The Other Critics

Kauffman’s Debut Review Goes to Bruno’s; Unterman Cheers for the New Menu at SPQR

Photo: sfphotorama

• Jonathan Kauffman — following on a brief blog review of the just opened Amber replacement, The Residence — submits his first full restaurant review at the Weekly, in which he heads to Bruno’s, the old school Mission club which has a brand new food menu from Broken Record alums Katharine Zacher and Ryan Ostler. He writes that they’re “upscaling [Southern] food from the inside out.” [SF Weekly]

• Over at the Examiner, Ms. Unterman checks out the revamped SPQR, which has “drifted upward” under the rein of new, first-time head chef Matthew Accarrino, most recently of Craft L.A. She notes Colicchio’s influence on the young chef, as well as the influence of carniverous L.A. hotspot Animal, calling Accarrino’s pig ear and tripe spuntini “the sexiest, if not the most successful, dishes.” But he “nails” the pasta and she can’t get enough of his boneless quail. [SF Examiner]

• Michael Bauer returns to Rivoli on Solano Avenue in Berkeley, and writes that after sixteen years, it still “thrives,” calling chef Wendy Brucker’s dishes “complex, but homey,” and downright “lusty,” and re-awarding the place their three stars. [Chron]

• And ever the avoider of beaten paths, Paul Reidinger pops up this week at Schmidt’s, the Walzwerk cousin which he compares favorably to other German options about town, despite its “eccentricities.” [SFBG]

Kauffman’s Debut Review Goes to Bruno’s; Unterman Cheers for the New Menu at