Sweet recognition for a Japantown bakery

Kenji Yick with the Sweet Stop’s famous Coffee Crunch Cake. Photo: Frank Wing

By FRAN MORELAND JOHNS

When the nominations for this year’s James Beard Awards were announced in late January, there was a local surprise. Among the semifinalists for Outstanding Bakery: Yasukochi’s Sweet Stop, a small shop in the corner of a Japantown grocery store most noted for keeping alive one of the city’s most beloved creations, the Coffee Crunch Cake.

The results will be in soon: Finalists will be announced on March 29, and winners unveiled at a ceremony in Chicago on June 5.

For chef-owner Kenji Yick, being shortlisted for the Beard award — the Oscars of the food world — came as surprising, and heartwarming, post-pandemic news.

Yick, a graduate of the French Culinary Institute, is the grandson of Sweet Stop founders Moses and Hatsy Yasukochi, who married in 1964 and opened the Sweet Stop 10 years later. Moses learned to bake the Coffee Crunch Cake, made famous at Blum’s on Union Square, from an employee who’d worked there.

Yick grew up “in and out of the bakery” while visiting his grandparents. By the time he decided to pursue a career in the food world and finished his culinary training, his grandfather was having to withdraw from the long hours of baking. So Yick went to work helping his grandmother.

Hatsuye (Hatsy) Yasukochi, was known as the “smile of the bakery” and considered by many the beating heart of Japantown. There were few in the community she didn’t know and love, and the sentiment was mutual. She died in 2020, an early victim of Covid, after a bout with cancer. When Moses lost his wife, he moved to an assisted living community in San Mateo near his children and grandchildren.

Many feared the bakery might not survive. But the Yasukochis’ grandson vowed to keep it going, and he has — and now the family legacy he carries on has been singled out for national recognition.

“We shut down for three months early in the pandemic,” he says, “and reopened for four days a week rather than five.” His grandmother’s absence in the bakery and the neighborhood is still widely felt. “The hardest part is that there now are just the two of us”: Yick and longtime front corner employee Debbie Ishida. “How long have you been here, Debbie?” he asks. “I don’t remember,” she responds. “A very long time.”

Kenji Yick and Debbie Ishida now run the Sweet Stop. Photo: Fran Johns

The Sweet Stop is still humming along, much as it has since Yick’s grandparents founded it nearly 50 years ago. He says the pandemic made clear the faithfulness of the shop’s core customers, who never abandoned their taste for cakes, pies and pastries from the Sweet Stop. But now the cakes — including the famous Coffee Crunch Cake — are only baked to order. “And we had to discontinue the Danish,” Yick says, “largely because we were designating it to Kimochi, and they had to discontinue their free meals. But we hope to bring it back.”  

Tucked away inside the Super Mira Market on the corner of Sutter and Buchanan, Yasuchoci’s Sweet Stop is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. But you might want to order ahead, especially if you want a Coffee Crunch Cake.

EARLIER:

Unthinkable: No Dino at Fillmore and California

Dino Stavrakikis and his son Santino: “It’s time to go.”

By CHRIS BARNETT

After a 34-year run of flipping pizzas, uncorking wine and telling stories on the northwest corner of Fillmore and California, Dino Stavrakikis is selling the longtime pizza palace known for decades as Dino’s — now renamed after his son as Santino’s Wine Bar — to the owner of Ace Wasabi Sushi in the Marina.

The ownership changes hands today [Sept. 20]. New owner Ken Lowe has announced no decision on changing the popular storefront and is likely for now to keep the wine and pizza format and the longtime employees.

“When it’s time to go, it’s time,” says the affable Dino — it seems impossible to call him anything else — on why he is pulling the ripcord. “When I bought the place, Reagan was president. We’ve been though a couple of wars, viruses, a pandemic and many mayors. Fillmore — the street and the neighborhood — has changed, and not for the better.”

Dino’s corner housed a drug store before it became a pizzeria in the 1970s, initially owned by his Uncle Vito. Dino apprenticed in another pie shop at Polk and Broadway straight out of high school. “I knew I was an entrepreneur and I wanted to own my own place,” he recalls.

