News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
SINCE SHE AND HER SISTER opened Sheba Piano Lounge on Fillmore in 2006, Netsanet Alemayehu has created a distinctive ambiance with a sophisticated design, live music and a menu offering authentic Ethiopian dishes. Much of what makes the food special is the spices — the cardamom, berbere, mitmita and oregano — Alemayehu imports in suitcases…
The Planning Commission voted unanimously yesterday afternoon to allow the new restaurant Baker & Banker, at Bush and Octavia, to operate a self-service bakery. “We’ve been working on trying to create a neighborhood space,” said chef Jeffrey Banker. “The bakery will be a big part of our success.” Banker’s wife and business partner, pastry chef…
Jeff Banker moved to San Francisco on December 31, 1997, ringing in a new year and a new life as the chef he always knew he would become. He found a job at Postrio, Wolfgang Puck’s Union Square hot spot, and an apartment on Bush Street, not far from a popular neighborhood restaurant called the…
By Chris Barnett It’s a simple Victorian storefront at Octavia and Bush, but the building housing Baker & Banker has a notorious past. Vintage San Franciscans will remember the spot as Robert Restaurant Francais during the 70s and 80s — a small and stylish place with a popular appetizer not listed on the menu. One…
A new cafe and wine bar — Fat Angel — is now open in the Fillmore Jazz District behind Starbucks at 1740 O’Farrell. And it’s promising to be a neighborhood place. “Fat Angel was born out of a passion for the Fillmore District,” say the owners, who live nearby and have made the neighborhood a…
Check out these stunning images of an upscale soul food restaurant called Mississippi Blues designed for the Fillmore Jazz District by hot-shot architect Stanley Saitowitz. “Like the river, a single table meanders through the space — here everyone sits around and eats as a family,” reports Arch Daily. Unfortunately, it’s old news, says Eater SF:…
AT 9 this morning, Vivande opened its doors to the public for the first time in three weeks. At 11, an auctioneer began selling the furnishings and equipment. Most of the two dozen people milling around seemed to be dealers in used restaurant supplies, although there were a few neighbors, too. Back in the kitchen…
FIRST PERSON | ANDRE BOLAFFI It was a Friday night in January 1990. We had been in our new home on Bush Street for five years. My wife Janice suggested we walk up Fillmore to the Clay Theatre to see a French film, Claudine-Claudel, about Rodin, his work and his mistress. We went to the…
SUDDENLY, although perhaps not for them, the owners of Vivande decided at the end of the year to close the restaurant. After 29 years at 2125 Fillmore, Vivande served its final meal at dinner on New Year’s Eve [December 31, 2009]. “The decision to close Vivande is based on several factors,” said co-owner Lisa Middione,…
By Chris Barnett His coolness, former mayor Willie Brown himself, walks in around the cocktail hour, making 1300 on Fillmore the first stop on his nightly round of drop-bys to schmooze with friends and cronies. “This is one of those bar-restaurants that instantly became a landmark of this great city,” says Brown, sounding as if…