Pete Kane

Chicken Durban roti wrap from Amawele's South African Kitchen.

Spicy and sour is a seductively simply combination that couldn't be more alien to what we think of as typical American food. Its dominance in the food at Amawele's South African Kitchen is explained in a helpful blurb that describes the provenance as an amalgam of various African cultures with British, Indian, Afrikaner and Malaysian influences. Yum.

"The twins" in Zulu, Amawele's -- that is, "ah-muh-WAY-lay's" -- has a menu that approximates what you usually find at a food truck these days. It's a good selection of hot, $8-ish things with basic drinks in cans, but instead of tooling around town on four wheels, it's planted in the Rincon Center food court best known for the dim sum queue at Yank Sing. And you don't have to shout upwards through a tiny window to place your order with these two friendly women.

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Pete Kane

Beet, bacon, and arugula sandwich at Sydney Town Tavern.

Just around the corner from the Transamerica Pyramid comes the new Sydney Town Tavern, a reference to Barbary Coast days when exiles from Australian penal colonies populated San Francisco.

It's hardly a wretched hive of scum and villainy in there, though. In fact, it's a fairly ordinary sports bar with a full kitchen and a simple bistro-style menu, executed well. Exposed brick, faux-punched-tin ceilings, wall-mounted TVs and restrained Americana constitute the bulk of the décor. (This is no Outback; there is absolutely no cringe-inducing Australiana.)

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Pete Kane

Rhea's pork katsu sandwich.

A few years ago, the South Korean consul-general for San Francisco blurted out that to get good Korean food in California, you basically had to go to L.A. For someone tried in diplomatic niceties to be so blunt about San Francisco's lack of bibimbap and ssam really says something.

Well, there's Rhea's, faithfully serving pork katsu on Valencia for some time now. And as of yesterday, there's a second location over on Bryant and 20th. Maybe that will get Mr. Fancy-Schmancy Diplomat to pay attention?

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Pete Kane

The place has been open for mere days and it's only early May but already the award for most intensely aromatic drink of 2013 goes to Southside Spirit House's Vieux Kenner. Like fermented bayou water, this mixological achievement -- which is really composed of Templeton rye, brandy, Carpano Antica Fernet and an orange peel over "one big rock" -- might scare off a few people, but it's perfectly balanced and invigorating. (It's also a pun on a New Orleans suburb).

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Pete Kane

Grilled asparagus and beef fat french fries at Marrow.

The first thing you notice when you enter Marrow is the backs of heads eating at the front counter. In our case, the shaved heads of four Teamster-looking dudes chowing down on lunch.

The second thing you notice is a giant sheaf of brown paper tacked to the wall, with Marrow's mission statement written out. It's the usual earnest foodie paean to local, sustainable animal slaughter, relatively new to Downtown Oakland and always nice to see.

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Tamara Palmer

Tonkotsu ramen at Waraku.

Last summer, Japanese restaurant Men Oh Tokushima Ramen opened its second American location on Geary Street in San Francisco, followed by a hot pot spot called Shabuway. Its new Japantown sister spot Waraku provides similar quality and value. Located in the former Bushi-Tei restaurant space (Bushi Tei Bistro is still open across the street in Japan Center), the interior has been made over into a slightly more casual and affordable spot.

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20 Spot/Facebook

20 Spot has clean, mid-century design.

Punk rock enthusiasts may mourn the loss of Force of Habit, the record shop that inhabited the space that is now wine bar 20 Spot, but the winos in town can rejoice. The wine bar, from owners Bodhi Freedom (owner of Bacchus) and chef Anthony Paone, opened in March, and boasts a list of North American as well as French, Italian and German wines as well as local beer.

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Flour & Co. is an Oasis in the Nob Hill Pastry Desert
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Pete Kane

The PB&J at Flour & Co.

Previously, if you had a sick friend at St. Francis Hospital on Nob Hill, the only local pastry you could bring to cheer them up was a sad doughnut that may or may not have shared the deep fryer with something dubious. Not any more. The simply named Flour & Co., now open on Hyde near California St., will brighten your day whether you're out and about or an in-patient with amoebic dysentery.

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Pete Kane

Coppa sandwich and quinoa salad at Heyday.

The indecisive, the picky and the gluttonous can all make common cause at Heyday, a new spot in the Financial District where nearly everything is made from scratch daily. It's like Bi-Rite, but without the grocery aisles or the ice cream.

Lunch options skew smallish, but at one for $6, two for $10 and three for $14, it is simply not possible to make a wrong choice in this warmly rustic space, furnished with tomato-red chairs, succulents and a decoupaged wall of Agricultural Almanac pages. Open kitchens can be surprisingly tough to pull off (ahem, B. Patisserie, with your uninviting wall of reach-in fridges) but a lingering peek at Heyday's is irresistible.

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Pete Kane

The shredded beef pabellon arepa at Pica Pica.

Hugo Chavez is dead, but Venezuelan food lives on at Pica Pica Maize Kitchen, the second S.F. spot for Carácas cuisine. And it's far less polarizing than inflammatory anti-American rhetoric. In fact, it's delicious.

If you can find it, that is. The nondescript Castro location is hidden in plain sight, such that you might find yourself leaning on the front door, scanning Google Maps. (Hint: Pica Pica is next to the Chevron station, behind the accumulation of idling F-Market streetcars). Inside, however, the warmly painted walls and friendly staff indicate that this is a cut above the sea of mediocrity that is eating in the Castro.

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