Peninsula Dining Room

Peninsula Dining Room

The Peninsula and South Bay restaurant scenes are humming again, with numerous businesses opening their doors there in recent weeks.

They are exciting developments for local diners and for the Bay Area at large. A more casual Santa Clara restaurant from the family behind San Francisco Vietnamese restaurant Thanh Long means denizens of the Peninsula no longer have to drive north for those legendary garlic noodles. Meanwhile, Xanh Restaurant, long a popular draw in downtown Mountain View, has reopened after a year-plus pandemic closure. And several chains, from a Seattle dumpling specialist to a local Sicilian pizza franchise, have made their debuts.

Read on for more on each opening.

S.F.'s famed Thanh Long opens casual spin-off in Santa Clara

The dining room and open kitchen at AnQi Shaken and Stirred in Santa Clara, a new restaurant from the family behind San Francisco's Thanh Long.

Kenneth Lew

The team behind San Francisco Vietnamese favorite Thanh Long has brought their iconic garlic noodles to the South Bay. Their more casual restaurant, AnQi Shaken and Stirred, is now open inside a Bloomingdale's at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara.

AnQi Shaken and Stirred serves the greatest hits from Thanh Long, which Helene An opened in 1975, including those famous noodles, An's garlic rice and shaken beef. There are also garlic chicken wings, bulgogi "nachos" (fried wonton wrappers topped with beef, kimchi and white cheddar cheese) and lychee martinis. AnQi will offer happy-hour and late-night dining once public health restrictions ease.

"We always wanted to come to the South Bay," said Kenneth Lew, An's son-in-law. "We're hoping to do something fun and different but also bring what we're known for."

The family opened the first AnQi inside a Bloomingdale's at a Southern California shopping center, so when they were approached about the Westfield opportunity, it made sense for them. They also operate two Crustacean restaurants on Polk Street in San Francisco and Beverly Hills. The San Francisco location will soon be moving to a new home in the Financial District, Lew said.

An, 78, is still heavily involved, working with the chefs at each restaurant to develop the menus.

"She's 78 but she's still putting in a lot of hours," Lew said.

Takeout and indoor dining. Noon-7 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday. 2847 Stevens Creek Blvd., Santa Clara. anqisns.com/

Contemporary Vietnamese restaurant returns to Mountain View

Xanh Restaurant in downtown Mountain View has been dark since the pandemic hit more than a year ago, sparking rumors that it had closed permanently. But the longtime modern Vietnamese restaurant reopened over the weekend.

Xanh was long known for its contemporary Vietnamese and fusion food, clubby atmosphere and generous lunch buffets. Xanh 2.0, however, is serving a pared down menu of the restaurant's greatest hits, plus some new dishes, like Wagyu short ribs and oxtail congee, said owner Stephanie, who asked to be identified by her first name only. Due to the coronavirus, the buffet is no longer, but they plan to try out a dim sum-style service with small dishes for Mother's Day, May 9. If it goes well, Xanh will continue to offer that on weekends, she said.

Xanh will be open for dinner only on weekends for now. The owner is eager for feedback from customers and is open to adjusting the menu. A new chef is in the kitchen but has been trained on all the old Xanh recipes, she said, and is willing to accommodate requests — including for a customer this weekend who was craving a happy hour crab starter from the previous menu.

Thuy Pham and her daughter, Amanda Pham-Huynh, opened Xanh in 2006; it's now under new ownership.

Limited indoor and outdoor dining. Call 650-964-1888 for current hours and reservations. 110 Castro St., Mountain View. xanhrestaurant.com

Seattle dumpling chain brings XLB and lines to San Mateo

The first California location of Dough Zone, a Seattle-born dumpling chain that specializes in xiao long bao and sheng jian bao, opened May 1 in downtown San Mateo.

People quickly lined up over the weekend for Dough Zone's signature xiao long bao — often compared to the famed Din Tai Fung's — and plump, pan-fried sheng jian bao, which are made from a secret, patented recipe. Dough Zone serves two kinds of xiao long bao, one filled with Berkshire-Duroc pork and crab and the other with chicken. The rest of the menu is largely the same as the Seattle original, with other kinds of dumplings and dishes like dan dan noodles, green onion pancakes and beef noodle soup.

Dough Zone first opened in Seattle in 2014 and now operates seven locations there. A Dough Zone is also opening in Cupertino this summer.