At 21, he moved a few doors away to Lord Jim’s — “the greatest fern bar ever” — and worked his way up to lead bartender. Dino was behind the plank the infamous night a squad of San Francisco cops raided the saloon on a tip it was dealing cocaine out of the back. It was a bad bust. The bar was packed with lawyers that night who were enjoying their after-work cocktails. They howled. Owner Spiro Tampourantzis, like Dino a Greek, sued the city with the help of Fillmore Street criminal  defense attorney Eric Safire and prevailed.

In 1988, Uncle Vito — actually a distant cousin of Dino’s — ran out of dough, and Dino bought the pizzeria out of bankruptcy for $90,000. “I moved into an apartment upstairs,” he says, “changed the name to Dino’s and worked 15 hours a day to get the place back on its feet. Fortunately, I had the gift of gab. All the best Italian pizza parlors are owned by Greeks.” Actually, Stavrakikis is half Greek, half Italian.

From the start, Dino says he loved his landlord and still does, a sentiment rarely heard from retail tenants. “We’ve had the same one from the beginning— Russ Flynn from Meridian Co.,” he says. “They’ve really been super and kind, working with me all the way through Covid.”

Dino’s fledgling pizza shop was thrust into the spotlight in June 1990 when Mikhail Gorbachev, then the charismatic president of the Soviet Union, made a 22-hour swing through San Francisco. Their motorcade was headed back to the Soviet consul’s residence at 2820 Broadway when a couple of dozen wellwishers on the corner of Fillmore and California caught the Soviet president’s eye. The procession stopped and Gorbachev leaped out of his Russian-made Zil limo and started shaking hands.

A stunned Dino said at the time that Gorbachev “was the most famous man I have ever met,” and he had met 49er great Ronnie Lott and California Gov. Jerry Brown. Since then, he met the late Secretary of State Madeline Albright, quarterback Joe Montana, actress Sharon Stone and others who dined on pizza and other dishes in his shop, many created by Dino’s late mom, Koula.

A lifelong bachelor who loves kids, Dino didn’t let his singlehood stop him from becoming a father. In 2011, he arranged with a surrogate what he considers his greatest triumph: a son he named Santino. Practically from birth, Santino became a household name in the Fillmore. The proud papa renamed his shop Dino and Santino’s. “He’s the love of my life,” beams dad.

After three remodels and a transformation into Santino’s Wine Bar, Dino decided he was ready to throttle back. He moved to Walnut Creek to be near his parents and to get Santino in a better school. He gave more operating responsibilities to his longtime lieutenants, Jesus and brother Emilio Ceidillos — both with Dino for 33 years — and Tony Santos, with him for 25 years. Dino continued his annual summer treks to Greece to visit his family, including former boss Spiro Tampourantzis, and soak up the sunshine and culture. 

But he found himself wanting to spend more time with his son. So recently, he and Lowe, who Dino’s known for 30 years, huddled over glasses of wine and penciled out a deal. “I couldn’t have picked a better guy,” Dino says. “He’s bringing in an Italian chef, has his own ideas about making some changes.” Dino is tightlipped on this point, and Lowe has made no public announcements.

What’s next for Dino? “I have a gym at my house and I want to get in good shape,” he says. “I love to work. Unfortunately, I don’t have any hobbies. I just love the action. We’ll see what presents itself. But I’m going to miss my loyal customers.”

EARLIER: “Dino’s boy
When Gorbachev stopped by Dino’s

Stirring at the Grove

The Grove on Fillmore has been closed for more than two years.

FILLMORE BEAT | CHRIS BARNETT

Slammed shut and lifeless for well over two years, the large space housing the once popular Grove cafe and hangout at 2016 Fillmore is stirring again, but the new venture’s backers stubbornly refuse to disclose anything about it. “I can’t say, I can’t say, I can’t say,” insisted a bearded guy in a hoodie, who appeared to be a general contractor and claimed he is not the owner. Nor would he name the person in charge. Boom, the door slammed shut again. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: The team behind the Snug will open Little Shucker next year at 2016 Fillmore, the former Grove space, three blocks away from the Snug, the Chronicle reports. Adrian Garcia, who previously cooked at San Francisco Michelin-starred restaurants Benu and Quince, is in charge of the menu.

