The New Fillmore

THE ELITE CAFE
IS TURNING ITALIAN

Dragged-out negotiations between Andy Chun, who held the lease on the now-dark Elite Cafe, and serial restaurateur Adriano Paganini have finally been resolved, sources say, and renovation work has begun.

The new owner of the iconic Fillmore building, Rick Howard — who also owns Harry’s Bar across the street — hopes to strip off some of Chun’s black paint and restore the building’s original Art Deco facade. The awning is already gone.

Also going: the blackened wooden booths inside — and probably the name, too, which means a reworking of the vintage neon sign out front.

Look for — but don’t bet on — a January 2020 opening.

MODCLOTH, WE
HARDLY KNEW YE

Walmart’s attempt to market high and cool fashions to XXS to 4X-sized women, Modcloth, is having a 40 percent off store closing sale at 2033 Fillmore Street.

Its retail concept was gutsy: Touch and feel — and try on — the merchandise in the store, then have it FedExed to you, with nothing to buy and carry out and no immediate gratification.

The store, billed as a “fitshop,” opened with fanfare last year, but now staffers have been instructed not to give details about the demise of this location, or the two others in New York and Washington, D.C.

RISING STARS IN
THE FILLMORE

The neighborhood is home to three of the Chronicle’s annual listing of Rising Star Chefs, hailed for “pushing their respective cuisines forward.”

Honored are the husband and wife team of Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz, whose eastern Mediterranean cuisine is packing the house at Noosh, at Fillmore and Pine — “a stylish restaurant on Fillmore that redefines so much about Bay Area restaurants, from both culinary and operational points of view,” the Chron notes.

Another rising star is Meghan Clark of the long-awaited and recently opened modern Thai restaurant Nari in the Hotel Kabuki at 1625 Post in Japantown.

“Americans often think Thai food is just street food,” Clark says. “And that’s not even the best part of it. Thai food has a lot of rich history of beautifully prepared meals.”

THE TRIBES
IN THE GROVE

The rustic and familiar coffeehouse-restaurant The Grove at 2016 Fillmore is known for its diverse menu and smart servers. Now it has added greater diversity to its staffing.

A trio of Native American women from three different California tribes have joined, bringing their smiles and swift service skills with them: Monique Valador-Pineda from the Ohlone Tribe in San Jose, Cierra Oscar from the Yurok tribe and Jena Marshall from the Hoopa tribe east of Eureka, one of the very few Indian nations in California not to have its lands seized by the U.S. government.

COMING & GOING
ON FILLMORE

• Pizza pricing history may be in the making at 2043 Fillmore, where Apizza is now open and, as heralded, is selling a full nine-inch Margherita pie for $2.75, about the cost of a slice at most pizzerias.

• Founder-owner Jack Kreitzman is back at the helm of his 34-year-old trattoria Jackson Fillmore, at 2506 Fillmore near Jackson. Brother-sister managers Casey and Kelly Sullivan have moved on to new ventures.

• Over at Florio, at 1915 Fillmore, favorite former chef Rick Hackett returns as executive chef after running his own place in Jack London Square. He brings along Naizer Mubarak, who will add pan-American savory and spice to some dishes, but the menu remains the same, promises general manager  John Castano.

• Bar boss Andrew Meltzer is taking a break from Noosh — for an entire year — to roam the world in search of new cocktail ideas.

• London-based women’s fashion boutique Jigsaw closed its store at 2121 Fillmore after 12 years on the street. It will be replaced by Gwyneth Paltrow’s first permanent Goop Lab boutique, which had a pop-up during the holidays last year a block up the street.

• Hot handbag and clothing designer Rebecca Minkoff shut down her store at 2124 Fillmore and has been replaced by The Reset, a woman-owned and funded fashion boutique that popped up at 2053 Fillmore. Garin, a luxury cashmere and CBD emporium, has replaced the Reset.

• The news is out that Mollie Stone’s will be opening another market nearby in the old Lombardi’s building at Polk and Jackson.