News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
By Donna Gillespie FILLMORE STREET will soon lose a landmark, a warm and friendly neighborhood destination that still offers meticulous, old-fashioned mailing services — a place that’s so much more than just somewhere to mail a box. After 22 years, Jet Mail is moving. The good news is that it’s not going very far. January…
STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS by Carina Woudenberg He’s been a San Francisco resident for more than 30 years, but Jiro Nakamura still makes a yearly trek home to Japan to search for treasures for his shop on Fillmore Street. The treasures include dolls — crafted hundreds of years earlier in many cases — and puppets, tea…
Q & A | Film critic David Thomson By Mark Mitchell David Thomson’s The New Biographical Dictionary of Film is considered a must-have reference by almost all serious movie buffs. But Thomson is more than just a film critic, more even than a film historian. His works include a biography of novelist Laurence Sterne, an…
By Christine Lunde WORKING ITS WAY into the local fabric, Attention to Detail Barber Gallery on Sutter Street may soon rival sports bars as the hippest place for men to fraternize. Flat screen TVs broadcasting sports and news, generous servings of beer and champagne — and, of course, stylish cuts and shaves — make the…
By MARKOS KOUNALAKIS BUDAPEST, Hungary — Many of my Saturdays used to start out with a saunter down Fillmore Street for an early morning cup of coffee while the rest of my family was still in bed. Budapest is also a coffeehouse city, but more famed for the conversations and art that grew out of…
By Marjorie Leet Ford THE SHOP’S carved wooden front door — both rough-hewn and fancy — quietly announces a portal to another time, when the ancient art of piano building was still going strong, and the world was as full of pianos as it now is of cars. The piano was the heart of the…
DESIGN | DIANE DORRANS SAEKS Twenty years ago, interior designer Ann Getty began a large-scale redecoration of the Pacific Heights residence where she lives with her husband, Gordon, a composer. It was built in 1906 to a classic design by architect Willis Polk and offers an entry hall with collections as opulent as any London…
By CHRISTINE LUNDE On their honeymoon in Italy, neighborhood residents Olivia Dillan and Ben Balzer floated by Marco Polo’s house on a canal in Venice, which inspired Dillan to leave the tech industry behind. Then serendipity took charge. Three weeks after Dillan and Balzer decided to start a shop of their own, the space at…
By Kathi O’Leary ON A CHARMING block of Sutter Street that narrowly missed the wrecking ball of redevelopment 50 years ago, Sidney Hair Care sits among Victorian homes, small shops and the Macedonia Baptist Church. Sidney, the professional name of Betty Jean Macklin, has cared for clients of all races and walks of life at…
By BARBARA KATE REPA FOR MANY YEARS, John Gaul has been a fixture on Fillmore. Strolling and bussing through the neighborhood, he has been a dapper presence, doling out advice and good cheer along the way. But just lately, his gait has slowed. He is getting about now with the help of a walker since…