Restaurant Openings: October 2014

High-end Japanese cuisine hits San Francisco at Pabu, while Nashville welcomes modern honky-tonk Acme Feed & Seed.

The design of Pabu in San Francisco serves high-end Japanese cuisine and features high ceilings and natural materials, inspired by the elements of air, earth and water.
The design of Pabu in San Francisco serves high-end Japanese cuisine and features high ceilings and natural materials, inspired by the elements of air, earth and water.

Michael Mina Opens Japanese Eatery In San Francisco

Famed chef Michael Mina partnered with Bay Area sushi star Ken Tominaga in July to debut Pabu, a modern izakaya and sushi bar in San Francisco’s Financial District. The restaurant serves high-end Japanese fare, including cold and hot small plates, such as grilled squid, Tokyo fried chicken, sweet miso octopus and Kusshi oysters ($6 to $15). These items join à la carte robatayaki grilled meats and fish, shabu shabu, sushi and sashimi, and larger entrées like wagyu beef and lobster tail (sushi rolls range from $5 to $26; specialty entrées are $22 to $52). The restaurant boasts a wide variety of specialty drinks ($13), including cocktails made with sake and shochu and a special section of whisk(e)y-based concoctions. Highlights include the Gogo Yubari, a blend of The Yamazaki 12-year-old Japanese whisky, Cherry Heering liqueur, Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth and orange juice. In addition, the restaurant offers Japanese whisky ceremony service, an array of Japanese beers ($7 to $16 a bottle or draft pour), and a selection of sakes, shochus and wines ($8 to $29 a glass; $22 to $516 a bottle). Pabu also features an attached fast casual concept called The Ramen Bar.

Nashville’s Acme Feed & Seed offers three floors of food, drinks and entertainment.
Nashville’s Acme Feed & Seed offers three floors of food, drinks and entertainment.

Restaurants And Bars Revive Historic Nashville Building

The century-old Acme Feed & Seed building in Nashville, Tennessee’s downtown area gained new life this summer with its revamp as a multilevel restaurant, bar and entertainment space. The venue’s first floor offers an updated take on the classic honky-tonk with street food-inspired fare, such as Mexican-style street corn and Thai shrimp fried rice ($6 to $18). The restaurant offers an array of craft beer ($3 to $8 a draft pour or bottle), including brews from Nashville’s Turtle Anarchy Brewing Co. and Fat Bottom Brewing. Acme Feed & Seed also boasts Southern-influenced cocktails ($8 to $10) like the Feed Barrel, made with Maestro Dobel Diamond Tequila, ginger simple syrup, house-made sour mix and strawberries. The building’s second floor features a cocktail lounge, and the third floor houses a music venue.

Restaurant Briefs

  • Italian seafood and handmade pastas take center stage at Plin, a new restaurant that opened in July in San Francisco’s Mission District. Fourth-generation chef and restaurateur Alexander Alioto leads the venue with his father, sommelier Nunzio Alioto. Plin also boasts a number of specialty cocktails.
  • Starwood Hotels & Resorts unveiled Le Méridien Chicago Oakbrook Center in July, a hotel that houses the contemporary Spanish tapas restaurant El Tapeo. Featuring sweeping views of the Windy City, the intimate restaurant boasts a lounge and bar, handcrafted cocktails, and a variety of Spanish table wines, Cavas and Champagnes.
  • Cleveland native Jonathon Sawyer unveiled the Northern Italian restaurant Trentina this summer in his home city. The venue serves traditional Italian fare with Midwestern influences and boasts an extensive wine list that highlights offerings from Italy, Germany and Austria, as well as cocktails and beers.
  • The relaxed cantina ChicoJulio Bodega de Mar opened in July in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Emphasizing coastal Mexican seafood, the restaurant is named for Mexico’s first deep sea diver and serves ceviches, tacos, burritos, aguachiles, sandwiches and a daily whole fish. Cocktails highlight Tequila and mezcal.