News from the Heart & Soul of San Francisco
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…
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…
LOCAL HISTORY | JOE BEYER Thanksgiving Day marks the 110th anniversary that Calvary Presbyterian Church has stood proudly at the corner of Fillmore and Jackson Streets. But it’s actually much older than that. Founded in 1854, the church’s first home was located on Bush Street between Montgomery and Sansome. In 1859, as the city expanded,…
ON ANY GIVEN NIGHT, Fillmore Street south of Geary is buzzing with street life. Stylish patrons make their way to 1300 on Fillmore for cocktails and dinner, or line up outside State Bird Provisions hoping for a coveted seat at what Bon Appetit magazine anointed as the best new restaurant in the country. Concertgoers head…
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…
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…
San Francisco’s Fall Antiques Show returns from October 25 to 28 at Fort Mason.