The legendary Grant Grill in the U.S. Grant Hotel reopens on Oct. 17 after the entire property received a $52 million restoration during the past 20 months. The Grill’s facelift is replete with rich mahogany wall paneling, traditional wood moldings and dramatic velvet drapery panels. Executive chef Andreas Nieto even went so far as to select custom-made plates, glasses and gold-inlaid tableware crafted in Europe. Among his opening signature dishes this season: crispy black bass, double-thick pork chop with lavender-maple glaze and fennel-crusted roast veal. The Grill will be open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

It looks as though the Talus Café in Hillcrest has gone AWOL. For the past couple months, the restaurant owned by Richard Wood has been locked shut and its phone number remains disconnected. Formerly The Abbey and once a campy burger joint, the seemingly jinxed address has gone through a few other failed incarnations in the past decade, with Talus having been my favorite.

The owners of the wildly popular Wine Steals on University Avenue say they will open a second store/wine bar in late November at the historic NTC complex in Point Loma, which will feature a large outdoor patio with golf course views. Then, come February, yet another location is planned for Mission Valley in a retail space situated behind Hooters on Mission Center Road.

If those usual pepperoni and mushroom pizzas leave you yawning lately, and you ascribe to the “more is better” adage, then check out the San Francisco-based chain called Extreme Pizza on Rosecrans in Loma Portal. The Poultry Geist gives you chicken that’s marinated in Ranch sauce, plus broccoli, onion and sage, not to mention a riot of cheeses such as swiss, fontina, gorgonzola and mozzarella all in one crazy mouthful! Among the other schizophrenic choices is The Boar’der with shredded pork, cheddar and mozzarella, and The Peace in the Middle East topped with homemade hummus, olives, onions, feta, pepperoncinis and more.

Or if you’re curious as to how pizza jibes to mashed potatoes or little neck clams, the folks at Basic on 10th Avenue in the East Village offer those toppings on pizzas served on cookie sheets. The operation provides a very cool bar atmosphere housed in a spacious historic brick warehouse that’s nearly 100 years old. And the prices are reasonable compared to a lot of other hip joints downtown.

After serving the downtown community for more than 20 years, the Old World Café was recently nudged out of its perch on Eighth and Island due to redevelopment and has landed on 30th Street to the delight of North Park. The menu stays the same – a litany of Eastern European, Italian and Irish dishes – though a few name changes on certain dishes were made to reflect the neighborhood. The BLT with homemade turkey is now called The North Park, and a seafood salad and smoked gouda in a croissant is termed The Lyric Opera. The café’s famous Rueben, of course, is still called a Rueben.

Chef Brian Sinnot of Molly’s in the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina downtown has introduced a chef’s table in the restaurant’s enclosed terrace, available to parties of up to 20 people. The romantic terrace is flanked by wood-paned windows looking into Molly’s main dining room on one side and with floor-to-ceiling glass facing out to the pool and landscaping on the other. A few menu plans are offered, with each course carefully paired with hard-to-find vinos by the restaurant’s fun and friendly sommelier named, ironically, Lisa Redwine. The cost per person (including wine) is $85 for four courses, $125 for six courses and $165 for eight courses. The menu is dictated by the whims of Sinnot for those with passive, indecisive appetites, although customers can make special requests with a 24-hour notice.