June Eat & Drink Checklist: 5 Standout Newcomers
These five newcomers (or new menus) cover the gamut, from Korean hot pot to Roman-style pizza. Here is what is standing out at each, alongside this month’s full restaurant reviews: Handroll Project, State Bird Provisions, Routier, For the Record, Members Only. And for the kids (and kid in you), hit up brand new Ghirardelli Chocolate Experience Store, tributing Ghirardelli’s 170th anniversary with much more seating options (read: no lines for locals) and chocolate-making viewing, in-house sundaes, ice cream and chocolate drinks (as always, I’ve vetted, visited or ordered from each place reviewed):
Casual Mission Italian Steps It Up: BarZotto
BarZotto opened in the Mission in 2016, a solid pasta takeout spot, but one I wouldn’t bother crossing town for. In recent weeks, they just turned into a full service restaurant. Owner Marko Sotto utilized money from the Restaurant Revitalization fund aid during their second pandemic closure to rethink, then elevate the intimate but lofty restaurant marked by Italian flag-colored chairs. Sotto wisely brought on chef Nick Pallone to completely rework their fast casual pastas and overall menu.
It shows immediately, from an addictive fritto misto to plump dungeness crab suppli (rice balls) dipped in Calabrian chili aioli. Smartly going the pizza al taglio/Roman-style route — a…