News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
FIRST PERSON | Kevin Blum It’s last call for Solstice Lounge. After a successful 10-year run, the neighborhood favorite at 2801 California and Divisadero will be closing its doors for good on Saturday, March 2. The landlord, who also owns Rasselas and Sheba Piano Lounge on Fillmore Street, proposed to raise the monthly rent by…
SALOONS | Chris Barnett What is a gentlemanly ex-plumber from the Sunset doing running a hot new Hawaiian-themed saloon, eatery and live music lounge in the Fillmore? And at a time when many publords are quietly pushing up prices and skimping on portions and pours, how can James Cheng’s Pa’ina Lounge & Restaurant host an…
By Christine Lunde WORKING FROM A recipe tested and perfected in her apartment just off Jackson Street, Susan Gabiati has launched Kettel Krakkers, a line of gluten-free, mostly organic, traditional Danish crackers offered in four flavors: sesame, caraway, garlic and rosemary. Although the traditional Danish cracker is gluten-based, Gabiati decided to adapt the recipe when…
ONE GREAT DISH | MICHELE MANDELL The rapid-fire pace at which new restaurants open in San Francisco can make a three-year-old spot seem like yesterday’s news. But Baker & Banker, named for its husband-and-wife team — pastry chef Lori Baker and chef Jeff Banker — opened to critical fanfare in December 2009. And the place…
SUPERCHEF CHARLES PHAN “doesn’t have to go far to raid his restaurant pantry for ingredients,” The New York Times reports, since the family lives in an apartment above his Out the Door restaurant on Bush Street.
By Chris Barnett IF YOU NEED a new hideout with plenty of space to chill over a hot coffee, feast on fresh, fairly priced food and connect with fast, free WiFi — without your train of thought being derailed by a room full of chatterboxes — the recently opened Fillmore Fine Foods Cafe could be…
ITS CHEERFUL and hard-working employees got the word a week ago: Today is the final day for a burger and a chocolate shake at the counter at Johnny Rockets on Fillmore. The retro diner is out of time, with its fried food, juke box and neon signs — especially since Roam Burgers opened across the…
SPIRITS | Chris Barnett Ales Unlimited, the neighborhood store on the corner of Webster and Jackson, stocks more than 900 beers and ales on its shelves and in its coolers. And owners Steve and Betty Smith don’t cater to the couch potato crowd or the party-throwers who buy six-packs of a mass-manufactured bland brand for…
RUNNING A RESTAURANT — even an intimate space like Curbside Cafe at 2417 California Street, just off Fillmore — is a tall order. And Olivier Perrier has been doing it all — from greeting and seating customers, detailing the daily specials and overseeing the kitchen — since he shifted gears two years ago from merely…
STARBUCKS BROUGHT its new line of juice bars to the neighborhood today when it opened an Evolution Fresh store at the corner of Fillmore and Sacramento. Evolution Fresh peels, cracks, squeezes and presses whole fruits and vegetables to offer cold-crafted juice with nutrition, taste and color. The store also offers smoothies and menu items that…