A couple of blocks north on the corner of Fillmore and Clay, Sam Fechheimer, a seasoned chef, is the new owner of Palmer’s, replacing Albert Ranier, who launched it in 2014. Sam was his opening chef, so he knows the bones of the building and its culinary history. He’s added a new brunch menu and is streamlining the daily menu with new dishes, including a serious Caesar salad, which replaces the faux Caesar made with kale. “We’re also reinvigorating our cocktail scene,” he says.

Meantime, the heart of the Post Pandemic Fillmore is coming back to life, with more action and somewhat fewer “for lease” signs on empty storefronts.

The new Lululemon store at 2040 Fillmore Street replaces Ralph Lauren.

The biggest retail addition to the boulevard is the uber-hot Lululemon store at 2040 Fillmore, which took over the space vacated by Ralph Lauren. Lululemon, with its catchy name and logo, has created an eye-catching “pilot” store on Fillmore that houses a massive collection of women and men’s workout and sportswear. Vancouver-based with stores worldwide, Fillmore is SF’s fourth Lululemon. What makes it different? “We weave silver into all our fabrics and since bacteria doesn’t cling to silver, our clothes never smell,” says a candid Rebecca Jackson, assistant manager. Lululemon will also buy back its old clothes for store credit and recycle them.

Across the street, at 2033 Fillmore, a new lingerie store called Third Love has moved in. Caroline, a sales rep, claims it’s the first such shop to create half sizes in bras such as an A½, B½, C½ all the way up to H½ cup sizes. “We’re new to the industry and we design for all body types,” she says.

Naadam, at 2029 Fillmore — named after a Mongolian holiday — sells lounge and casual wear for women mostly made out of 100 percent cashmere sourced from sheep herders in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. “We have no middlemen,” says Meghan, a store sales rep. Popular are the cashmere hoodies and sweaters. Prices range from $100 to $300.

The August Gallery has moved into 2053 Fillmore where a clothing and CBD company had a long off-and-on run. It’s not an art gallery per se, but has a collection of items aimed at “making the home more beautiful,” says Cameron, the gallery coordinator for owners Lotta Coffey, an interior designer, and her husband Geoffrey, a landscape designer who also has an office in the space. Items? Plants, ceramics, accessories and furniture by local artists.

Coming this fall to 2028 Fillmore: Sézane is bringing Paris to SF.

FOOD NOTES FROM OLD FAVORITES: John Castanon, the suave longtime manager of Florio, retired and went home to Texas in February. But he’s already been recalled for a six-week summer stint. • The former Elite Cafe, now The Tailor’s Son, has fresh additions to its cocktail list plus a 5 to 6:30 p.m. weekday happy hour — but only for patrons sitting at the bar. • A couple of doors away at 2043 Fillmore, at low-priced Apizza, store manager Pierre Luaga from Paris has added new pizzas, including pork carnitas and cacio e pepe — plus $7 wines and beer at $5 per can. • On the corner of California and Fillmore, the always affable TacoBar manager Antonio Solano has improved its online ordering and added new menu items and a parking zone for pickup and go. • On the corner of Fillmore and Pine, Noosh owner John Litz has added two popular cocktails to his repertoire of California-inspired Mediterranean cuisine. His personable general manager and operations director, Diana Ornelas, is also a talented mixologist. She created the Rosé and Rose Sangria.

Just in time for the dog days of summer: a giant gelato over the sidewalk at the Philmore Creamery at 1840 Fillmore.

Compton’s Coffee House is keeping it real

Aiden Compton is the proprietor of Compton’s Coffee House at 1910 Fillmore.

NEW NEIGHBORS | CHRIS BARNETT

It takes brass to open a coffee dispensary in the San Francisco these days. But cuppa joe impresario Aiden Compton has worked in the neighborhood for Peet’s, La Boulangerie and Starbucks, and is blood-related to a family-owned Brooklyn outfit called Variety Coffee. So he took over the tiny Samovar Tea shop at 1910 Fillmore earlier this year determined to bring back the old neighborhood feeling to the ’Mo.

Compton, at 36, has done just that with Compton’s Coffee House. The proprietor himself and his “strong right hand,” Heather Orell, personally pour the coffees (starting at $3) or whip up the lattes ($5) with a smile, and without the flamboyant chatter that sometimes ricochets off the walls of the chain operations.

