Here’s a New Bay Area Restaurant You Must Try This Weekend

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Never want to look at a turkey baster again? We can’t blame you. In fact, we have some suggestions on eateries throughout the Bay Area to check out once that Thanksgiving food coma subsides.

Families that make pizza’s a post-Turkey Day tradition should check out two new pizzerias in San Francisco and Oakland. For formal Italian fare, there’s an elegant aperitivo and cicchetti bar that landed in FiDi this week.

If you find yourself in Japantown, look for a corner izakaya serving up warm dishes and sashimi with craft sake. Finally, it’s well worth a venture to Burlingame for seasonal pies and galettes from a nouvelle French patisserie. 

1. Chika & Sake

Japantown

1700 Laguna St.
(415) 658-7388
chika-sake.com

A diminutive corner izakaya specializing in buta no kakuni, a stewed pork belly with soy-cured tamago, has arrived in Japantown. Chika & Sake’s chef cooks the pork for hours to conjure deep umami flavors, which makes for a fitting pairing to the selection of craft sake on tap. The Hokkaido hotate scallops and uni also whip. 

2. Marina Pizza & Pasta

The Marina 

2139 Lombard St.
(415) 931-3333
marinapizzapasta.com

The late-night pie shop once known as Marina Pizza & Cafe has opened under new owners and a new name. Restaurateur Moe Qudah moved his operation from Downtown Oakland to the Marina, a destination that should draw enough foot traffic for the newest addition to the neighborhood. Fortunately for late-night revelers, the joint stays up, too, with closing time at 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Qudah also serves Italian-American comfort staples like pesto pasta and meat lasagna.

3. Maison Alyzee

Burlingame 

1208 Burlingame Avenue
(650) 425-7274
maisonalyzee.com

This patisserie established itself as a Mountain View staple before its recent expansion into a second spot just south of SF. Maison Alyzee’s selection of sweets seems to mark the passage of time—with a bounty of Thanksgiving pies through Dec. 4 that include pumpkin dressed up with almond sucrée, custard, mascarpone ganache and caramelized pumpkin seeds. With Turkey Day now come and gone, the patisserie will start baking bûches de Noël—and with the dawn of 2023, French king cakes. 

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4. Bloom

Uptown Oakland

1917 San Pablo Avenue 
(341) 441-0849
bloomoakland.com

Inspired by legendary New York pizzerias like Lombardi’s and Di Fara, and guided by his brother’s love of thin crust, a Nepalese restaurateur opened a family-owned pie shop in Oakland. Bebash Gurung learned to make pizza in his brother’s food truck before moving back to the Bay. He added meatballs, calzone and a few vegan dishes to his repertoire, but Gurung’s first love is still pizza. “I give all the credit to my brother,” Gurung told The Standard. “I’m forever grateful.” 

5. Bar Sprezzatura

FiDi

300 Clay St. #100
barsprezzatura.com

A Venetian-style aperitivo and cicchetti bar from members-only social club Modernist’s Carlo Splendorini opened Monday. In addition to the strawberry-wine-and-prosecco that makes some très trendy Negroni Sbagliato, Splendorini offers a unique take on bellini cocktails, espresso martinis and libations. Lunch and dinner menus pay tribute to Northern Italian cicchetti bars, where small plates are a defining feature. The whipped salt cod on toast with gold leaf adds an extra luxe Midas touch.

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