San Francisco - May 08, 2006

Hood Ornament

Nopa Restaurant Opens

Nicknames aren’t really your thing. (Blame it on the fact that you were saddled with “Motormouth” for seven unhappy years.)

But don’t hold that against Nopa, a new restaurant pet-named for its locale: North of the Panhandle.

In this case, it’s a well-earned term of endearment. The owners are native San Franciscans who fancy their hood so much, they’ve enlisted artist Brian Barnecloe for a campy mural depicting hallowed local haunts — the perfect complement to the airy, oak barn-meets-modern loft atmosphere.

Chef Lawrence Jossel’s Cal-Med menu of locally farmed ingredients highlights local calamari with fennel, olives, and toasted bread crumbs; a house-ground burger with French fries and mustard aioli; and a strawberry rhubarb crostata good enough to leave you speechless.

Which, apparently, Motormouth, is no small feat.

Nopa, 560 Divisadero Street, at Hayes Street (415-864-8643).