Dante's Weird Fish, the eight-year-old beloved oddball restaurant on Mission at 18th, will close up shop at the end of the year.
The pescatarian haven prominently displayed the Kurt Cobain quote that "Fish Don't Have Feelings" on their sandwich board, but as well as sustainable seafood, Dante’s was known for seitan substitutes and tacos of all styles.
Owner Peter Hood, who will retain a stake in St. Francis Fountain, Boogaloos, and the Crossroads Café in Joshua Tree, made the call for personal reasons. He’s expecting a fourth child and has found the Mission to be lovable but “not very friendly to small businesses,” he told to Mission Local.
Irfan Yalçin will replace Hood. He comes by way of Pera, a Mediterranean restaurant in Potrero Hill, and will open two new restaurants on the corner. First, a wine bar called L’Emigrant will debut at the storefront on 18th at Mission. There, a temporary sign promises to prize affordability in its bottle selection.
Then, to complete the wino corner, he’ll open a French bistro to be called Le Bon Vivre in the former Dante’s Weird Fish storefront.
Hood left his restaurant once before, back in 2009, before returning in 2012. It was then that he added "Dante's" to the name to connote the “9 levels of Hell of business divorce.”
But now it looks like Dante’s is heading for Paradiso, so eat up while 2014 lasts.
[H/t: Mission Local; photo courtesy of Dante's Weird Fish]
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