While nothing can yet be called “back to normal” in the restaurant business, things are moving in at least a positive direction. And perhaps the Bay Area’s continued success with vaccinations and indoor masking under most circumstances will result in a relatively stress-free, pandemic fall and winter.

A sign of the improving outlook is that several large, long-delayed restaurant openings aim to officially open before the holidays. These include the highly anticipated Korean spot from chef Benu Corey Lee, and a highly prized project from a former Lazy Bear sous chef that had its first seeds as a pop-up two years ago. .

Additionally, two beloved, longtime restaurants are reopening in their previous form for the first time essentially since being closed by the pandemic, with one sporting a fresh new look.

Automaton
We’ve been talking about Chef Matthew Kirk’s brick-and-mortar iteration of his Automat pop-ups since January 2020, and we’ve featured it in our February 2021 list of places to look forward to this year as well. But now, finally, we have an opening schedule, and it’s late October-ish. It’s coming to the former Green Chile Kitchen space at 1801 McAllister Street, and it will no doubt contain some of the fabulous breads Kirk threw throughout the pandemic. The plan is for an all-day restaurant, three meals a day, with a “casual” but “ambitious” fare, as Kirk puts it to Eater – and he wants it to be a place where people feel at home. comfortable with their children. Plus, Kirk says, he might also revive his bread subscription service at some point. 1801 McAllister Street in Baker

Boulevard (reopening)
The 28-year-old Paris / Belle Epoque-themed Boulevard de Nancy Oakes restaurant reopened briefly last fall, only to close again before the holidays. But it will reopen on September 29 with the same executive chef, Dana Younkin, who has worked alongside Oakes for nearly a decade, and a revamped menu, look and structure. As the Chronicle explains, there will be two prix-fixe evening options, with an a la carte menu only available at the bar and in a new, more casual lounge, where walk-ins are welcome. And designer Ken Fulk, who Oakes worked with with restaurateur Anna Weinberg on Tosca’s renovation last year, just renovated Boulevard’s interior – which features a new blue onyx bar top and murals. ” fantastic “. 1 Mission Street, reservations here

Françoise (reopening)
Chef-owner Melissa Perello announced Frances’ long-awaited reopening a few weeks ago. . The three weekends already scheduled are almost sold out (check out the charts here), but more are on the way, and these pop-ups run until at least November, Thursday through Saturday only. After the successful reopening in June of sister restaurant Octavia and loyal Frances fans inside and outside the Castro neighborhood, you can expect it to be difficult to find a table there after it reopens. full, hopefully in late fall. * Check for updates on the restaurant’s Instagram and look for the reservation books that will open soon here. 3870 17th Street

Manual project
Izakaya Yuzuki / AL’s former Deli space at the 18th and Guerrero is emerging as a new concept of temaki (hand-rolled) sushi on the go from the Ju-Ni team, as we learned over the course of of summer. And the update is that chef Geoffrey Lee and his partner Tan Truong are aiming for an opening in early December, through Eater (although we’ve heard this given as a timeline for many projects over the years, and it can always end up meaning January ). The plan consists of a concise menu, with handroll options that you can take with you to Dolores Park or take home for dinner. 1499, rue de Valence

Penny roma
Just today we learned of the arrival of the new, more rustic Italian concept in the central kitchen space, Penny Roma, from the Flour + Water Hospitality group. It’s coming soon (with an opening slated for mid-October), and the team of chefs Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow say they want to make an affordable and accessible pasta place where you can ‘drop by’ multiple times. per week, with a few larger plates and seasonal vegetable sides. In addition, the adjoining former Salumeria space, which became the flour + water pasta store during the pandemic, will at the same time become a new wine bar at the counter. 3000 20th Street in Florida

Pursuit
LA restaurant investor Erik Sun (Bestia) is opening a trendy new ramen bar in SoMa this fall featuring a $ 60,000 Japanese noodle maker. Sun told The Chronicle that the plan is to serve multiple types of ramen with multiple types of noodles – “noodles of different widths and gluten levels, including a hand-cut, wide, pappardelle-like noodle and a medium noodle. that took almost four years to get right. ” There will be a 15-seat ramen bar at the Pursuit, as well as a 45-seat restaurant serving yakiniku, or Japanese barbecue. (Sun is also a supplier of Wagyu beef, and rare cuts of meat will be the star.) The space at 715 Brannan Street was originally slated to become a different concept in 2016 called Arsenal, but that project was scrapped. Expect the opening to happen in the coming weeks, with the word “early fall” still being the word.

San Ho just won
Benu chef Corey Lee, with three Michelin stars under his belt, has been promising to open San Ho Won for two years now – with the intention of exploring his Korean heritage, outside the more refined confines of Benu. During the pandemic, Lee used PPP funds by starting a delivery-only kitchen under the name of San Ho Won in Benu, and now, finally, he plans to open in October in the former Blowfish Sushi space. There will of course be twists and riffs on other cuisines – like a promised kimchi pozole – but the Chronicle says we can also expect “charcoal grilled dishes, banchan, stews, rice dishes. and other Korean dishes “. 2170 Bryant Street

More soon…
It’s been a while since we’ve had an update on Suggie’s Trash Pizza & Natural Wine, which we first heard about last fall. The Chronicle now says they plan to open in November after a move from an initially reported location in North Beach to 3349 23rd Street in the mission. Stay tuned for more!

Hoodline previously reported the upcoming October opening of Osito (2875 18th Street, Florida), a new real-fire-focused tasting menu restaurant from former Bar Agricole and Mister Jiu chef Seth Stowaway that would still be on track for the end of the month. .

A new Russian-inspired spot called Birch & Rye heads to the old Contigo / Mahila space at 1320 Castro Street in Noe Valley. Chef-owner Anya El-Wattar will be joined by former Commonwealth and Rich Table deputy Amiran Tskhvaradze, as the Chronicle reported in July, making dumplings, borscht, meat pies and more, maybe by November.

And we are still waiting for a schedule update for Hilda and Jesse (1665 Powell Street in Union), the all-day breakfast restaurant from a Kristina Compton and Rachel Sillcocks pop-up, due to open in the fall.

Top photo courtesy of Boulevard

* This has been fixed to show that Frances is not planning a full reopening in October, and the actual full reopening is still to be determined, with pop-ups continuing through November.