The Rabbit Hole, a new Asian restaurant and bar at Mission Street and Cortland Avenue, is preparing to open by the end of year at the former Old Devil Moon space.
Located at 3472 Mission St., on the border of the Mission and Bernal Heights, the Rabbit Hole will branch out of the dim sum dominance that characterizes San Francisco’s Chinese food scene and offer a broader variety of dishes.
Its menu will include youtiao, which is a long, golden-brown, deep-fried strip of wheat flour dough, warm soy milk and daikon and ginger and long-bean pickles. Joan McCollom, owner of the Rabbit Hole, describes the fare as casual, whimsical and playful.
“One day, I just woke up and was dissatisfied with the state of Chinese food breakfast here,” said McCollom, who has been living in San Francisco for about 30 years. She grew frustrated with the lack of diversity in Chinese food in a city that’s renowned for diverse ethnic cuisines. “When did dim sum become the only thing for breakfast?”
Born and raised in Los Angeles after her mother immigrated from Taiwan, McCollom found inspiration for Chinese food and culture from her Taiwanese mother. She recalls that, as a kid, she would learn the tales of Chinese dynasties from her mother.
And the tales of Alice in Wonderland, where the eatery’s name originates.
“It is also a great allegory of what it’s like to be the kid of an immigrant,” said McCollom, who compared her childhood to the children’s classic. “Of not growing up with a lot of things. It’s an adventure.”
The Rabbit Hole also has a full bar, offering Kavalan whiskey from Taiwan, cocktails featuring Baijiu (a Chinese liquor distilled from fermented sorghum), Tanduay Asian rum, Japanese Roku gin, and Haku vodka, as well as Asian beers.
The eatery’s drinks “take familiar things and combine them with things we are not familiar with,” McCollom explained, adding that the bar will also offer non-alcoholic options. “I want to create a space that feels inclusive and welcoming and caters to people who drink and those who don’t.”
The new bar and restaurant, which has been under renovation since October, will have a warm, dark-gray color and wooden interior with soft lighting, creating an intimate ambiance — an entirely different style from the former mystical-themed bar Old Devil Moon that closed on Nov. 20 last year after six years in business.
McCollom pointed out that the area is seeing more and more Chinese restaurants, such as dim sum chain United Dumplings and Go Duck Yourself, an offshoot of the 43-year-old roasted duck place in Chinatown, Hing Lung Co.; both are located a few blocks east of the Rabbit Hole.
“Maybe we can make this a very interesting place for Asian food,” McCollom said.
Exciting! Can’t wait to try this. I do miss ODM though, that was a nice bar.
We need more poignant, thoughtful food and restaurant articles like this and Gilare. So tired of the awful glorified Yelp reviews rambling about what the BF ordered. Please keep it up Mission Local!
Love you, Mission Local! But the border between The Mission and Bernal Heights is Cesar Chavez Street, so this this fabulous new place is solidly in Bernal.
The ML logo literally includes La Lengua. I think we can give them a pass.