Silvers Omakase Has Set an Opening Date

••• Silvers Omakase, chef Lennon Silvers Lee’s Japanese restaurant in the former Seven Bar & Kitchen space in the Funk Zone, opens February 6. The price is $185 per person, which doesn’t include beverages, gratuity, or tax; reservations are available now. And there’s a whole page on the website devoted to the rice.

••• Cantwell’s Market & Deli at State and Arrellaga has been taken over by the Isla Vista Food Co-op, and “the new store will be called the I.V. Food Co-op Downtown Market (Featuring Cantwell’s Deli).” (Talk about a mouthful!) That site “is also the future home of a proposed mixed-use development that will feature 27 units of rental housing built around the market. […] The I.V. Co-op has attained a multi-year lease agreement for the space, and that the plan is for the Downtown Market to remain a long-term tenant once the development is complete.” —Independent

••• Buellton landmark Pea Soup Andersen’s has closed after 100 years, reports Restaurant Guy. “The property was sold and will be redeveloped and that an all-new Pea Soup Andersen’s will open in the future.” The hotel remains open (it’s a separate entity), and the Andersen’s restaurant on State Street is not affiliated.

••• The folks at Kevin Moore Architect—who are involved several projects in the recent roundup of forthcoming restaurants, including 700 Linden, 42 Helena Avenue, and the Waterline additions—had two more to add to the list. First, the building at 730 State Street (Ortega/De La Guerra) is becoming an outpost of Podshare, which offers “flexible, single rate, network wide housing” so you can “travel and live remote,” and will have a café on the back terrace on De La Guerra Plaza.

And the little terrace at 628 State Street (Cota/Ortega)—formerly home to Blush, and across the paseo from the Habit—will be the site of a new apartment building with a restaurant on the ground floor.

••• Two corrections: Yona Redz’s Mexican seafood spinoff will be in the former Brasil Arts Café space (1230 State Street), and not Bedda Mia. Restaurant Guy had reported that the restaurant would be “next to the Granada Theatre,” so asked Yona Redz if that meant Bedda Mia, and they replied yes…. And the banner that someone noticed outside Lilac Montecito was touting a job fair last Monday, not the opening of the restaurant, which expects to be ready by the end of the month.

••• AFC asked for an update on Bibi Ji: the restaurant’s last day at its current location will be March 15, and it hopes to be in its new space (four blocks north in the former McDonald’s) will be ready by mid-April.

••• Chicken-and-waffles chain Bruxie has opened at Paseo Nuevo (a day after it intended).

••• “The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at 5745 Calle Real in Goleta is planning to close.” —Restaurant Guy

••• The R Country Mart in Los Olivos is set to become Gandolfo Family Market & Deli (no relation to the Gandolfo’s Deli chain). “No major overhauls—just a practical makeover with both locals and visitors in mind,” says the notice posted on the door. “Anticipate a revamped deli and a refreshed selection of market items.” The main forces behind it are brothers Greg and David Gandolfo, whose family has owned the building since 1984; David’s daughter, Carly, will run the show. Greg says they’re hoping to open in March, after the space gets a little facelift. (Thanks to C. for the tip.)

••• If you own a restaurant, and you decide to take a break, great! But please put it on social media—and as a real post, not a story that disappears after 24 hours. That goes double for anywhere that’s difficult to find parking.

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