News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
FINALLY THERE’S A proposal to replace the shuttered Safeway grocery store on Webster Street — with more than 1,800 new units of housing. Four buildings that could reach a height of 300 feet, or 30 stories, would replace the store and parking lot, according to a preliminary application developer Align Real Estate has submitted to…
STREET TALK | CYNTHIA TRAINA Sutter Street’s first block off Fillmore is having a moment. It’s fully reinvigorated now that Saliin Thai Massage & Wellness spa has opened next door to Michelin-starred 7 Adams restaurant. Saliin, at 1955 Sutter, provides a range of massage treatments in a serene, minimalist space. On the menu of services…
FIRST PERSON | RYAN TONKOVICH When libraries closed in the spring of 2020 due to the pandemic, my sister Natalie and I wondered how families with young children would get access to books. We contacted a family friend who was a principal at a local school in San Francisco. She told us many of her…
Story and Photographs by CYNTHIA TRAINA In a stylishly appointed Victorian just steps from Fillmore Street, with opera drifting through rooms overflowing with art, Mark Evans spends his days transforming salvaged frames into convex mirrors encrusted with dazzle that sell for thousands of dollars. In rooms that double as both studio and gallery, he blends…
By FRAN MORELAND JOHNS Almost from the moment they bought their graceful, four-level 1901 Victorian across from Alamo Square Park, Owen and Kris O’Donnell have opened it to outsiders. When their sons were growing up in the 1970s and ’80s there were nannies and au pairs from abroad. Later there were friends of friends who…
STREET TALK | CYNTHIA TRAINA Things come and go on Fillmore Street, but rarely with such suddenness as the latest departures. The Starbucks just south of Geary closed with only two days’ notice. Alexis Bittar’s boutique at Fillmore and California disappeared just as abruptly. So did the Byredo cosmetics emporium at Fillmore and Pine. The…
By CHRIS BARNETT Maybe the best bargain at Mollie Stone’s uber stylish Pacific Heights supermarket on California Street is the Mollie Bus shuttle. It provides a free ride from the parking lot to your front door, providing you buy $25 of the store’s pricey vittles — usually no problem at Mollie’s. Yet on recent shopping visits, regulars noticed the bus was not…
Story & Photographs by CYNTHIA TRAINA There’s a new stop at the top of Lafayette Park: Native Twins Coffee, a mobile cafe pouring espresso drinks, serving homemade baked goods and offering plenty of neighborhood spirit. It’s open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, and until 5 p.m. on weekends. Identical twins Jennifer…
AFTER YEARS of darkness … the corner spot at Fillmore and Clay is only days away from opening its doors as Palmer’s Tavern. The permits and licenses have been secured, the staff hired, the clubby interior shined and polished. The menu promises high-quality tavern fare, classic cocktails, local craft beers and affordable wines. So we…
By THOMAS REYNOLDS For more than a year and a half, a public silence has surrounded investor Neil Mehta’s plans to remake a prime stretch of Fillmore Street. A fund he created with a $100 million investment quietly acquired eight buildings containing 11 storefronts, including the historic Clay Theater, and christened itself the Upper Fillmore…