As Lazy Bear Prepares for Renovations, It Resurrects Its Famous Dinner Party for One Week

Lazy Bear will bring back its original dinner party format for July 23 to 27.

As two-Michelin-starred restaurant Lazy Bear prepares to close for renovations in late July, it’s making a week-long return to its famous communal dinner party format, which it sunset after the onset of the pandemic. Diners, seated at two 20-seat tables, are encouraged to socialize both with each other and the chefs — expect a menu that draws on local Bay Area summer produce, likely highlighting eggplant, melon, squash, and tomatoes. Tickets are available from July 23 to 27.

From now until July 23, Lazy Bear will continue its current dinner service, with staggered seating times and individual parties. Thursday, July 27 will be its last day of service ahead of renovation; the restaurant plans to reopen by mid-September, according to a post on its Instagram page.

Sven Ceramics signs a lease at Pier 70

Stephen “Sven” Jobe and Mallie Testerman, the duo behind local handmade pottery company Sven Ceramics, are opening a shop at the newly renovated Pier 70, the San Francisco Business Times reports. Developer Brookfield Properties announced the latest additions to the pier’s restored Building 12 space on June 14. Sven Ceramics has family ties to the site: “Mallie’s grandfather was an engineer here decades ago and my great grandparents helped teach women how to weld ship hulls at the site during WWII,” Jobe said in a statement to the Business Times. Local bakery Breadbelly and Standard Deviant Brewing are also in the Pier 70 opening mix.

Eight new pop-up businesses are coming to San Francisco

The San Francisco Business Times also has the rundown on the second slate of small businesses to open as part of the Vacant to Vibrant program, a city-run initiative that aims to transform vacant storefronts into pop-ups and gathering spaces. This cohort features a youth-run boba shop Steep Creamery; cookie bakery Hungry Crumbs; Aurora Centro a deli run by the owners of Aurora Alimentari; Paper Son Coffee; and ice cream shop Koolfi Creamery, serving small-batch Indian-influenced scoops, among others. The eight new businesses open on Tuesday, June 18.

A ‘Melting Spots’ map debuts online

The California Migration Museum has debuted an illustrated map documenting the ways that immigration has shaped the San Francisco dining scene, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The “Melting Spots” map, which is publicly available online, charts culinary hot spots around the city, pinpointing the origins of the local boba wave, the birthplace of garlic noodles, and more.