Starbelly

Chicken and Waffles: A Certified 2009 Food Trend

Oh 2009, we hardly knew ye. But now with (gulp) exactly two weeks left in this year and this decade, it's time to look at the food trends of 2009.

Pizza for two.

Aubrie Pick

While you might observe that the food at Starbelly is derivative—that is, it could be found at a handful of like-minded restaurants around town—it doesn’t mean you wouldn’t want a restaurant like this in your neighborhood. The owners—two of the Beretta partners, who nailed it with cocktails and pizza in the Mission—have clearly considered the Castro’s upscale demographic and catered directly to it.

Shayne Kaye @ Flickr

It's always struck us as odd that the Castro—so close to the hallowed culinary ground occupied by the Bi-Rite, Delfina and Tartine trifecta, with a gorgeous theater as its centerpiece and, let's face it, filled with the "disposable income" types the right-wing media are always talking about—has never been a great spot for eating. We're happy to see that there seems to be a change afoot. The Castro has its own farmers market now (Wednesday nights until October 28) and Starbelly is quickly becoming the go-to neighborhood restaurant.

Henrik Kam

Though the name of this Castro newcomer, Starbelly, has most people thinking about Dr. Seuss, I'm going to go ahead and date myself as a '90s teenager by announcing that the restaurants name evokes nothing so much as the Bikini Kill song "Star-Bellied Boy." (Not to be confused with the Hole song "Star Belly"). In that riot-girl anthem the girls rock out, screaming "Star-bellied boy different from the rest, you're so different from the rest, prove you're different from the rest."

Urban Daddy

Reclaimed wood has been a staple of contemporary architecture and interior design for years, but the creative uses and interesting past lives of the medium still never cease to amaze us. Lately we've been noticing bars across the city getting into the act. Haight's Magnolia Pub and Brewery received a major renovation last year, and while we love the new menu and adore the gold leafing on the walls, it's the countertops and bars that really make us swoon.