November 13, 2002

CONFESSION: AT rare moments I have been, let us say, not quite sorry to see some restaurant or other take its leave for that great permit bureau in the sky. (And then – a larger category – there are the restaurants whose leave-taking one would not mourn, if only they would take it.) But generally speaking, the closing of a restaurant is a sad event. I ate several times at Mereb, the Ethiopian place in the gorgeous, sunlit, vaultlike space at 18th and Guerrero, and was always impressed by the food and the graciousness of the service. But despite the favorable location and the beautiful setting (and a bullish early review by our very own Dan Leone), no one ever seemed to be in there.

So I was melancholy but not surprised to find, on a recent passage through the intersection, that Mereb has given way to Plátanos, the latest entry in the Mission District's roller derby of restaurants serving some version of freshened Latin American cooking. I would be tempted to describe Plátanos's menu as "nuevo Latino" had I not been cautioned away from that term by Lisa Lazarus, who (after working the front of the house at Bruno's and Tao Café, among other Mission locales) owns the new restaurant with partner Marvin Avilez (whose Nicaraguan uncle has provided many of the recipes, as well as the achiote). Lazarus sees Plátanos as serving a more "traditional" sort of Latin American cuisine than, say, Alma. But the menu does describe a broad arc through the Spanish-speaking Americas, from such Mexican standards as guacamole (one of the chefs is from Pueblo) to a rather Argentine-sounding sauté of filet mignon with chimichurra sauce.

And of course it does include plátanos (the starchy bananas we know by their French name, plantains), which appear sautéed, mashed, and as chips, among other guises. Plátanos opened for dinner last week and will soon be serving breakfast and lunch too, if it isn't already.

Meanwhile, at another busy corner not far away, we find that the ill-starred Grub, apparently having plated one too many deep-fried dishes, is no more. The new occupant of the 16th-and-Sanchez space is to be called Tangerine, but the rest is for the moment a papered-window mystery. The telephone number is perpetually busy, and there is no permit or other information displayed at the site. But, if you are willing to seem faintly sinister, you can peek inside. I was and did, and I noted that the interior has been pretty well disassembled, though not quite gutted. A (to my eye) conspicuous casualty is the tabletop shrubbery that gave Grub an unmistakable design signature. Deep-sixed? Or -fried?