At Rivoli in Berkeley, there have been some portobello mushroom fritters on the menu that were introduced by chef-owner Wendy Brucker back in the '90s that became a signature of the restaurant. They're so well loved by the regular clientele, in fact, that when new chef Michael Williams decided to quietly remove them from the menu (making them an off-menu item, unbeknownst to some), it triggered some major backlash. One frequent diner dashed off a livid email to Michael Bauer who, in turn, highlighted the conflict in a blog post today. The issue, he says, is "These dishes can be an albatross to a restaurant, but they also not only keep people coming back but help to define a restaurant."

Bauer reached out to Williams and learned that the kitchen will still make the portobello fritters on request, but they're not part of the "direction we're going, and we want people to come in and try the new things."

He noted that before the menu change, 20 to 30 percent of the diners on a given night ordered the fritters out of habit, and now that number is down to about 5 percent.

But what of other restaurants and their signatures? What would Zuni Cafe be without their chicken and bread salad? Or Marlowe without its burger, or Wayfare Tavern without its fried chicken?

Basically, all that chefs like Melissa Perello can do to escape those bacon beignets at Frances is to go off and open another restaurant, as she just did: Octavia, which you can step inside in these photos. The signature dish hasn't yet emerged there to confine her, but no doubt, it will.

Related: Exclusive: Chef Melissa Perello Takes Us Inside The New Frances Spinoff, Octavia

Whatever you're doing Saturday morning, cancel it. Yes, even morning cartoons. Suite Foods will open its very first waffle house on Cortland, featuring made-to-order sweet and savory Liege (AKA Belgian) waffles.

They'll use all natural ingredients (OF COURSE) like organic flour, free-range eggs, and crunchy pearl sugar. The Liege waffle are then hand-shaped and pressed into cast-iron waffle griddles, cooked, and then shoved down your throat. The Waffle Shop menu will boast sweet and savory extras like poached eggs, ice cream, maple bacon, and more.

The grand opening happens tomorrow, Saturday, June 1st at 8:00 am. Regular store hours from 8:00 am - 6:00 pm daily. Closed Thursdays. Why Thursdays? No idea. But there you have it.

Suite Foods Waffle Shop, 331 Cortland (at Bennington), S.F.

Chez Spencer, 11-year-old French restaurant in the Mission, suffered "heavy damage" after a two-alarm fire early this morning. Laurent Katgely, owner/chef of Chez Spencer, sent out the following tweet today:

"No one was inside the restaurant, but the fire did spread to the two buildings on either side, including an apartment building," notes ABC, noting that damage is "more than $1.5 million." And, yes, as NBC Bay Area shows us, the damage looks very severe.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

[ABC]
[Inside Scoop]

What else did you think we were going to suggest? In light of last night's eight-years-in-the-making climactic Outstanding Restaurant win at the James Beard Awards, why not check out Boulevard before swarms of newbie foodies descend on the place this weekend. While Nancy Oakes' noted American-French restaurant is booked in the early evening today, they have open spots from 9:15 p.m. and on, according to the friendly reservationist. If securing a table is simply too much work for you, they do have a bar where one can order from the regular menu. (Also a great spot for those of us who prefer an iPhone as a dining companion.)

Several noteworthy dishes on tonight's dinner menu? Marin Sun Farms grass-fed beef carpaccio with lobster salad, California lamb prime t-bone (over roasted), and angus filet mignon, just to name a few. Anyway, you should totally check it out as soon as you can. If you can't swing Boulevard, you can always check out Oakes' other nearby restaurant, Prospect.

Oh, and dress nicely, please. No one likes to look at an overdressed slob.

Boulevard: 1 Mission (at Steuart), S.F., 415-543-6084

Two of San Francisco's (increasingly rare) faceless critics, the Chronicle's Michael Bauer and SF Weekly's Jonathan Kauffman, face off today regarding the star system for restaurant reviews. Why? Because the LA Times (who recently acquired sanctified Pulitzer winner Jonathan Gold, the yardstick by which all food writers measure themselves, whether they admit it or not) now eschews the star system.

The LAT's Daily Dish food blog explains:

Starting this week, The Times will no longer run star ratings with our restaurant reviews. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, star ratings are increasingly difficult to align with the reality of dining in Southern California -- where your dinner choices might include a food truck, a neighborhood ethnic restaurant, a one-time-only pop-up run by a famous chef, and a palace of fine dining. Clearly, you can’t fairly assess all these using the same rating system. Furthermore, the stars have never been popular with critics because they reduce a thoughtful and nuanced critique to a simple score. In its place, we’ll offer a short summary of the review.

