Side Dish

Beachfront Bayou
And here I thought I was the only one who knew about this bayou by the beach. I asked a friend if she'd heard of the place. "Oh yeah, we go there for dinner at least once a week," she said. Then on my last visit I noticed -- framed and leaning in the window -- a certificate from SF Weekly declaring the spot the city's "Best Cajun Restaurant." So it turns out everybody and her mother has eaten at Cajun Pacific, my secret little restaurant out at the end of Irving. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop going. The po'boys are delicious, especially when accompanied by the spicy fresh fries, and the gumbo is great, too. Where else can you sit outside in the sleepy Sunset and have an excellent meal prepared by nice people who don't mind if you play with their puppy Boudreaux and sit there all day and it's all really very cool and laid back? Don't tell a soul...

Just Hangin'
Check out the walls at Gordon's House of Fine Eats. The restaurant features artwork by the employees of the SFMOMA, and those museum rats have been busy. So that cool wing above the bar may have flown on, but something even edgier has taken its place.

That's Entertainment
The Pour Boys theater company, which features some of this city's finest bartenders on its roster, is just wrapping up its latest show this weekend at the Jean Shelton Theater. The play is titled The Voice of the Prairieand chronicles how the advent of radio changed the shape of America's outback... In another theatrical tie-in, the restaurant industry receives a sound thrashing in the send-up Fully Committed. This one-man show, based on the basement toilings of reservationist-turned-star-of-RentMark Setlock and playwright Becky Mode, is at the Theatre on the Square through July. Harry hasn't seen it yet (maybe they should have a midnight show for restaurant workers), but the buzz from New York is big. The Zagats and Drew Nieporent have all fought for the best seats at a show about how difficult -- and important -- it is to get a good seat.

Encore
In November Donna Scala ended her relationship with the Kimpton Group and returned to her Napa projects, taking her longtime cohort, chef Staffan Terje, with her. Well, it's nothing personal, but Chef Terje is back on the Scala's Bistro line at the Kimpton-run Sir Francis Drake Hotel. I guess someone showed him the money....