After six months, Compton has a fan club. 

“We like the coffee, but what we really like is to see the same familiar faces every time we come in,” says Courtney Chuang, a marketing executive who lives in the neighborhood. Compton points out that artist Dan Max, who has lived on the street for 50-plus years, comes in every morning for coffee. “That’s true,” boulevardier Max acknowledged. “I love the place, the staff, the people who drink there. I go back there for my afternoon coffee. Compton’s makes the best cappuccino on the street.”   

Compton stuck with the Samovar’s colors and cozy-without-being-cramped spatial setup, but added some vintage cable car illustrations and paintings by local artists — including one by his mother, Lynn O’Brien — turning the coffee house into a small gallery.

Sipping a vanilla latte, Fillmore clinical psychologist Chelsea Siwik judged Compton’s as “very friendly” and praised it for “supporting locals.”

Both are among the reasons Aiden Compton opened the store in the first place. “I always had the idea of being an entrepreneur — my own boss,” he says. “I’ve been working in food service 18 years. I love its energy, waking up every day and saying ‘Okay, here we go again.’ ”

Aiden Compton’s mother, Lynn O’Brien, works the register on Mondays, under her painting celebrating the family business.

It might seem suicidal to challenge well-financed chains like the ones he once worked for that have multiple outlets nearby.

“I felt I had a responsibility to the community to create a place that’s inclusive, welcoming and friendly,” Compton says. “The chains are built on customer efficiency: ‘I need coffee. You’ve got coffee.’  It’s a transaction.”

What distinguishes a local coffee house like Compton’s from a link in a chain of coffee stores, he says, “is that we want to be personal. We want to know customers’ names, what they order when they walk in. We want to be people’s go-to for coffee.”

When he went looking for a storefront, “I wanted a place that had longtime San Franciscans in the neighborhood, plus young people moving in and becoming part of the neighborhood. We wanted locals, young professionals, people who want to connect, who feel a sense of ownership. And that’s what’s happening. My wife is expecting twins in October and every day people come in and ask, ‘How’s she feeling?’ even if they don’t buy anything. There’s that connection.”

Compton isn’t making connections only inside his front windows and the small square footage inside. He took over Samovar Tea Co.’s lease when Samovar went to an online business model during the pandemic, and says he never would have succeeded if not for Woodhouse Fish Co., the popular seafood restaurant next door. “Woodhouse let us use their nautical parklet during the day, and they took it back at night,” he says. “That saved us.”

“I want to see Fillmore return to its roots as an entrepreneurial and family retail shopping area,” Compton says. “We have a father-daughter bakery [the nearby Fillmore Bakeshop]. We have a family gelato shop [the Philmore Creamery, also nearby]. My family did a lot of the work here and my mother, a retired registered nurse, volunteers here at the cash register on Mondays. And I don’t think this entrepreneurial recycling is just limited to Fillmore. It can be San Francisco — the entire Bay Area.”

Still, Compton is a realist. “We’re not taking this opportunity lightly,” he says. “Peet’s and Starbucks may not be the greatest personal coffee experience of all time, but they have consistency and you know you’ll get the same drink and sandwich at the same speed everytime.”

But fiddle with a highly regarded brand and you can have instant problems, he says, speaking from first-hand experience. “I worked at La Boulangerie when it was a small local French bakery, and everything was baked fresh, and there were lines out the door. When Starbucks took it over, the value perception (of its baked goods) changed overnight.”

That’s another reason Compton wants to keep it real.        

Coming soon: wine, a woman, and song

Victoria Wasserman is bringing wine and music to 1870 Fillmore.

NEW NEIGHBORS | CHASE ROBERTS

There will be no jazz festival on Fillmore this Fourth of July weekend, but Victoria Wasserman is determined to bring music back to one block of the street. Wasserman is opening Vic’s Winehouse at 1870 Fillmore and turning the Wine Jar into a wine bar with music.

“I was devastated to see all the closures on Fillmore Street,” Wasserman says, “and given its rich history of music and culture, I decided it was time to fulfill my lifelong dream of opening my own bar.” 