Not kosher, says Bauer. Over at Inside Scoop, he defends his stars thusly:

As a critic stars make us get off the fence and distill what we think into a concise rating. Yes, it may shortcut the review, and many people will start by looking at the rating, but I also think they go back and read the review. Giving a summary of the review, as the Times intends to do, doesn’t seem to make it even more likely the people won’t read the reviews. However, forgoing ratings lets the critic off the hook. I’m not sure whether that’s good for readers, or what readers want.

Pshaw, replies Kauffman. Comparing restaurants reviews to theater and book criticism, he notes:

Alt-weeklies like the SF Weekly, the LA Weekly, and every other paper I've written for have never assigned stars. Our movie critics don't assign stars. Our theater critics don't assign stars. Our book critics don't assign stars. Restaurant criticism, as far as I'm concerned, takes pretty much the same tack: If you get to the end of one of my reviews and you don't know how I feel about the restaurant I've just spent 1000 words writing about, then I've failed as a writer and cultural critic.

As for us? Well, we love a star rating. We do. Because we're lazy. Outside of reading countless items each day for this marvelous blog you're now reading, we do enjoy skimming the occasional zero- or four-star review for their unapologetic audacity. (For example, Morton's supernova and Benu's four-star upgrade.) For the non-foodie or non-inside-baseball reader, they're both entertaining, satisfying pieces based on their ratings. Otherwise, we totally see from where Kauffman is coming.

Grub Street, Washington Post, and Dallas Observer have strong opinions about the twinkling scoring system. What about you?

Don't let those artery-slicing Christmas blues get you down. One week after Christ's alleged birthday, you will have a fresh new holiday sure to blacken out the drudgery of yuletide cheer. We are, of course, talking about New Year's Eve. And if you think New Year's Eve is for amateurs, well then... you should be in an in-patient rehab program. Because that's a messed up mindset. However, you should also think again. Because New Year's Eve can be a sophisticated affair, an evening filled with bubbles, memories, fine grub, and stellar threads. It can be far more than girls puking in Union Square or inebriated bros calling you "faggot" on Valencia Street. Which is why SFist will bring you one fun, elegant and/or rad thing to do on New Year's Eve each day starting now until the demise of 2011.

Starting things out, appropriately enough, we have a prix-fixe dinner at Jardinière, a Hayes Valley restaurant that looks like an inverted champagne bottle. Brimming with winter truffles, celery root salad, dungeness crab, seabass, caviar, and more, this dinner is not for your dirty inner BPR drinker. It's grown-up time. Check it:

Calvisius Caviar,
Foie Gras and Winter Truffles
*Gosset, Brut Champagne "Excellence" Äy, France NV

Local Dungeness Crab,
Salad of Celery Root, Cara Cara Orange and Wild Arugula
*Shaya, Verdejo "Old Vines" Rueda, Spain 2010

California White Seabass,
Black Trumpet Mushrooms, Young Leeks and Rock Shrimp Jus
*Breggo, Pinot Gris, Anderson Valley, California 2010

Magruder Ranch Vitellone,
Braised Chestnuts, Pèrigord Truffles and Seared Foie Gras
*Dyer, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley, California 2004

Meyer Lemon Mousse with Chocolate Bavarian and Candied Almonds
*Oremus, Tokaji, Late Harvest, Hungary 2005

First seating: 5:30pm-7:30pm
$145 per person ($55 sommelier’s wine pairings)
Second seating: 8:30 - 10:30 PM
$195 per person (additional $75 with wine pairings)

(not including tax, beverages or gratuity)

Jardinière: 300 Grove (between Franklin & Gough), S.F., 415-861-5555

Spork, the Valencia Street establishment that has been elevating comfort food for five years now, has reached the end of their lease Ms. Tablehopper reports. Friday, December 23rd will be the restaurant's last day to grab their infamous in-side-out burger (two patties, bun in the middle, all skewered with a large steak knife) or the opulent Champagne of Burgers. After the new year, the co-owners plan to focus on their more grown-up concept at Thermidor in Mint Plaza.

As for Spork, the restaurant's departure is an amicable one, co-owner Neil Jorgensen told Tablehopper that in addition to Thermidor they'll be working on a few new projects, one of which hopefully brings more hamburgers.

