In case you missed it, last week’s SF Examiner included a tasty little write-up about 903 Cortland, the new Sandbox Bakery spinoff that’s wowing Bernalwood:

Mutsumi Takehara — mother of two, elite pastry chef and owner of the Sandbox Bakery in Bernal Heights — wanted a place in her neighborhood where parents and kids could have a good time eating together. Her bakery started that mission two years ago, but 903, her restaurant down the block, completes it.

The tiny space has an open kitchen with an ordering counter and only 15 seats around three communal tables in the back, not counting the high chairs lined up against the wall. Thai chef Nute Chulasuwan and Mexican chef Miguel Rosas play in the kitchen, each day creating dishes for the daily-changing menu.

With Takehara’s Japanese sensibility, 903 becomes a United Nations of cooking: Japanese, Thai, Mexican.

And American, because Mutsumi’s contractor husband, Mike Bradsord, is responsible for moist smoked brisket and chickens that turn on the rotisserie he installed. Some dishes insouciantly fuse two or three national cuisines, though others represent just one.

PHOTO: 903 Cortland’s rice burger filled with Japanese fried chicken. SF Examiner via Sandbox Bakery

The La Lengua Autonomous Zone in the Dominion of Bernalwood is famous for two things: 1) Militant political separatism and 2) A deliciously high density of restaurants and drinking establishments.

To fully experience the latter, new neighbor Dave MP, who moved here recently from Boston, has established an ambitious goal: Over the course of 2012, he wants to eat at every restaurant on Mission Street between Cortland and Cesar Chavez. He calls the project the La Lengua Chronicles, because he also plans to write a review of each one on Chowhound:

I moved to San Francisco a few weeks ago, and I am living very close to the strip of Mission Street known by some as “La Lengua.” Since I like exploring food options in my neighborhood, I’ve decided to embark on a little project – eat at every restaurant on Mission Street between Cortland and Cesar Chavez. I finally got around to making a list of all the places I have to try, and will be reporting on all of them. The aim is to have this completed by December 31st, 2012.

I would love advice about what to get at these restaurants, if you’ve been. Also, if you are interested in joining me for any of these meals, definitely give me a shout! I’ll definitely want company for some of them.

So, here’s the list of where I have to go. There are a few places that I’m not sure about including because they are mostly just bars – I think the rule will be that if there’s a menu (whether food or cocktail), I will try it. Also, there are some places that are very close to that stretch of Mission Street, but not quite on it, that won’t be on the official list, but I might try anyway. So I will list those as well.

Here it goes:

3489 Mission – Zante Pizza (Indian, Pizza)
3486 Mission – Pastores (Mexican)
3472 Mission – La Terraza (Mexican – Michoacan)
3471 Mission – Angkor Borei (Cambodian)
3459 Mission – Nena’s Restaurant (Latin American)
3458 Mission – Universal Bakery (Mexican Bakery)
3452 Mission – Shiso (Chinese and Japanese)
3438 Mission – Nervous Dog Coffee (Café)
3401 Mission – Melody Café (Lebanese)
3385 Mission – Oye Managua (Nicaraguan)
3369 Mission – Ichi Sushi (Japanese)
3346 Mission – La Alteña (Mexican)
3349 Mission – Pizza Hut (Pizza)
3326 Mission – Coronitas Bar and Grill (Mexican, Bar)
3322 Mission – El Paisa (Honduran, Salvadoran, Mexican)
3319 Mission – Nulite Kitchen (Chinese)
3318 Mission – Playa Azul (Mexican, Seafood)
3306 Mission – El Gran Taco Loco (Taqueria)
3303 Mission – Eagle Donuts (Donut Shop)
3299 Mission – Inkas (Peruvian)
3286 Mission – Al’s Café (Diner)
3263 Mission – San Miguel Restaurant (Guatemalan)
3259 Mission – Pad Thai Restaurant (Thai)
3253 Mission – Jasmine Tea House (Chinese)
3235 Mission – Dell’uva (Wine Bar)
3230 Mission – El Zocalo (Salvadoran)
3226 Mission – Mi Lindo Peru (Peruvian)
3221 Mission – SiamSaigon (Vietnamese, Thai)
3218 Mission – Blue Plate (New American)
3216 Mission – Lotus Garden (Vietnamese)
3215 Mission – Locavore (New American)
3211 Mission – Taqueria Cancun (Taqueria)
3206 Mission – Los Panchos (Salvadoran)
3202 Mission – Royal Cuckoo (Bar)
3193 Mission – El Patio Restaurant (Mexican)
3149 Mission – Baby Blues BBQ (BBQ)
3137 Mission – Acapulco SF Grill (Mexican)
3100 Mission – Sweet Chinito (Donuts, Sandwiches)

