Eater Tastings: Keller's Take-Out, Kuleto's Trees

[Introducing Manny the olive tree.]

1) Spread the good word: Thomas Keller (or "Food Jesus," as he's alternately known) received the go-ahead from the Yountville Town Council to open both of his pending resto project, Burgers and Half-Bottles and Ad Hoc. Both restaurants are to Burgers and Half-Bottles will occupy 1,335 square feet of space (on the small-ish side, no?) share a kitchen [with Ad Hoc], and offer take-out. Thomas Keller. Take-out. The mind, it does reel.

[Ed note: to clarify the mess of strike-throughs above, Keller's Ad Hoc is already open; Burgers and Half-Bottles will be essentially tacked on to the space, and the two restos will share a kitchen. Apologies delivered forth.]

2) The Chron printed an exhaustive article on restaurateur Pat Kuleto, in which his home fireplace— not his restaurant's— is deemed "a wet dream." So now that we've gotten that out of our system, let's take it up a notch: On a quest for the golden olive tree, Kuleto found a nearly 200-year old Sevillano, now planted outside his Embarcadero resto estate. And he named it Manny, after the guy who delivered it, natch.

3) Never stayed at a hotel with a Mexican resto only steps away from the concierge desk? What's wrong with you, anyway? Interested parties might choose to visit the Herbert Hotel, harbinger of what is surely to explode into a full-blown trend in customer service. No really— we give it three months, tops.