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A Fillmore rap

SF Weekly reviews local rapper DaVinci’s debut album: The song “What You Finna Do?,” released earlier this month by Fillmore District rapper DaVinci, opens with a vocal sample from the 2001 PBS documentary The Fillmore. It condenses the gentrification process the area underwent from the 1960s into one slogan, lamenting, “Basically, after the urban renewal,…

Like a kid in a candy store

There she is, the Queen of Fillamento, with a glue gun in one hand and a bag of jelly beans in the other, a nice Jewish girl making a sign celebrating Easter candy. Iris Fuller is back — not quite in the neighborhood, where she ran the much-beloved Fillamento emporium for two decades, but not…

Sheba: authentically Ethiopian

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…

A news project: reinvent journalism

Q & A | ROSE ROLL R ose Roll, a local resident and occasional contributor to the New Fillmore, is involved in creating the Bay Area News Project — a new nonprofit venture funded by neighborhood philanthropist Warren Hellman that is being heralded by some as a reinvention of journalism. With The New York Times signing…

Rec center reopens

A neighborhood party today from 1 to 5 p.m. will celebrate the grand opening of the newly renovated Hamilton Recreation Center. There’s a new and improved playground, tennis courts and basketball courts — plus a new swimming pool with water slides. The celebration will include food, entertainment and arts and crafts. Hamilton Rec Center is…

Baker & Banker get their bakery

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…

Teens are making a difference

By Sarah Armstrong Teenagers have a reputation for sleeping in, getting in trouble and spending a lot of money. But I know we have the potential to do much more. Now 14 and an eighth grader at Convent of the Sacred Heart Elementary School on Broadway, I have gone to school in Pacific Heights and…

Black Fleece makes an elegant debut

Just in time to present its spring line of linens and seersuckers, the elegant new Black Fleece boutique — a high-end spinoff from Brooks Brothers — opened today. “We’re taking the classic Brooks Brothers look from the 60s and making it contemporary,” says store manager Robert Oren. “Our customers know and understand fashion and want…