Russell Moore—a chef and buyer for Chez Panisse—and partner Allison Hopelain will open a restaurant at 3917 Grand Avenue [map] in Janary 2008.

A few Grand Lake neighbors met with Russell and Allison on February 26 to hear the couple’s plans.

Although we’ll have to wait until early 2008 for the food, what we learned is that they intend for the restaurant to be warm, inviting, and affordable, serving good healthy meals to food lovers in both our and surrounding neighborhoods. They plan to procure their produce and meats as locally as possible.

Russell and Allison want to be a part of Grand Avenue’s future and are making an investment to do just that.

When we met with them in February, we didn’t hear a name for the new venture. An article in Wednesday’s San Francisco Chronicle filled that gap: Camino.

Camino means road in Spanish and fireplace in Italian. And Camino’s cooking will be all about the fireplace—a huge, waist-high stone one that Moore plans to use for rustic dishes like lamb a la ficelle, baked fish and lots of stuff cooked in cazuelas, with pots of beans bubbling in the coals.

The location formerly housed Country Home Furniture. One reason we’ll have to wait so long is that the building’s owner is doing extensive seismic retrofitting.