Takeout and indoor dining. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. 11 E. Fourth Ave., San Mateo. doughzonedumplinghouse.com

Farmers' market bánh mì favorite expands in Palo Alto

Fans of Chez Eatery's bánh mì stand at the California Avenue Farmers' Market in Palo Alto on Sundays now have a more regular way to get their fix. The restaurant is offering curbside pickup of sandwiches during the week outside the La Jolie nail spa at 364 S. California Ave. (where the market stand is located on Sundays) under the name Bread Apeel.

The menu includes their classic bánh mì with ham and pâté, plus pork belly, fried tofu, shredded roasted chicken and tri-tip steak versions, all served on fresh-baked demi baguettes. New on the pickup menu are several salads, including shaking beef over mixed greens with avocados, tomatoes and red onions; and marinated tofu with baby kale, arugula, cabbage, carrots, buckwheat noodles, toasted quinoa and millet tossed in a miso vinaigrette.

Takeout only. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. 364 S. California Ave., Palo Alto. breadapeel.com

Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodle opens second location in Cupertino

A second location of Lanzhou Hand Pulled Noodle in Milpitas is now open in Cupertino. As the name implies, the restaurant specializes in hand-pulled, chewy noodles served in bowls of clear beef broth cooked over 10 hours with as many as 20 spices. The dish hails from Lanzhou, the capital of China's Gansu province, and was reportedly invented by Mao Baozi during the Qing Dynasty, according to a noodle history written on the restaurant's walls.

Customers can also customize their own hand-pulled noodle bowls, choosing their preferred noodle thickness — from "small round" to "thick belt" — spice level and toppings. The menu also includes dry noodle dishes, basil popcorn chicken, dumplings and other fare.

The Cupertino restaurant isn't open yet for indoor dining, but you can catch glimpses of cooks kneading and pulling dough in the kitchen when picking up noodles to go.

Takeout, delivery and limited outdoor dining. 11 a.m.-3 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed Wednesday. 10745 S. De Anza Blvd., Cupertino. lanzhouhandpullednoodle.com

Fast-growing S.F. pizza shop opens in San Mateo

Slices, newly open in San Mateo, serves square, Sicilian-style pizzas.

Tony Riviera

A San Francisco-born pizza franchise is expanding rapidly, with its first location newly open on the Peninsula and many more on the way.

Slices opened in April at the Bay Meadows development in San Mateo. The casual restaurant serves square Sicilian-style pizzas made with 00 flour, tomatoes and olive oil imported from Italy, such as the margherita with whole milk mozzarella, house-made red sauce, basil and marinated cherry tomatoes. Other pizzas are topped with pepperoni, Italian sausage, broccolini, smoked brisket or their take on the Hawaiian, which has prosciutto with pineapple and jalapeños. The pizzas, available by the slice or whole, are baked in custom black steel pans from Italy. Slices also serves Italian sub sandwiches, cheese lasagna and Sicilian meatballs.

Tony Riviera, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., who opened the first Slices in San Francisco in 2018, said Slices was born out of a desire to bring high-quality Sicilian pizza to the masses. The pizzas start with a 72-hour fermentation on the dough to create a light pizza with a super-crispy crust. They're slightly thinner than a typical Sicilian pie, Riviera said, but hold up to toppings.

There are now Slices locations in Southern California, Dallas and Seattle. Riviera plans to open four more outposts in San Francisco in the next year and a half, including in Mission Bay, as well as in San Jose. The local growth is part of an ambitious expansion plan to open 500 national Slices over the next five years.

Takeout, delivery and indoor and outdoor dining. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. 3035 S. Delaware St., Suite C, San Mateo. slicesusa.com/

S.F. sandwich favorite Lou's Cafe arrives on the Peninsula

San Francisco sandwich standby Lou's Cafe recently opened its first Peninsula location in downtown San Carlos. The new outpost largely serves the same menu, with sandwiches like the Ami-cado (pastrami, salami, avocado, pepper jack cheese and Lou's "special sauce," a garlic aioli spread) and a roast beef sandwich with extra-hot horseradish on Dutch crunch bread. There are also several breakfast sandwiches, salads and soups.

Takeout, delivery and indoor dining. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday 902 Laurel St., San Carlos. louscafesf.com/

Elena Kadvany is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: elena.kadvany@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: ekadvany

Peninsula Dining Room

Source: https://www.sfchronicle.com/food/article/What-s-new-in-Peninsula-dining-7-restaurants-16147923.php

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