The new name, Vic’s Winehouse, has a double meaning. Not only will there be locally sourced wines not found in stores. The name also reflects Wasserman’s love for the late singer Amy Winehouse, and her music — jazz, R&B, blues and hip hop — will set the theme for the bar.

Wasserman previously led an eight-piece Amy Winehouse tribute band, “The Back to Black Band,” which played at the Blue Note in Napa and other venues. Wasserman sings and plays the ukulele, and her husband, Jacinto Castaneda, sings and plays bass and guitar. Both are rooted in the Bay Area music scene.

Most of the wines will be from small family-owned wineries in the Russian River, Sonoma, Lodi and Paso Robles. Happy hour specials will be offered daily from 3 to 6 p.m. Flights will be offered from Argentina and from Balletto Vineyards, a family-owned winery in the Russian River Valley that grows its own grapes on what was once the largest vegetable farm in Northern California.

Vic’s will also offer Argentine empanadas handmade and baked locally by Nuchal Empanadas, a family-run business in San Francisco. Brunch will feature its quiche and frittatas.

Wasserman says a familial and community spirit will be at the heart of her new venture, and that she hopes to create “a neighborhood place for gatherings and community events such as art exhibits and CD releases.”

Updates on the opening and the offerings are on the Vic’s Winehouse website.

Like a good neighbor …

SALOONS | CHRIS BARNETT

Harry’s Bar at 2020 Fillmore has rolled out the welcome mat to merrymakers who live and work within a five-block radius. The venerable saloon has created a “Fillmore Street Neighbor” card that gives locals a 10 percent discount on all food and drink.

The idea is the brainchild of Harry’s personable general manager, Charles Johnson, who is on the sidewalk daily schmoozing the crowd, seating guests and serving drinks.

“We want our neighbors to think of Harry’s as their go-to place — which it has been for well over 30 years,” he says. “So we’re trying to show our appreciation in creative ways.”

In addition to the discount card, he’s also extended the weekday 4 to 6 p.m. happy hour to seven days a week. 

“Harry’s Bar prides itself on being a good neighbor,” Johnson says.

To prove it, Harry’s has now chopped 21 feet off its palatial parklet, after the owner of the empty storefront next door filed a complaint with the city. More than 2,000 fans of Harry’s signed a petition favoring the parklet, which helped keep the bar alive during the pandemic. But as indoor dining and drinking returned, Harry’s agreed to a compromise that reduced the size of the parklet, but made it permanent.

Johnson is happy. Harry’s is buzzing.

EARLIER: “A third of $30,000 parklet may be removed

Signs of life on a boulevard of broken leases

A new Italian restaurant, The Tailor’s Son, will soon open in the former Elite Cafe. Photograph by Jonathan Pontell

FILLMORE BEAT | CHRIS BARNETT

Empty stores, boarded-up windows, people sleeping in abandoned doorways, shoplifting and break-ins all testify that Fillmore Street is going though hard times one year after Covid hit with full fury.

But conversations with die-hard merchants and a reopening for some indoor dining signals an eventual turnaround in the fortunes of the once-booming upper Fillmore commercial district, which is now a boulevard of broken leases.

Vas Kiniris, a longtime Fillmore merchant who is now executive director of the Fillmore Merchants Association, is optimistic yet candid in offering his views on the state of the street.

Crime has long been a problem on Fillmore, but Kiniris reports that Northern Station has a newish captain in charge — Paul Yep — who gave the street back its own foot patrol, which was shared at one point with Japantown. More cops are visible.

Walgreens at Fillmore and Pine — regularly hit with swarms of grab-and-dash young shoplifters — now has an SFPD officer posted inside the front door, with a black and white squad car parked conspicuously outside the front door. There were recent rumbles that Walgreens might close its Fillmore store, as it closed others suffering a steady stream of thefts. But staffers say nothing is definite.

A peek inside the late, once-great Elite Cafe reveals a nearly completed interior makeover. A year after he planned to open, serial restaurateur Adriano Paganini will soon unveil The Tailor’s Son, his newest Italian restaurant, which pays homage to his childhood near Milan.

