Tuts Bakery, which wasn’t quite what you would expect from a bakery but instead kind of an overpriced cafe, has closed and been instantly replaced by Tuba Restaurant and Grill at 535 Bryant. I have listed it under Mediterranean, which it claims to be and in fact is. But there are many countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, each with its own unique cuisine. Tuba’s is definitely Turkish, and I know this not because I am so smart but because many of the dishes, for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, are listed in both Turkish and English, and one is even called Turkish Breakfast. (It also now says so on the front window.) What I don’t know is where the name Tuba comes from. I haven’t found any meaning beyond its English meeting (and I have at one time played one, but just the smaller E-flat version, not the big BB-flat one).

As for China Delight, I don’t think many people even noticed it was there (at 461 Emerson, in the shadow of Jing-Jing). I ate there a couple of times and found the restaurant and food clean, tasty, and unexciting. That doesn’t sell in Palo Alto, at least not forever. So it’s gone, and at some point this winter will be replaced by Roost House, the latest venture by Asian Box founder Frank Klein. I have listed it under California cuisine because it does not fit anywhere else. As they describe it, the menu and philosophy are pretty Californian: a lot of plant-based proteins and fresh farm vegetables – even if the whole approach is described as “chicken-centric” – and “an uber sense for serving the customer”. Any philosophy that has to use the word “uber” definitely puts it in the California category. Precious beer and wine (by the ounce), of course.