TABLEHOPPING: New places where you can play with your food, plus PIE!
CHOW NOW
There are some new spots around town offering you the opportunity to stuff your face and play something game-y or sporty at the same time. Oh, delicious multitasking.
Beer. You'll find a whole bunch of it—over 100 kinds in all with 50 on tap — at the new Golden Gate Tap Room (449 Powell, SF.) in Union Square. There is also an extravaganza of games, including three Skee-ball games, two foosball tables, two regulation shuffleboard tables, new and vintage arcade games, and pool tables as well. Oh yeah, and 20 screens to watch live sporting events. There's also a menu of pub food bites, and the location has some great history: it's the historic Press Club building that dates back to 1913. And it's a big 'un: 8,000-square feet, with an eclectic interior fashioned by C. Walters Design. Just head on up to the second floor. Open 12pm–12am daily.
Opening very soon in the Mission is Rustic (3331 24th St., SF. www.rusticsf.com), which will be serving Neapolitan-style pizzas and weekend barbecue, with a spacious patio out back that will boast two bocce ball courts (plus umbrellas and heat lamps, because our weather is schizo like that). There will be a variety of pizzas to choose from, or you can build your own with items ranging from burrata to capicola, plus there will be slices too. Bonus: the to-go counter will be open Thu–Sat until 3am. Once the beer and wine license kicks in, there will be eight domestic beers on tap. When? Soon!
After your pizza, you can hop across the street to the new brick-and-mortar location of the Crème Brûlée Cart (3338 24th St., SF. www.thecremebruleecart.com). The Mission location serves a variety of crafty crème brûlée concoctions, housemade drinks, and then there's pinball. In case your munchies hit late, it's even open until midnight Fri–Sat.
BALLIN' ON A BUDGET
Pie and cocktails. Why the hell not? Swing by Charlie Palmer's Burritt Room and Tavern (417 Stockton, SF. www.burritttavern.com) on Thursday July 25 from 8pm-12am, and you can try three different drinks paired with seasonal pies from the talented foxes of Three Babes Bakeshop. Cocktails are $12 each, and pie slices are $5. Or you can hunch in the corner with a whole pie for $35, but hopefully you have friends with you.
The pie-and-cocktail pairings include: salty honey walnut pie with the Mark Twain (Scotch whisky, ginger honey, lemon, Angostura bitters), strawberry rhubarb pie with the Rhuby Red (bourbon, Burritt strawberry cordial, lemon, rhubarb Peychaud foam), and say hello to peach pie with the Berlinetta (bourbon, Cynar, Carpano Antica, Price Blood orange bitters). That last pairing makes me wanna order a double of each, for reals.
YOU GOTTA EAT THIS
Anyone who's a fan of tapioca — I know you're out there — should take the time to swing by the glam Hakkasan (One Kearny, SF. www.hakkasan.com/sanfrancisco) for pastry chef Courtney Lewis's spin on this classic dessert. Her version heads to the tropics, starting with a lid that's a tuile of pineapple over the bulbous (and stemless) wine glass. Within is the creamiest coconut-tapioca pudding, with coconut sorbet, and cubes of brûléed and marinated pineapple and lime financier. Additional charms: the kick of piment d'Espelette, and tart little pops of finger lime, plus additional green notes from the lime zest and micro cilantro. It's not a dessert geared for those who like overly sweet desserts — it's more on the subtle tip, which is why I loved it. Great textures, too. It's $10, and you can sit at the bar and order one all to yourself.
Marcia Gagliardi is the founder of the weekly tablehopper e-column; subscribe for more at tablehopper.com. Get her app: Tablehopper's Top Late-Night Eats. On Twitter: @tablehopper.