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A new book for Cecilia

A NEW BOOK for children celebrates neighborhood culinary icon Cecilia Chiang — who, as the subtitle says, “revolutionized Chinese food in America.” Her pioneering restaurant, The Mandarin, opened in 1961 in Ghirardelli Square. It “rejected the American cliches of thickly sauced stir-fries served in pseudo-exotic settings,” reported The New York Times. “She built her reputation…

Welcome to our new neighbors

YES, THAT’S HER. That’s the actress Julia Roberts you’ve been seeing around the neighborhood — wandering down Fillmore Street with her family, dining at Chouquet’s and Via Veneto, admiring the views in Alta Plaza Park. Roberts has a long association with San Francisco. Back in the 1990s, when she was dating fellow actor Benjamin Bratt,…

The wit and wisdom of Browser Books

STREET TALK | CYNTHIA TRAINA In May, Browser Books spotlights deception. Its theme of the month is “Grifters, Swindlers, Crooks & Scammers.” Among the featured titles is Herman Melville’s The Confidence Man, a personal favorite of Hana Metzger, one of the creative minds behind the monthly themes on the featured display shelf. Metzger curates the…