Kitchen Counter at Contigo

As we wind up 2008, I will be happily ringing in the new year and looking forward to the new restaurants that 2009 will bring to San Francisco. Here are three restaurants specifically that I cannot wait for:

Contigo. Contigo is being opened by a friend -- Brett Emerson from In Praise of Sardines. Emerson will be going to be serving food inspired by Barcelona with locally grown products. The restaurant will be located at 24th and Castro in Noe Valley. I saw a sneak peek of the beautiful space a few days ago, and cannot wait to see the restaurant in action in early 2009.

Urbino. Urbino will be the third restaurant to be opened in San Francisco by the group that brought us A16 and SPQR. It will be a 130-seat restaurant located in Dogpatch and focusing on Italian food from the Le Marche region. You can get an idea of the type of food by checking out this Food and Wine recipe for piadine (flatbread sandwiches) from chef and co-owner Nate Appleman.

Heaven's Dog. In January, we can look forward to a new restaurant from Charles Phan of Slanted Door fame. Heaven's Dog will be located in the SOMA Grand tower. The restaurant will feature Chinese food and noodles, along with a star bartending team including Jackie Patterson, Thad Vogler, and others. You can see the full bartending line up at Alcademics.

Next week, I'll be releasing my Top 10 Tastes of 2008 -- a list which I also wrote in 2006 and 2007.

You have until tomorrow, Friday December 21st, to donate to Menu for Hope, and bid on any number of priceless prizes donated by food bloggers all over the world. As you already know, Ms. Pim of Chez Pim has organized this impressive fund raising event for the past four years. This year she's picked The United Nations' World Food Programme, as she did last year, but for 2007 she's made a special request,

"With a special permission from the WFP, the funds raised by Menu for Hope 4 will be earmarked for the school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa. We chose to support the school lunch program because providing food for the children not only keeps them alive, but keeps them in school so that they learn the skills to feed themselves in the future. We chose to support the program in Lesotho because it is a model program in local procurement - buying food locally to support local farmers and the local economy. Instead of shipping surplus corn across the ocean, the WFP is buying directly from local subsistent farmers who practice conservation farming methods in Lesotho to feed the children there."

In the spirit of supporting local food economy, one of the USA West Coast prizes has been amended as of the afternoon of Wednesday December 19.

(UW17) Dinner for 8 prepared by Brett Emerson
Brett Emerson, owner of the soon to be opened Contigo, is offering dinner made for 8 people in his new Noe Valley home. Wines to be paired and picked by none other than our very own wine blogging superstar, Alder Yarrow of Vinography. And desserts will be made by yours truly, Shuna fish Lydon of Eggbeater. Triple threat, no doubt.

This all-star dinner could be yours for a mere $10!

More USA West Coast prizes can be found here at Rasa Malaysia. But if you're a jet-setting world traveler you may want to bid on a personal tour of the El Bulli kitchen {EU31}, or have lunch with your not-so-secret lover at Alain Passard's 3 Michelin star L'Arpege in Paris one lovely afternoon {EU40}, to name just 2 insanely amazing possibilities!

The prizes are varied and beyond your wildest imagination. Delicious in every regard. Please take a few minutes to head over to First Giving and help us raise a record amount this year. (Last year we raised $60,925.12)

How To?

- To donate, go to First Giving. To specify a specific prize, follow the instructions on the Chez Pim website (scroll down to the instructions and screenshots).