“My mom and dad are both working tailors, and my grandmother and grandfather were tailors as well,” Paganini says, hence the name. Paganini says that contrary to recent rumors, he “has no interest” in taking over long-shuttered Grove next door to Harry’s Bar. A reliable source maintains the Grove “will reopen eventually.”

From Hoodline: “An interview with Adriano Paganini

Another rumor turned out to be just that — only a rumor. Delfina, the uber-popular pizzeria on California Street, is not dead, despite the window boardings. Kiniris says it is simply undergoing a remodeling.

♦ 

John Litz’s Noosh, on the corner of Filllmore and Pine, has re-opened for pick-up, delivery and indoor-outdoor dining after being temporarily closed. Noosh is launching a multi-course tasting brunch on the weekend, which will feature its signature Mediterranean delicacies for $45 per person. At night, a multi-course Noosh dinner tasting menu will be offered at a price point, Litz insists, below similar San Francisco restaurants. The front windows of the restaurant have re-opened to the street, offering its full “fine casual menu,” including craft cocktails.

Many stores and brands on Fillmore have pulled up stakes during the pandemic. Kiniris lists International Orange, Dosa, Goop, Prana, the Repeat Performance resale shop, Illestiva, Frame, Ralph Lauren, Space NK, Alexis Bitter, Ministry of Supply, Samovar Tea, Asmbly Hall, Sunhee Moon, Atelier de Cologne, Flor, James Perse, Lexe, Alice and Olivia, Cotelac, Minted and the Artists Inn.

But there have been some openings: Liberty Cannabis is now open for business in the former Unity Church around the corner on Bush Street. Byredo, a Swedish fragrance emporium has taken over the former Space NK location at Pine and Fillmore. And Compton’s Coffee House now occupies the former Samovar Tea shop. Many restaurants have added seating outside.

As for activity at the old Clay Theatre? Absolutely nothing. 

Minnie’s Can-Do Club was a gathering spot

Photograph of Minnie in the 1970s by Ed Brooks

FIRST PERSON | DENISE KORN

’Net surfing can get you into a whole lot of trouble. That’s what happened to me. I rarely get bored — even during these crazy pandemic days. But, one night, Netflix just wasn’t doing it for me. It was late and there I was in bed scrolling again under the glare of my phone’s blue light. I wasn’t really searching for anything in particular. I was just … looking. 

I happened to run across an article on the New Fillmore website. The piece, dated several years ago, was about my neighborhood — the Fillmore. 

When I was young, there was no “upper” or “lower” Fillmore. It was just the Fillmore. Lots of people called this area the Western Addition. But for the thousands of African-Americans who strolled past the old Melrose Record Shop, or got their ’fros tightened up at the barbershop near the corner of Geary, or browsed the jumble of shops between Geary and Sutter; this didn’t happen in the Western Addition. We lived the rhythm of our lives in the Fillmore. 

The night I discovered the New Fillmore website, I scrolled through looking at old pictures and articles about a time I remember so well. Then I happened upon an article and — even better — a painting featuring an old family friend, Minnie Carrington. I couldn’t believe it!

I live in Atlanta now, and seeing someone I knew so long ago, looking just as I remembered her, pulled me down the rabbit hole of my memory. I decided to see if the once-famous proprietor of Minnie’s Can-Do Club on Fillmore was still around. 

I’m happy to report that I was able to track down a phone number and speak with Minnie. She’s over 80 now, and living in an East Bay senior facility with her daughter, Felita. Minnie is confined to her bed, but she still loves to talk. She’s the true old-school San Franciscan, interested in everything and interesting to everyone. San Franciscans are natural storytellers.

So, here’s mine.

(more…)

He created the Elite Cafe

SAM DuVALL | 1940 – 2020 

In the 1970s, the two blocks of Fillmore Street between Clay and California were the prime blocks for retailers; south of California was a desolate strip of lifeless shops and joints. Leasing broker Carol Chait broke through that barrier when she listed the Art Deco Asia Cafe space that had been vacant for a couple of years. She narrowed it down to two prospective tenants. 

“Restaurateur Sam DuVall saw the space as a diamond in the rough,” Chait says. “It was a bookie joint with a card room and the Croatians from Tadich Grill used to hang out there.” Jeremiah Tower — the former Chez Panisse chef who later opened Stars near City Hall — was the other bidder for the space. Chait had to choose between the two, who were both willing to pay $2 a foot plus a percentage of the gross revenue.

