Canteen's new interior. Photo courtesy Charles de Lisle Workshop.
If you’ve visited before, well, the next time you walk into Dennis Leary’s Canteen on Sutter, you’re going to do a double-take. Designer Charles de Lisle of Charles de Lisle Workshop has given it an extensive remodel, which includes a lot of floor-to-ceiling plywood. He explains, “We started with the idea of sheathing the room in plywood, to make the character of the space still feel humble, but add some depth and pattern to bring it to an even more intimate and cozy level.” Noting the apple-green counter was gone, he wrote to me, “Dennis was looking three–five years down the road and felt that, just like the style of the ever-changing menu, the interior should have a bit of flexibility to it.”
You’ll also notice a big “carnival light box” over the counter, with a bright red, powder-coated, perforated steel trough—and now a matching maroon counter. The tables were refitted with cherry red, high-gloss laminate and thick metal banding, plus plywood wine racks were installed, and instead of the bolted-down diner stools at the counter, you’ll now find simple workroom stools from Grainger Industrial Supply. Looks like the kind of place where I’d like to go to work on some of Leary’s eggs Benedict and Parker House rolls.
817 Sutter St. at Jones, 415-928-8870.
At the beginning of the year, Inside Scoop broke the news that Loretta Keller’s The Moss Room had abruptly closed, with Charles Phan (who runs the Academy Café, also at the California Academy of Sciences), taking it over. Looks like Phan has already reopened for lunch, according to Scoop. It’s open from 11am–3pm, and you can look at Slanted Door chef de cuisine Justine Kelly and Phan’s new menu here, featuring salads, imperial rolls, and some larger dishes like fried chicken with sriracha butter and a burger on focaccia. Expect more changes in coming weeks.
Moss Room chef Michael Morrison is shifting his focus full time to COCO500. He was spending time at both kitchens, but now he’s going to be able to dedicate more time to a whole-animal program and other projects at COCO500.
55 Music Concourse Dr. inside the California Academy of Sciences, 415-876-6121.
Marcia Gagliardi writes a popular insider weekly e-column about the SF dining scene, “the tablehopper.” Subscribe for free at www.tablehopper.com.