The delightful fast food throwback building (it used to be a KFC, appropriately enough) is slated to be demolished to make way for new condos and a bigger restaurant.

[Tablehopper]

Conceived during a festive round of post-shift cocktail swilling, chef Allyson Harvie (chef de cuisine at Citizen Cake, formerly of Ragazza and Starbelly), bar manager Dion Jardine (bartender at Slanted Door & Heaven's Dog), and sommelier Becky Pezzullo (Bar Bambino, soon to be at Hidden Vine) put their gastronomic prowess together to create a regular Sunday pop-up at Specchio (2331 Mission).

Christened after a 189th centure English political club that was the first chef de cuisine gig for Alexis Soyer, Reform Club kicks things off in savory summer style this Sunday, July 31, with a menu boasting such grub as salt & vinegar potato chips (doing bong rips with a roasted garlic, onion and chervil dip), tomato & watermelon salad (stacked with straciatella, basil, saba, micro-herbs), pressed pork shoulder confit (gilded with cherries, fennel, turnips), strawberry & plum shortcake (humping hardcore with corn & coriander ice cream), and more.

The four course experience will run you $40, with cocktail and "tightly-edited" wine pairings costing $25 extra.

You can check out the entire July 31 menu here, and make reservations for this Sunday or any Sunday by emailing them at info@reformclubsf.com. (The official opening, if you will, starts August 8.)

As always, follow them on Facebook and/or Twitter if the mood should strike.

A few days before this season's finale of Top Chef Masters airs, Traci Des Jardins will serve some of the dishes that landed her in the final three. Made under pressure and without recipes, Jardiniere will serve several of the dishes that, we predict, will help anoint her Top Chef. Tonight's dinner wil be a prix fixe of three courses and three wine parings for $45.

Indulge on colombier and prosciutto carpaccio, local seabass, Delta asparagus and brown butter balsamic vinaigrette, maple and chocolate brownie, and milk ice and goat's milk caramel. Also, of course, make sure you call for reservations, 415-861-5555.

Be sure to cheer on local chef Des Jardins on Wednesday's finale episode of Top Chef Masters on Bravo.

After a patient year-long wait, Fondue Cowboy (1052 Folsom), SOMA's ode to melted cheese and more, will open its doors to the public on Wednesday. This past weekend, Fondue Cowboy owner Dave Mur gave SFist a personal tour of what his new dairy-worshiping restaurant has to offer: cheese. And lots of it.

While the menu is still in its nascent stage, we saw four fondue pots (ranging from your original Emmentaler-white wine to a Gorgonzola brew) at the cost-effective price of just $12. Which, for two people, is a steal.

According to Mur, they get their bread and vegetables (both organic) from various shops at the Ferry Building. And while they don't yet have a full bar, Fondue Cowboy offers wine and beer to go along with the cowboy-themed movie screenings on the flat screen just above the bar. [Insert I-just-can't-quit-you joke]

Here are some shots of the dairy hot-spot.

Chowhound brings word that a waffle kiosk has opened up next door to Show Dogs. Oh yes. Waffle Mania will serve waffles at 1022 Market Street (at Golden Gate Avenue) from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (or whenever they sellout of 'em) Tuesday through Friday starting today. Menu: sugar waffles start out at $3.5, with additional toppings (Nutella! Whipped cream!) for $.50 a pop. Yum. [CH, via Eater]

In what could be the fist bump heard around the world, majors bros Tyler Florence and Sammy Hagar have plans to open a restaurant in Marin. Dude. According to Eater, the Food Network star and former Van Halen front man will take over Mill Valley's El Paseo, which will "reopen in mid-December with an entirely new menu, new outdoor seating for that idyllic North Bay weather, artisanal hard ciders ... whitewashed brick and hardwood floors." Ty-FLo goes on to say the place will be similar "to Chez Panisse, but American rootsy, rustic." (via Eater)

According to KRON 4 News, a restaurant is on fire at 919 Kearny, between Drummond and Jackson Streets. Columbus is backed up to the tunnel. "Traffic is a nightmare" in the area. The block is pretty much closed off. No word yet of any injuries.

Update: SFAppeal reports that the fire started at "Matcha, a sushi restaurant at 915 Kearney. It then extended into the liquor store next door at 911 Kearney, then spread up into the residential units next door." No one, it seems, was injured.