Richmond Buzz: Two Clement Street eateries return, and gooey cheese imminent

A pair of dim sum spots on Clement Street near 7th Avenue, Xiao Long Bao and Clement Restaurant, are back after a brief hiatus this month.

There was, of course, no shortage of dim sum offerings on Clement Street during the duo’s summer break, but only one — Clement Restaurant — claims to offer the “best pork bun in town,” and only one — Xiao Long Bao —  specializes in, well, xiao long bao.

Their returns are welcomed by this hungry reporter, who, loyal as he may be to Wing Lee Bakery, avoids lines whenever possible. It’s like what they say to photographers about cameras: The best dumpling is the one that’s closest to you.

Chino Yang’s at 1820 Clement St. near 19th Avenue is closing, according to its owner, who goes by Chino Yang. The space will be taken over by Shalva Dzotsenidze, chef of Georgian Cheese Boat, who is expanding from his first location in North Beach. In other words: We’re losing stir fry, and gaining gooey cheese pies with egg.

Golden Edge Pizza at 5351 Geary Blvd. and 18th Avenue has closed. Longtime residents may remember the space as the original location of Joe’s Ice Cream, now across the street. 

Records indicate that Golden Edge had been slinging pies from that corner for around five years. We’ll watch that space closely for new arrivals.

Next door, Golden Phoenix Hair Salon has closed after 43 (!) years in business, according to a sign out front.

“Thank you to all our customers for your visit and support,” the sign reads, and is signed John and Anna.

Other signs in the window list the 514 Clement St. space as available for rent.

At the gallery within Park Life, Jared Silbert’s show “Poppy,” is up now through the end of the month. Silbert’s paintings of flowers and blue skies have a contemporary, airbrushed quality, but his technique of “reverse glass painting” puts them between forms — collage, watercolor, figurative and abstract. And they are very California. 

Park Life’s Jamie Alexander will be speaking at the San Francisco Art Book Fair on Sunday, July 26 at the Minnesota Street Project in Dogpatch. Alexander helped found the book fair, which is now entering its tenth year.

Pho Kim Son at 3614 Balboa St. near 37th Avenue has shuttered, apparently for the second time in recent months. It reopened in March after a six-month closure, but has gone dark again.

A sign in the window indicated that it was lacking a permit from the Department of Building Inspection.

Yet another local business is leaving the pop-up game. Until June, Tuesday nights at Heritage Restaurant & Bar used to be one of a couple of opportunities to score a coveted Maillard’s smash burger. That’s no longer, now that Maillard’s has set up shop at a permanent brick-and-mortar in the Sunset at 3821 Noriega St. (I’ll try to forgive them for that.)