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The Starter

Forget the wings and bring on the plátanos!

With apologies to 49ers fans — I’m sorry for your loss — I haven’t been this excited about a Super Bowl for a long time. Admittedly, I’m talking about the halftime show featuring Bad Bunny. (I listened to “Baile Inolvidable” so much last year that Spotify Wrapped deemed my “listening age” to be 23.)

In case you somehow haven’t heard, the salsa-dancing, ICE-criticizing, Puerto Rico-born reggaeton superstar (birth name: Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio) will be the featured halftime performer Levi’s Stadium on Feb. 8. He’ll be the first solo Super Bowl headliner to perform in Spanish. Beyond pissing off a lot of conservatives, his appearance is putting Puerto Rican and Latin identity — and, by default, the cuisine that fuels it — at the center of an event watched by an estimated 127 million people. 

Sure, last year Kendrick Lamar brought the fire and made a strong political statement to boot, but he didn’t make me crave pork pasteles. 

“If you’re walking into a Puerto Rican household and you don’t smell food cooking or hear salsa on, something is wrong,” Eric Rivera told me. “And you better believe, you will leave full.” The boisterous owner of Oakland’s Puerto Rican Street Cuisine will be very busy come Feb. 8, catering the city’s official Super Bowl watch party. The pride he feels to be serving his carne guisada at one of the most all-American events is palpable. “You listen to what Bad Bunny is saying and how he’s saying it. There’s a reason he’s No. 1. I’m ecstatic,” said the Bronx-born Puerto Rican. 

Among the bay’s preeminent Puerto Rican chefs, there’s a lingering hope that Mr. Bunny himself might request their catering services. It’s not an impossibility. Boriqua Kitchen, the only Puerto Rican food truck in the Bay Area, has catered two Bad Bunny performances. (It just so happened that one of Bunny’s dancers, a local, had previously eaten at the truck and recommended it to the crew.) The daughter of Darren Anthony Lamboy, the truck’s owner, has taken to social media to plead for Boriqua Kitchen to be served at the big game.

This scenario is not unfathomable. Bad Bunny is known for supporting his people through his stomach. Francisco Gomez, a huge Bunny fan and a manager at Sol Food — the popular Marin-based Puerto Rican restaurant — is still riding high from the day in 2022 when the musician casually stopped by for dinner at the San Rafael location with a wee entourage of 80. Black SUVs parked in red zones everywhere.

As Gomez recalls, the performer who’s known for gender-bending fashion (and rumored to be wearing a dress for his Super Bowl performance), was decked out in Louis Vuitton: “White shorts, white hoodie, white head scarf.” He stepped out of his car holding a glass of wine — the kind of thing megastars do — and proceeded to take selfies with two dishwashers.

Gomez recalls that Bunny even “hopped on the line” (no rabbit pun intended) and offered cook. “He just treated us like he already knew us. It was an hour of an adrenaline rush,” he said. “I was dumbfounded.” The crew at Sol Food is trying not to get their hopes up for a Super Bowl visit, but if he returns, “it would be awesome.”

For your own Bad Bunny-inspired party? Gomez recommends rotisserie pork ribs, plantain chips with garlic mayo, fried shrimp, and maybe a side salad. If you’re starved for a dash of Americana, yes, you can still serve wings, but maybe try a cilantro-lime dipping sauce instead of blue cheese.

I had to ask Gomez: Is he going to be watching the game for the sports or for the salsa? He laughed. “I’m not gonna lie, I’m mostly excited for the halftime show.” Smart man.

— Sara Deseran (@saradeseran_food)

Got a hot tip, a juicy morsel, a spicy take? Email offmenu@sfstandard.com.

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Pacific Standard Time: Our new pod talks menu prices — and why they’re so insaneIt’s not just you. SF chefs are “mortified” by how much it costs to eat at their restaurants.

Jimmy Butler’s fancy coffee shop is coming back to SFWhile the Warriors star is sidelined with a torn ACL, his brand Bigface will have another pop-up.

Intimate, supper-club dining is back in styleRestaurants of all types are leaning into the idea of connection to signal something more experiential than a typical meal.

Healdsburg’s food scene is hotter — and more accessible — than ever beforeThough it’s known as an international fine dining destination, new restaurants and bars are making the Sonoma town both more exciting and more chill.

A prominent Castro restaurant space is coming back to lifeThe former home of Cafe Flore at Market and Noe will become Parasol at Flore, a California-Mediterranean restaurant and bar.

Sara’s Picks

Just in time for the winter doldrums, Bi-Rite has paired up with Foreign Cinema for an ice cream collaboration: Moroccan caramel swirl with ras el hanout, which is a classic blend of warming spices — the perfect à la mode to a slice of apple pie. It will be available at Bi-Rite Markets and Bi-Rite Creamery for two months or until it sells out.

I wrote about Guerneville last summer and loved the Lodge at Dawn Ranch along the Russian River. So all you romantics take note: The lodge is offering a free night’s stay Feb. 14 with a booking for the six-course tasting menu for two, plus wine pairings. For everything, it’s $851 in total.

A perfect afternoon pairing? Sip Tea Room and a walk over to Green Apple Books. The Inner Sunset spots serves up a proper British-style tea service complete with flowery porcelain cups, crustless sandwiches, and — the best part — perfect scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

Lauren’s Picks

In case you missed it: Grab a table while you can for The Happy Crane’s star-powered Lunar New Year collab dinners. Tickets for the Feb. 28 event with Michael Kim of Yeobo, Darling, go on sale at noon Feb. 2 on OpenTable. Mark your calendars.

Tacos Oscar, the Michelin-listed Oakland restaurant, has taken up residency inside Woods Lowside on Haight, and I can confirm: It’s a match made in taco heaven. Swing by Thursday through Sunday for charred broccoli tacos with toasted peanut-arbol salsa and a glass of chilled red wine.

For dinner somewhere tried and true, I returned to The Progress on Sunday. Menu staples, including the caviar potato cloud, thinly shaved pig’s head, and half duck with fantastic peanut fried rice, reminded me why diners still line up every day outside this restaurant (and, of course, its sister spot State Bird Provisions next door).

This week’s don't-miss pop-ups

Jan. 28 to 31

Petit Américain at Mago

Square Pie Guys cofounder Danny Stoller will be bringing his new brasserie concept, Petit Américain, to Oakland’s Mago. The four-course prix fixe menu ($55) includes dishes like French dip sandwiches, steak frites, mussels, and creme brulee.

Jan. 30

Turtle Island Sando at Jax Vineyards tasting room

Spend Friday night enjoying live music from jazz, funk, and R&B duo Henry Plumb and Kyle Athayde at Jax Jams, a new monthly culinary pop-up at the Jax Vineyards tasting room in SoMa. Turtle Island Sando will be serving grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup from 4 to 8 p.m. Admission is free, but reservations are encouraged.

Jan. 31 and Feb. 1

Sol y Soul Coffee at Tahona Mercado

A new Central American coffee pop, Sol y Soul Coffee, will be at Nob Hill’s Tahona Mercado from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be classic espresso and coffee drinks, as well as speciality offerings like dulce de leche horchata and champurrado.

Tables for two to grab right now

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