Ten Speed Press

The book officially drops tomorrow, available from Omnivore and other retailers.

​Tablehopper-in-chief Marcia Gagliardi drops her Ten Speed-published debut book tomorrow. Over the weekend, we spent a few hours thumbing through an advance copy. Unsurprisingly, it's called The Tablehopper's Guide to Dining and Drinking in San Francisco ($16). The subtitle ― Find the Right Spot for Every Occasion ― is key. Her tome departs from guidebook convention, cataloging eateries by the reasons you'll choose them, not solely by the cuisines they dish up or the neighborhoods they claim. For example, situated way out in the far reaches of the Sunset, Outerlands Cafe is a prime place to head when you're playing hooky from work, somewhere you can savor good levain and a steaming bowl of soup ― ideal ingredients for a cozy afternoon spent avoiding your cubicle's uncomfortable chair and flickering computer screen.

Andrea Scher/Superhero Designs

Marcia Gagliardi.

​Likewise she recommends Delfina and Quince to people forced to entertain visiting New Yorkers ― "your Chelsea art gallery-owning urban warrior cousin and his fashionista wife with a penchant for pastis." Hmmm. Our lovably scuzzy Brooklyn-born college buddy with a bustling dog-walking business and a long-standing crush on the white lady would probably be fine with less refined digs, but you get the idea. Gagliardi's book shares her favorite restaurants, and with them, both explicitly and implicitly, her San Francisco stories, those of a woman who arrived 15 years ago, ate obsessively, and found a way to craft a calling out of her favorite hobby. While she leans on some tried-and-true destinations, we like how she encourages tourists to seek out less-traveled gastronomic pleasures ― a T ride over to Dogpatch for phenomenal pizza at Piccino, for example.

A. Simmons

The Cantonese "tamale."

​Of all the bars within three blocks of our domicile, Doc's Clock might be our favorite. We appreciate $2 cans of Olympia, perilously low lights, and lots of dark wood. Last Sunday, however, we headed over to the Clock not to tie one on, but to unlace ourselves ― with brunch. Every Sunday, from noon until 4 p.m., Doc's Clock hosts Three Papayas, the Thai, Vietnamese, and pan-Asian "cultural liberation" brunch curated by Ta-Wei Lin, formerly of Yamo.

Our friendly bartender was sipping Powers and showing off her alien abduction-themed 2010 calendar. Folks were choking down Bloody Marys. Hostess and server Vivian Nguyen was ferrying massive bowls and plates to and from tables buried in the bar's shadowy recesses. Shuddering off the memory of our last glass of Jim Beam drained eight hours earlier, we sat at the bar, close to the door, so the light streaming in might shine upon our food, enabling us to see what we were stuffing down.

Eliya/Flickr

​Rent, specifically the necessity of paying it, is an evil, relentless master. Every first of the month, after forking over so much more than we'd like ― and watching our bank account shrivel ― we stock up on lentils and vow to live more frugally. Thankfully, relatively cheap eats don't have to happen exclusively at a taqueria, burger joint, or behind one's own pulse-splattered stove. Starting today through Friday, Medjool is launching Five after Five, an ongoing special of $5 tapas and $5 glasses of wine in the bar and lounge area, 5-8 p.m. A few plates and sips won't stack up to a cost-saving spin through Trader Joe's, but Trader Joe's doesn't have a roof deck, now does it? Details after the jump.

Roberts (left) and Reichl: We totally see the resemblance.

​Last Friday, the Los Angeles Times reported that Fox is making a movie based on Ruth Reichl's memoir Garlic and Sapphires. The film is "in active production," meaning fans of the legendary raven-coiffed ex-Gourmet editor can expect a release in 2010 ― at the absolute earliest. We're giving it a preliminary 2.5 stars, because envisioning an entire movie, much less a single scene, about "a chef [who] tries to balance her career with writing a book, motherhood and divorce" makes us sleepy like Thanksgiving turkey. The big question is, of course, who will play Reichl. Betty Hallock of the Times suggests Catherine Keener, which we can visualize. Others have imagined Minnie Driver or Andie MacDowell. Reichl herself? She's reportedly pulling for Julia Roberts.

