Bauer Revisits St. Vincent; Roth Loves Juhu Beach Club

St. Vincent. [Photo: Molly DeCoudreaux]

Bauer revisited St. Vincent this week, declaring that the wine-focused restaurant "has found its center" after being "out of sync" the first time around. He called the food "some of the most muscular cuisine around," noting the "robust" rabbit meatballs with black figs, the "heft" of the grilled sardines, and the calamari salad that's "as hearty as beef stew." David Lynch's wine list features his "100 bottles under $100" concept that's "always an adventure," and with attentive, "well-paced" service, Bauer was singing a new tune about this Mission spot. "You're bound to learn a little bit along the way and want to come back for more." Three stars. [Chron]

Anna Roth devoted this week's review to two Indian street food pop-ups that have found permanent homes: Juhu Beach Club in Temescal and Curry Up Now on Valencia, which are both "serving up hip updates of Indian street food" in an "irreverent, pop atmosphere." Of Juhu, she calls chef Preeti Mistry's food an "impressive and ingenious Cali-Indian blend." The Holy Cow, a braised short rib slider, was "stupidly rich," and the Bollywood Baller, a lamb meatball slider, was "even more impressive." Roth wanted to try "every one of the lassis and coolers" and is already plotting a return visit to sample Mistry's talents. Next up was Curry Up Now, which Roth called "less of a serious restaurant than a bit of culinary novelty." Their spot is "basically food-truck fare with a storefront," and while the irreverent menu was "uniformly delicious," Roth thought it all "tastes vaguely the same." [SF Weekly]

After hearing of the death of Cajun food from the lips of Terry Gross herself, Molly Gore investigated at the Outer Sunset's 14-year-old Cajun Pacific. There, she learned that Cajun is alive and well, with a host of dishes boating "character and musicality." The almost-perfect gumbo "sings," the pan-seared duck breast is "perfectly, subtly crisped" and the crawfish and pasta "will keep you at a table forever." "If there's a case for Cajun food falling out of favor, you won't find it here." [Examiner]

Luke Tsai checks out Oakland's Little Star Pizza spinoff, which has brought the much-loved deep-dish pizzas to a bigger space. Called The Star on Grand, this spot is of Little Star lineage (the co-founders have separated and agree not to use the "Little Star" moniker for new projects), and with 125 seats, a build-your-own-pizza option, and full liquor, it sounds almost too good to be true. At The Star, Tsai had "surprisingly good" thin-crust pizza and enjoyed the four sandwiches in the grinder/hoagie/sub tradition, but when it came down to it, the bigger, broader-menued restaurant was "not necessarily" an improvement. After waiting 45 minutes for a pizza that was "slightly saltier and more sloppily put together than usual," Tsai has his doubts. The final word? Come during lunch, pick any seat in the house, and pretend that The Star is "some hidden secret that you alone have discovered." [EBX]

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