THIS LAVISH oversized limited edition book brings together a collection of favorite photographs and stories from the pages of the New Fillmore. It tells the story of an ever-changing small town in the big city with a rich history and a strong sense of community.
Available exclusively at Browser Books on Fillmore, or order online.
THIS DOCUMENTARY — filmed entirely on Fillmore Street — tells the story of longtime Fillmore resident Kelly Johnson, who used a new California law to end his life on his own terms.
Photograph of Carlo Middione at Vivande by Daniel Bahmani
Carlo Middione and his late and beloved Fillmore restaurant Vivande are back in the news today. The Chronicle reports that he’s included in a new book discussing his loss of taste and smell after he was involved a car accident.
And don’t miss the comments from his fans, including this one from CeleryStalker: I worked with Carlo for weeks filming his cooking show “Carlo Cooks Italian” years back. He is an amazing man, gentle soul with a sense of humor that couldn’t be beat. I remember him getting into a war of words with the director when a squid that he was cleaning went amuck and its eye shot across the room. He wanted it left in the scene because “things like this can happen. Do you want to scare some poor home chef?” One hell of a guy.
UPDATE: Vivande’s successor, Citizen Cake, has named a chef and plans to open soon behind a new fire-engine red facade.
Citizen Cake almost ready in red at 2125 Fillmore, October 29, 2010
Elena Basegio and her father Doug Basegio opened the Fillmore Bakeshop at Bush and Fillmore just in time for the World Series. “We spent last night figuring out how to put the Giants in pastry form,” Elena said a few days after opening. The result: a white chiffon cake filled with chocolate mousse and covered in chocolate ganache — and a chocolate brim.
Marie-Jeanne and Dominique Delanghe on their final day at Patisserie Delanghe.
THE NEWS CAME as a sudden shock: September 30 was the final day of business for Delanghe Patisserie at the corner of Fillmore and Bush. After 26 years of buttery croissants and mini eclairs, finis. It seemed impossible to the Francophiles who loved the place and the locals for whom it was always there. No notice! Not even a chance to say goodbye!
On October 1 the keys went to Elena Basegio and her dad, Doug Basegio. Work commenced with a fury. On October 21, the Fillmore Bakeshop opened.
At first, the reaction was wary. “People were coming in saying, basically, “So where are they?” as if we’d taken over their place and buried them out back,” said Elena Basegio. Read more »
More than 60,000 people visit the St. Jude Shrine at St. Dominic’s Church every year to light a candle, say a prayer and seek solace from their suffering. The shrine — founded by the Dominican friars in 1935 in the middle of the Great Depression to bring hope to a world that desperately needed it — is celebrating its 75th anniversary on October 28. Its mission continues unchanged — and gains new potency — as we find ourselves once again in the midst of a financial crisis. Read more »
10/10/10 brought Fillmore’s newest boutique to the street: Los Angeles designer James Perse opened shortly before noon in the long-vacant space at 2028 Fillmore. Shortly after noon, the locals were already streaming in to check out what the company calls its “seamless blend of luxe and casual.”
Perse offers clothing for both men and women almost entirely in black, gray and white, plus indoor and outdoor furniture and a few other essentials including surfboards, a bike and a trike. Perse describes his design philosophy as “low maintenance high fashion — emphasizing elegance and comfort, pairing sophistication with simplicity.”
It’s the designer’s second store in San Francisco — he opened near Union Square last fall — and part of a growing group of about a dozen free-standing boutiques in Southern California, Las Vegas, Aspen and New York.
The third annual San Francisco Filipino American Jazz Festival comes to Yoshi’s on Sunday, October 10, from 6 to 9 p.m. Among the headliners are composer-pianist-vocalist Primo Kim, appearing with guest vocalist Jo Canion; Tokyo’s premier jazz diva Charito; and, from Manila, the powerful singer Sandra Lim Viray.
The roots of Filipino jazz in San Francisco can be traced to early Filipino immigrants who settled in and around the Fillmore District. Jazz pioneers such as Flip Nunez, Jo Canion and Rudy Tenio created a legacy that many artists have since followed. Today, Filipino jazz is gaining wider recognition as artists — including Primo Kim, Charito and Sandra Viray — are recording and performing worldwide.
Neighborhood artist Veerakeat Tongpaiboon has a new exhibition of his dynamic cityscape paintings this month at the Thomas Reynolds Gallery, his longtime artistic home at Pine and Fillmore.
It’s the 16th year he has shown at the gallery. But this time he won’t be shuttling between his art and his day job at his family’s restaurant. Neecha, the admired and affordable Thai spot at the corner of Steiner and Sutter, closed at the beginning of August.
“I’m a full-time painter now,” he says. “It’s about time.” Read more »
“Serendipity,” reads an assemblage of vintage letters affixed to a wall at Timeless Treasures, Joan O’Connor’s antiques store on Sutter Street near Pierce. “Bananas,” reads another. “Slow down,” a third.
An establishment that celebrates the relationship between words and objects, Timeless Treasures specializes in vintage letters, available in a vast range of sizes, types and materials. In addition to offering the groupings for sale, O’Connor prompts customers to create their own combinations that become personal works of art.
“Words are just so powerful,” she says. “They can make us feel anything. And the color and variety of materials and sizes we put in the words adds an extra dimension.” Read more »
Last time 3640 Sacramento Street was a popular address was in the late 1930s when elegant automobiles such as Packards, Cadillacs and probably a collector’s Dusenberg were parked and pampered by skilled mechanics there.
The onetime garage has seen countless restaurants and businesses come and go. But the current occupant, Spruce, has no shortage of people clamoring to be tended to in style. Since opening in August 2007, the sleek restaurant has amassed a strong following of neighbors who stop by regularly for exceptional food and attentive service.
But for me, it’s the bar off to the right that is of special interest — and among the best in our ’hood. Read more »
After 26 years of buttery croissants and sweet treats, today is the final day for Patisserie Delanghe. With no notice or fanfare, Dominique and Marie-Jeanne Delanghe will retire and take their delayed annual vacation to France. But while they’ll spend more time in their apartment on the Ile St. Louis in Paris, they will continue to live in the neighborhood.
Their corner of Fillmore and Bush will lose its French accent: The successor is a father-daughter team that will open the Fillmore Bakeshop.
