Vietnamese street food champion and all-around social media darling Rice Paper Scissors has made the move from pop-up to permanently stationed restaurant, inside Brick and Mortar Music Hall on Mission and Duboce -- and now they're doing brunch, too. Valerie Luu and Katie Kwan are apparently incapable of a misstep, and while the prices are a tad higher than some other banh mi in town, you can taste why.
See Also: Beyond Bacon and Eggs: Three Out-of-the-Box Brunches to Try This Weekend
Move Beyond Chilaquiles and Huevos Ranchers with Three New Mexican Brunches
If you follow farm-to-table dining at all, you've probably heard of Outstanding in the Field, the roving dinner series that teams up with small farms to create fabulous feasts in places where food is grown. Now in its 15th year, the organization recently announced its 2014 schedule, and there are still some tickets to dinners thrown by notable Bay Area chefs like Kim Alter (Plum), Mark Liberman (AQ and TBD), Josh Even (Tosca), Jennifer Puccio (The Cavalier), and Ravi Kapur (Liholiho Yacht Club and upcoming brick-and-mortar).
There's a new kid on the block next to St. George Spirits and Rock Wall Winery, and you guessed it -- it's a brewery. Faction Brewing completes the Alameda Naval Air base's boozy trifecta with six taps, a killer view of the San Francisco skyline, and a parking lot-turned-patio to soak up the East Bay sun.
Faction was opened late last year by industry veterans Claudia Pamparana and Rodger Davis, who have combined experience at 21st Amendment, Drakes and Triple Rock. Their following shows: On Saturdays the lines are out the door and Faction's suds are popping up more and more on local taps.
See also: Fog Belt Brewing Company: Hoppy Beers in Santa Rosa
Beer of the Week: Prairie Artisan Ales/Evil Twin Brewing's Bible Belt
If you've been looking for an excuse to get over to State Bird Provisions but haven't wanted to deal with the line/reservation madness, this might be it: Local breadmaker, flour miller, and now cookbook author Josey Baker is having a book release party at the restaurant tonight (Tuesday, April 22, 5:30-10 p.m.). State Bird chef/owners Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski will be making special dishes for the evening using bread and stone-ground whole grains from the Mill, and there will be both bread and cookbooks for sale. But the best news is that the event is 100 percent walk-in, no reservations, so, you know, you might actually have a chance to get in.