Her decision was driven by one thing: a dead rat.

“I was showing the space to Jeremiah,” Chait says. “There was crap all over the floor and all of a sudden I saw this rat in the corner. It was dead, but I was afraid to pick it up. I asked Jeremiah to put it in the trash, but he didn’t want to touch it either. Later that day, I was showing the space to Mr. DuVall and I said ‘Sam, would you do me a favor and get rid of that thing?’ He did — and he also had the best ideas for revitalizing the restaurant. I said to the owner, ‘Sam’s your guy.’ ”

Chait adds that DuVall did a painstaking restoration of the space, renaming it the Elite Cafe. “The Elite did such enormous volume even on that block that the owner, with his rent and percentage, got this windfall of cash,” she says.

— Chris Barnett

FAREWELL: “Restaurateur Sam DuVall dies at 80
EARLIER: “There’s a reason they call it the Elite

Harry’s comes alive outside

Harry’s Bar’s expansive new parklet announces itself streetside.

SALOONS | CHRIS BARNETT

As Fillmore Street continues to come alive again, Harry’s Bar has reopened with a palatial new parklet for outside drinking and dining, a revised menu and an expanded happy hour — now from 4 to 6 p.m. seven days a week, rather than five.

And the owners hope to make the outside expansion permanent.

Harry’s has created “a socially distanced beer garden,” mused Dan Max, the congenial retired globetrotting professor of art, a regular at Harry’s who has lived across the street from the popular sports saloon for more than 50 years.

The parklet has 38 chairs and tables for two and four, separated from the street by a nicely stained wooden enclosure topped with plexiglas to shield guests from the wind. Five tall heaters throw off a flame when lit, providing warmth, and a new exterior sound system pumps out the music, but not so loud it drowns out conversations. There’s even a big-screen television hanging in the window facing outside.

The parklet has 38 seats at tables for two and four.

On a recent Friday afternoon around 5 p.m., the al fresco incarnation of Harry’s Bar was practically full as patrons ducked in. Two locals — Mecca, who works for a fashion store, and her friend Rhea, a personal trainer — were soaking up the sunshine and sipping Aperol spritzers. Said Rhea: “They’ve done an excellent job. We love the classic Harry’s vibe and the Aperol is the best I’ve ever had.”

They were also eating. City reopening rules allow eating and drinking establishments to have outside seating and service, but patrons must also have food with their drink.

Harry’s new general manager, Charles Johnson, formerly sous chef and GM of Fred’s, the restaurant in the late Barney’s New York  department store near San Francisco’s Union Square — and a former U.S. naval officer who once ran the legendary officers’ club at Subic Bay in the Philippines — has created eight new house cocktails for $12 to $13.

Examples: The North Beach — with gin, Cointreau, limoncello, sweet vermouth with a lemon twist — and The Fillmore, with cucumber vodka, lemon juice, fresh watermelon and a cucumber garnish. Other drinks feature Ving Kale Vodka, Gold Bar San Francisco Bourbon and Hendricks Midsummer Solstice Gin, and some have bell pepper and cilantro garnishes.

Photographs by Jean Collier Hurley

For suds lovers, Johnson has added Screaming Hand Red IPA, Hell or High Watermelon Wheat, El Sully Mexican Lager and the Deschutes Fresh Squeezed IPA from Oregon, all on draught, at $9 for a 15-ounce glass. A slew of other beers in cans and bottles start at $6.

The menu also has new offerings, including a smoked salmon crostini, a chef’s select cheese plate and a bacon-wrapped hickory hot dog, all $13; an impossible meatball sub at $15, smoked salmon salad, $15, and a Mediterranean chicken salad, $16, plus two new pasta dishes. The tater tots and Harry’s deluxe cheeseburger remain.

Harry’s has also been remodeled inside, although not drastically, with a new ceiling, mural, bathrooms and a tricked-out kitchen, plus new finishes.

“Being shut down gave us an opportunity to make all these improvements,” said co-owner Rick Howard. “We would like to keep the new outside area permanently, but we don’t know what the city’s position will be.”