also has smashed-up pieces of their homemade vegan burger in it. Both feature hunks of avocado, tangy pickled red cabbage, and, surprisingly, enough salt that I didn’t need to add any – remarkable since I have never in my life eaten anything and thought it was too salty.

You know what’s great about Bender’s? They don’t refer to the seitan taco as a “fake chicken” taco. I like this because seitan is real food, not fake chicken: it’s just real seitan, in all its chewy, crumbly, mouthfeely glory. Two omnivorous vegan-taco-enthusiast friends joined me for dinner and chose the vegan ones over the meaty ones on the menu. On purpose. Also, a friendly black dog named Mortimer wanted to steal them.

That’s right, friends: Seitan is real. And it’s saltier that the sweat of John Henry’s brow.

This is a pretty solid update on an old classic. It’s better than this one, though it lacks the cute illustrations of this one.

I especially like the “ppl from san diego” part.

[via mykittensdontrespectme]

C’mon Pony, historically one of the sandwich’s most energetic proponents, reports:

They changed the spread to something more mayo-y (I guess I haven’t gotten it since before they updated their menu), but it’s not overwhelming so it’s still good!

Phewf! [link and link]

Today’s Burger Special is the Tortilla Soup Cheeseburger with fries and a PBR or soda for only $12

— The Sycamore (@TheSycamoreSF) April 26, 2012

Soup-themed burger! Imagine the possibilities!