New American classic eats from a pair of cooking-show vets

Sure it's fun to watch, but reality TV doesn't really affect the reality of anyone not on the show, with the exception, of course, being Celebrity Rehab, now that that Alice in Chains dude's no longer sleeping on your lawn. Affecting your mouth's reality, Unwind on Union. Soft opening tomorrow, Unwind's a substantial "new American classic" eatery from a couple of self-proclaimed Union St junkies who won a spot on The Food Network's The Opener, a show that dispatches David Adjey -- aka the guy who said "f**k" on Iron Chef -- to school rookies on the ins and outs of opening a restaurant (lesson 1: don't say f**k on Iron Chef). The casual and inviting, three-tiered space features a comfortable entry lounge lit by custom chandeliers, a fat Douglas fir bar, and an elevated back patio that seats 50+ under a greenhouse-style glass ceiling, though management may claim there's no such thing. In order to fine-tune the menu, Unwind's proprietors completed a series of culinary "homework assignments", resulting in hearty renditions of everything from marinated tri tip sandwiches, to beer can chicken, to "pizza by the foot", which is probably a nightmare to wrap in that cellophane. While a specialty cocktail program's still in the works, Unwind'll feature 20+ worldly draft/bottled brews and 24 bottles of mainly local vino, with 12 or so by the glass. Also, if all goes well on Union, Unwind has ambitious plans to expand to other SF 'hoods and then eventually to LA, Boston, and beyond -- which one might point out is like the Real World, if anyone gave a Puck.