Judy Parker

Scene from Heart's pre-launch party last Saturday.

​Murmurs have been circulating for months, as the broad street-side window at 1270 Valencia (a garage and ― reputedly ― a house of ill repute in prior incarnations) has revealed an ongoing tumult of construction, decoration, and general preparatory madness. Starting today, you can search it yourself. Heart, food-and-bev rookie Jeff Segal's long-awaited wine bar, gallery, and hearty small-plates depot, will finally thump to life at noon, with a long list of mostly European wines, Spanish sherries, and craft beers coursing from its warm, community-conscious corners, most available for retail sale as well as by the glass and bottle. The Kitchenette-curated menu ― frankly, what excites us most ― might well include riffs on pork shoulder with ranch, cider-braised goat shank, and chicken pot pie. We feel a clog coming on.

Heart 1270 Valencia (at 24th St.), 285-1200; noon-10 p.m.

PBS PressRoom

Tomorrow, on a very special Oprah...

​Tomorrow at 4 p.m., in a food-themed episode of her show, Oprah Winfrey will host Michael Pollan, the Berkeley-based swami of sustainability, along with actress and vegan-ista Alicia Silverstone and Chipotle Mexican Grill founder Steve Ells. They will discuss ― what else? ― what we eat, where it comes from, what we should change about our habits, and, of course, why it's all important in the first place. We're sure it'll be a civil occasion. Yank down the blinds on your office window and tune in. Just try not to pair the viewing experience with a content-inappropriate sack of bonbons.

T. Palmer

Yats' gumbo: Now appearing at Jack's?

​We got a call from Yats owner Yon Davis last night. On Wednesday, we reported that Jack's Club ― the Potrero Flats bar where, until mid-December, Yats served up a roster of New Orleans dishes -- seemed to have appropriated Yats' menu. Davis told us that Jack's knew he was looking for a new home for his operation, and nudged Yats' out in the hopes of capitalizing on the clientele his business had generated. There weren't any money disagreements between the two parties, Davis says, but in his mind, Jack's figured it could make more money handling the kitchen itself. (Davis is operating out of temporary daytime digs at Annie's Bistro, 2819 California at Divisadero, under the name Creole Soups and Such.)

Hold your horses.

​Lazy barbecue fanatics hoping to help Haiti this week should hold their horses. Sneaky's BBQ smoker-in-chief Pat Wachter badly cut a finger and received surgery this morning. There will be no deliveries this week after all, but next week, all profits will go, as planned, to the American Red Cross's Haiti Relief and Development program.

Sara Remington/paula-wolfert.com

Paula Wolfert

​Omnivore Books isn't San Francisco's roomiest venue, but this Saturday, Jan. 23, expect the walls and floor to shake and creak from all the eager fans likely to be milling about the shop's scant square footage. Sonoma resident and Mediterranean cooking guru Paula Wolfert is in town to talk clay pot cookery (the subject of her latest tome) with Patricia Unterman, Examiner food critic, co-owner of Hayes Street Grill, and author of the San Francisco Food Lover's Guide. Seating is limited, reserved for folks who call or drop by in advance to buy Wolfert's book. Standing room, however, is not reserved. Come early, if you don't mind ― fittingly ― being squeezed like an Angelo Parodi sardine portoghesi in a can. Event details after the jump.

Luis C./Yelp

The sincerest form of flattery?

​The hungry folks sidling in for frosty glasses of beer and jambalaya at Potrero Flats dive bar Jack's Club (2545 24th St. at San Bruno) might not be disappointed that Yats has flown the coop ― or even notice. Though new cooks are in the building, the menu has remained similar to what it was when Yats ruled. Jack's told us it's always served Southern food, even before Yats' Yon Davis moved in. We're not so sure about that. We spent three years living in a house about half a block from Jack's: We remember tacos on Tuesdays, occasional flights of cheddar-draped nachos, and tapas, iffy non-Southern small plates. Yesterday, we put in a call to the Yats people to see if we could get a little more information. Until some surfaces, the story is as murky as a filé-laced stock.