News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
BARELY A YEAR after moving to Fillmore Street and then struggling through several changes in concept, Citizen Cake closed just before Christmas. “I can’t do it anymore,” chef-owner Elizabeth Falkner told Inside Scoop. “I just have to start over.” Falkner took over the hallowed brick-walled space occupied for nearly 30 years by Vivande and was…
FIRST PERSON | JAMES DeKOVEN On a recent moonlit night in the neighborhood, darkness having descended much earlier than only a few weeks before, some friends were at my place sipping cocktails and examining life’s more contentious issues: individualism versus conformity, true love, the meaning of life. It was all rather intense. When I tried…
The Fillmore’s own inimitable Mary Risley — longtime proprietor of Tante Marie’s Cooking School — offers a simpler way to prepare the traditional Thanksgiving dinner in this timely new video from the Fillmore’s own Jaded Palate Productions. UPDATE: “The insanity of going f*cking viral” by Faith Wheeler
FIRST PERSON | Alicia Utter I stumbled into the Fillmore by accident six years ago, enticed by an ad for an apartment on Craigslist. Strolling out on the patio with the building manager, I looked down to see my dog’s tail touch his back as he ran around pots of jasmine. Looking up at the…
SALOONS | Chris Barnett A bar with a walkway to a motel might raise eyebrows. But Swank, on the corner of California and Presidio Avenue and connected to the 49-room Laurel Inn, is no dreary dive. That was its predecessor, G Bar, which tried to gussy itself up to snag the young and the restless. But…
AT THE MARKET | Kathy Lassen-Hahne The Medina family’s roots were first planted in Guadalajara, Mexico, and have now blossomed into full flower and fruit at the Medina Berry Farms in Watsonville, where three generations of Medinas grow three types of berries on three 25-acre farms. Their berries are available fresh from the fields every…
By Louise Thompson Dumplings & Buns — a new shop that opened August 29 just off Fillmore at 2411 California Street — is on a mission to satisfy locals’ comfort food cravings with simple Asian fare. Focusing on savory and sweet dumplings and buns, it also offers dim sum, soups and salads, mostly to go.…
SALOONS | CHRIS BARNETT A t the Boom Boom Room, the divey-looking 78-year-old live music club on Fillmore at Geary, the best seat in the house is off limits to customers. The tufted red leather booth, with its perfect view of the band and dance floor, is permanently reserved for legendary blues guitarist John Lee Hooker,…
SALOONS | CHRIS BARNETT So did swashbuckling blues guitarist John Lee Hooker really own the Boom Boom Room as a side gig? If you believe the sign above the door, he did. And if you listen to the current owner, Alexander Andreas, he did. But don’t bet your booty on it. Fillmore jazz genealogists Elizabeth…
A neighborhood icon with historic roots experiencing a renaissance — that was the cause for celebration in mid-July at the Elite Cafe. It was a 30th anniversary party for the Elite, held more than 80 years after its well-preserved Art Deco home first opened in 1928 as the Lincoln Grill. But the rejuvenated Elite and…