Local links: Jean Paul likes our views!, Snow Ice, Le Soleil reopens, food recco’s


Playland on the Great Highway, 1948. Photo by Eugene Gallagher

Some hot and spicy local links for you all – happy Thursday!

  • Jean Paul Gaultier, the fashion god behind the new de Young museum exhibit that opens this week, took in the view from the tower. His review? “The view from the @deYoungMuseum tower is absolument magnifique! #iLoveSanFrancisco” he wrote on Twitter.
  • Snow ice, a popular Taiwanese dessert, is growing more popular according to the Chron. You can try it for yourself at 100% Sweet Cafe (2512 Clement & 26th). It looks like a crepe but it’s not, as “snow ice starts out closer to ice cream.” At the cafe, “the dessert comes as a mountain of snow ice drizzled with a choice of sauce, such as strawberry or chocolate syrup. It’s finished with three toppings – anything from lychee to red beans to grass jelly.”
  • Art studio and shop Foggy Notion (275 6th Avenue) will be celebrating their grand re-opening on Friday night with a party from 6-9pm. The shop will feature jewelry, recycled vinyl and leather goods, and showcase designers and artists from SF and beyond who create handmade, organic, and environmentally-conscious products.
  • Vietnamese restaurant Le Soleil (133 Clement) has re-opened after closing for renovations, including the addition of two new ADA-compliant restrooms. They were one of the many restaurants in the neighborhood who had been sued for ADA violations. Glad to see they were able to afford the upgrades and re-open.
  • Hey guys, need some brownie points to get you out of the doghouse? 7×7 recommends Pacific Cafe (7000 Geary at 34th Avenue) as a good place to take your lady as thanks for putting up with your March Madness debauchery. “No need for reservations because they don’t take them, but they provide friendly pours of red and white wine while you wait to be seated, and the seafood dishes are delicious.”
  • Ethiopian chef Eskender Asegad tells 7×7 readers to stop by Assab Eritrean Food (2845 Geary) for their lamb dish. “Amazing with a spice mixture that’s more sweet than spicy hot. It’s very intriguing, with a generous amount of garlic—a very soul-warming dish.”
  • SFWeekly named the “fish fillet with explosive chile pepper” dish from Spices! (294 8th Avenue) as one of their top 50 for 2012. “The audible crunch of the batter, which masks the delicate fish, is only part of the dish’s crackle. That comes from the citrus buzz of the Sichuan peppercorns, the pain-inducing warmth of the chiles, the nutty flashes of toasted sesame seeds, and the electric jolt of the cilantro scattered across the top.” Woah, pass the Tums!

Sarah B.