News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
By FRAN MORELAND JOHNS “MOM!” the pianist says with some concern as he launches into their favorite song, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and a photographer begins to click away. “You can’t cry on camera.” Though not usually with a photographer in tow, composer David Conte often drops by the Carlisle, the retirement community at 1450…
LANDMARKS | BRIDGET MALEY The original North End Police Station was located on Washington Street near Polk. It burned, as did several other police stations and San Francisco’s Hall of Justice, during the earthquake and fire in 1906. A May 1908 bond issue funded a new Hall of Justice and police headquarters and the replacement…
By FRAN MORELAND JOHNS “When learning extends beyond the classroom, it becomes real,” says David Frankenberg, who aims to make learning real for every student at the Drew School campus at 2901 California Street. Now settled into his second year as Head of School, Frankenberg brings an international background to the job that underlies his passion…
SALOONS | CHRIS BARNETT In a city of grand, gilded, pricey hotels, the 225-room Hotel Kabuki at 1625 Post Street in Japantown is a serene temple of hospitality, owned by a powerhouse Wall Street investment fund that has quietly spent $32 million re-imagining the hotel. The Kabuki’s low profile is about to change. Wall Street’s muscular…
By CHRISTOPHER BRUNO “Smell this!” Carlo Middione said, as he thrust two handfuls of fresh, limp, uncooked spinach fettucine in my face. I was the newest hire in the spring of 1985 at his gastronomical time machine, Vivande Porte Via, which masqueraded as a restaurant on Fillmore Street. I inhaled deeply and was shocked at the…
REAL ESTATE | PATRICK BARBER In the dwindling days of December, an historic Presidio Heights Tudor sold for the first time — ever — making it the biggest single-family home sale of 2017 in San Francisco. The home at 3500 Jackson Street, known as the Roos House, sold for $11 million, down from its original…
CULTURE BEAT | PAMELA FEINSILBER Just before Helgi Tomasson moved to San Francisco — and to the neighborhood — to become artistic director of the San Francisco Ballet, he wound up a stellar first act as an acclaimed principal dancer with George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet. In his 33 years here, Tomasson has turned…
A BIG CROWD of neighbors showed up on January 24 to preview plans to bring a Shake Shack burger joint to the former corner home of Real Food Co. at Fillmore and Filbert. But most said they prefer another grocery store in that location. None of the neighbors seemed to have a good word for…
CRIME WATCH | DONNA GILLESPIE Sterling Bank at 1900 Fillmore was the target of an alarming, if ultimately unsuccessful, robbery attempt on January 16. It happened at 4:50 p.m., just before closing time. Some inside the bank were aware of a man in a blue rain poncho pacing up and down the sidewalk in front of…
THE CITY’S DITHERING over the future of the Fillmore Heritage Center has claimed another casualty: Black Bark, the modern barbecue joint at 1325 Fillmore, did not reopen after a holiday break. Only weeks after ending regular dinner service across the street at their upscale 1300 on Fillmore restaurant, owners Monetta White and David Lawrence decided…