- Inside Scoop: SPQR

Inside Scoop: Holzman out, Behr and Thornton in at SPQR

Chronicle Staff Report
Wednesday, January 30, 2008

"Daniel has decided to pursue other opportunities," says SPQR co-owner Victoria Libin. "He was a great chef. We're sad to see him go, but wish him the best of luck."

The change means that Nate Appleman is now the sole executive chef, splitting his time between SPQR and its parent, A16 (2355 Chestnut St., near Scott). He's promoting three of his longtime chefs to keep things humming along.

Chris Behr is now chef de cuisine at SPQR, assisted by Huw Thornton, who has taken over as executive sous chef. Both have worked at A16 for a couple of years, and traveled with Appleman in Italy to learn regional food styles.

"They're good, solid guys," says Appleman.

Before working at A16, Behr attended the New England Culinary Institute and worked with noted chef Ming Tsai at Blue Ginger in Massachusetts.

Thornton finds himself in a very familiar kitchen, having worked for several years at Chez Nous, SPQR's predecessor in the Fillmore Street spot.

For his part, Holzman says he'll take a break and look for other projects. "I have a strong attachment to the Bay Area and moved here intending to spend the rest of my life here," he says.

Before coming to SPQR, Holzman cooked at two Southern California restaurants, as well as at Fifth Floor and Campton Place in San Francisco.

Appleman says he expects no significant changes at SPQR, although the kitchen is always finessing individual dishes.

"Since we're a new restaurant, we're continually changing, like using milk-braised pork shoulder instead of lamb in the cannelloni this week," he says. "We're looking forward to artichokes coming in - they'll be all over the menu when they do."

Over at A16, Liza Shaw, who started in the pantry and worked her way up, has been named chef de cuisine. Calling her "a great talent," Appleman expects Shaw to move into the executive chef position when the Libin-Appleman-Shelley Lindgren team opens a third restaurant this fall in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood.

The Dogpatch project is an ambitious one. Located on the ground floor of the Homes on Esprit Park, a condominium complex going into the former Esprit headquarters at 20th Street, Indiana and Minnesota, the still-unnamed restaurant will be 6,000 square feet and seat 130. There will also be a patio and a rosticerria for takeout and semi-prepared food.

The theme, according to Libin and Appleman, will be food from Italy's Le Marche region, which is influenced by flavors from Greece, Croatia and Slovenia as well as neighboring Umbria, Tuscany, Emilia Romagna and Abruzzo.

The wine list will incorporate those regions as well, along with a good selection of grappa, and cocktails that reflect what was popular among Americans stationed in Italy right after World War II.

A wood-fire oven will be regulated by a Smog-Hog air purifying system. "The whole place will be green," Appleman says.

Some contingencies remain, but if all goes well the restaurant is scheduled to open in November.

And in a P.S. on staffing news, Appleman reports that former A16 chef Christophe Hille is out of the (professional) kitchen for now, living in Brooklyn and taking classes at New York University.