Okay, simply compiling that list counts as an amazing feat unto itself. But if you read the full post, Dave also adds about a dozen more restaurants that aren’t precisely on Mission Street, but which he may try as well.

Ambitious? For sure. Yet he’s already off to a good start, with write-ups penned and posted about San Miguel Restaurant, The (New) Jasmine Tea House, and Al’s Cafe.

Go Dave MP, Go!

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

On Monday night, I had dinner at the Bernal Supper Club, the pop-up restaurant located inside Cafe Cozzolino on Precita Park. Only, it’s not called the Bernal Supper Club anymore, and soon it won’t be a pop-up, either. Chef Tony Ferrari explains:

What started as a “pop up” called Bernal Supper Club, is now developing into its next phase. Chef/Owners Jonathan Sutton and Tony Ferrari are making their dreams come true, planning to take over Cafe Cozzolino and open full time this fall. We are very excited with this venture and the lovely welcome we are getting from the neighborhood. Moving forward, we have decided to rename it Hillside Supper Club. The plan is to keep the warmth of Cozzolino, continue the great food you have enjoyed, and put our rustic old world touch to it. In the mean time, stay tuned and come experience HSC every Monday and Tuesday. We want to give a huge thanks to Miles Carnahan, and the Bernal Supper Club “Framily” for all their support.

After my dinner on Monday, I cornered Tony to get the scoop about the name-change. Now that their venture is going fulltime, he explained, some of the original partners decided to step back from the project. Since the Bernal Supper Club began as an informal dinner/house-party in Bernal Heights, it can now become that once again. The full-time restaurant taking over Cozzolino has become its own thing, and so it now gets its own name.

Makes sense, I suppose, but I do wish they had consulted us for suggestions before making the new name public. For example, “Bernalwood Supper Club” was totally available, as was “Precitaville Supper Club,” or “Sutrito Supper Club.” Just saying…

More importantly, though, dinner on Monday was delicious. We had meatballs and the smoked broccoli as an appetizer, and for my main, I had the Arctic char with horseradish yogurt, Israeli couscous, and beets. It was really great.

So, regardless of what it’s called, the full-time version of the Bernal Hillside Supper Club will be a terrific use of the Cozzolino space, and a superb addition to the neighborhood. It will take 4 to 6 months for the transition to full-time to happen, and until then, HSC will continue to operate as a pop-up at Cozzolino on Mondays and Tuesday nights.

Congrats and welcome!

Neighbors Regina and Scott came over for dinner on Friday night.

Earlier in the day, they’d received a bunch of eggs from Neighbors Mark and Jeff, who keep a few chickens on their Bernal Heights property. To alleviate this sudden surplus of eggs, Regina made a mushroom and cheese quiche with a rich butter crust that was to die for. Then she brought it over to my house, where it became the centerpiece of the meal.

Tasty locavore goodness. Yum!

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

There was much sadness and gnashing of teeth when the Jasmine Tea House on Mission Street closed last August. The business was offered for sale, and apparently it found a buyer. So now the Jasmine Tea House has reopened. Neighbor Phern tells Bernalwood:

My favorite Chinese restaurant in Bernalwood, Jasmine Tea House has reopened! Owner Robert (last name?) personally delivered my order last night to tell me the news that they have been open for a week with the same menu and making every effort to make sure everything tastes the same.

They offer 18 choices of dim sum …I love their pork and shrimp siu mai, shrimp and chive dumplings. For appetizers I love onion pancake and deep fried oyster, mango prawn salad and sesame cold noodle salad. Sizzling beef, basil ostrich, Shanghai fillet and Peking duck are a few of their specialties.

PHOTO: Mr. Judkins