Latest news with #Horsefeather
Eater
24-06-2025
- Business
- Eater
Nopa's Neighborhood Bar Graduates to Palo Alto
The pros behind San Francisco's Horsefeather are looking to strike gold again. Their bar has become a staple of the Divisadero corridor in the years since its 2016 opening, but now the bar's next phase is just around the corner: As of Friday, June 27, Horsefeather will debut inside the Town & Country Village shopping center, just across the street from the Stanford campus, where the team feels the bar will translate well. 'What we've done really well in San Francisco is the level of hospitality in that convivial environment,' says co-owner Hanson Li. 'From service to food to drinks, it's at a pretty high level, but with a price point and an environment that's very approachable, from the family with a stroller at 5 p.m. to people coming after the show.' It's a big move for the Horsefeather team, and one they've put plenty of thought into. Expanding within San Francisco would have felt like 'a hat on a hat,' as co-owner Justin Lew puts it, too much Horsefeather in one city. 'Having the opportunity to be able to bring it to a place that's more of a suburban area works for the brand,' Lew says. 'It gives us an opportunity to serve a wider demographic.' It also didn't feel quite right to start over again with a new concept, especially given that the group feels Horsefeather resonates with its customers. 'It's a brand that, from the beginning, we knew was scalable,' Lew says. 'It is translatable, it offers something for everybody — we don't really want to reinvent the wheel. It's not really about franchising at all, but it is about seeing what other markets it can fit in.' What fans of Horsefeather the Original will find in Palo Alto is an expanded version of what the bar could be, if only given the space to stretch its legs. That will be felt most in the design of the space; Palo Alto continues to echo the Arts & Crafts style of architecture, but with added elements of Brutalism and Frank Lloyd Wright, Lew says. There are also callbacks to the original, such as with vintage glass details meant as a reminder of the atrium and a back bar that mimics the angular wood-paneled ceiling. The shotgun-style space of San Francisco's outpost left little room for a true private dining room — most customers gravitate toward renting out the streetside atrium, necessitating the awkward dance of customers essentially interrupting a private party as they walk to the main dining room. In Palo Alto, the PDR is fully considered, a wood-panelled room that can be part of the space when needed, or closed off if preferred, equipped with its own TV and sound system. As for refreshments, most of the hit dishes and drinks that made the Divisadero version popular will port over to Palo Alto. That stacked, double cheeseburger, the crisp, duck fat fries topped with 'duck fat snow,' fried chicken and waffles, and the Korean crispy wings are all there, at the opening. But the team is also waiting to see how the menus mesh with the larger Palo Alto crowd and will make adjustments accordingly, holding space to add on dishes as necessary. Also down the line will come lunch and, later, weekend brunch. The cocktail options will expand to 18 drinks, with new original cocktails that they hope will embody the Horsefeather crew's motto of approachability. General manager Dzu Nguyen shares that the new Showpony cocktail is a riff on the Kansas City-born Horsefeather drink (basically a whiskey mule), but dressed up with ginger syrup, sarsaparilla, and salted barley to layer in both umami and spice elements. Nguyen says the expansion is also an opportunity for him to grow the nonalcoholic options, such as the Shorebird, which takes the non-alcoholic spirit Aplós Calme and adds it to salted green apple cordial that they make in-house, with the surprise element of verjus and ginger-scallion oil for a rich texture. 'It really adds this dynamic layer of savory to [something] floral, citrusy, and fruit forward,' Nguyen says. 'It brings a sense of thoughtfulness to nonalcoholic cocktails.' As Lew describes the different elements of the space, which he had a hand in designing, he starts talking about the Brutalist mural that's going in. 'It's going to be a nice moment,' he says. 'But the place just has little moments everywhere — and that's just representative of what we did in San Francisco.' Horsefeather (855 El Camino Real, Suite 151, Palo Alto) debuts on Friday, June 27, and will be open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. See More: San Francisco Restaurant Openings
Eater
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
A Sleek New Hotel Bar Just Opened From a Cocktail Pro
A defunct Union Square bar just got a new lease on life. The former Benjamin Cooper on Geary Street is now the Valley Club. The new business opened Thursday, June 12 as 'a sexy sexy lounge,' or at least according to local writer Alcademics who wrote about the opening. This is the first solo project from Mitch Lagneaux, who worked at Horsefeather and Brass Tacks amongst other high-end San Francisco bars. The bar is inside the Hotel G and upstairs from Adriano Paganini's coastal Italian restaurant Corzetti. This new bar is decked with lots of mirrors and plush interior. Drinks are similarly done-up: there's a chocolate and raspberry Negroni, the Midas Touch oh bourbon, Galliano, vanilla, orange, lemon, and 'pure gold,' per the menu. There are 'side quests,' too, batched shots that run two for $20 or four for $35. In much more dire news, Le Marais Bakery on 18th Street was robbed on Friday, June 13. The business owners posted on Facebook letting their loyal fanbase know the burglars put 'an explosive on the window.' This setback comes after owners Patrick and Joanna Ascaso's sister business were told by Ferry Building managers their sister business Grande Creperie will not receive a lease renewal after all. On Castro Street proper, Jamieson Leadbetter and his family from Portland, Maine, are rolling out service in their first San Francisco location. Leadbetter's Bake Shop hosted a preview weekend in early June, selling apricot ginger English muffins and creme fraiche mushroom breakfast sandwiches. Tablehopper reports the initial opening hours continue next weekend on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Craftsman Coffee at 1750 Francisco Boulevard will host local baker and neuroscience PhD Parwana Ashari on Sunday, June 22 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Ashari starred on the Great American Baking Show season three. She sets up shop where Mark Lieuw first popped up with his outfit Stay Sweet SF in 2024.
