Ernest Beyl

‘Power lunches’ should return to Original Joe’s in 2021. Photo: Naomi rose
Appetites and Afterthoughts

Debunking the bunk about food and dining

A new year always begs for some nostalgia. We hope you enjoy this column from more relaxed times.
By Ernest Beyl

In case you haven’t noticed, I love writing about food. I love eating it, too. This column is about debunking the bunk about food and dining. For some time now I’ve been keepi... Read More
North Beach Journal

Overheard and observed in the old neighborhood

By Ernest Beyl

Editors’ note: This is Ernie Beyl’s last column, submitted before his passing on April 12, the day following his 90th birthday. Ernie was a treasured contributor to The Marina ... Read More
North Beach Journal

I was so much older then, and I’m younger than that now

By Ernest Beyl

This month, April 11, I’m celebrating my 90th birthday. I hope you agree I’m getting younger all the time. Remember the Bob Dylan line from “My Back Pages”? “Ah, but I wa... Read More
Appetites and Afterthoughts

The sixth annual Ernesto’s: Best of North Beach awards

By Ernest Beyl

Who would have imagined it? The Ernesto’s — six years! These annual Best of North Beach awards have taken on a life of their own. When I started the Ernesto’s, I was just loo... Read More
Appetites and Afterthoughts

Debunking the bunk about food and dining

By Ernest Beyl

In case you haven’t noticed, I love writing about food. I love eating it, too. This column is about debunking the bunk about food and dining. For some time now I’ve been keepi... Read More
North Beach Journal

Only in North Beach: Assets in the old neighborhood

By Ernest Beyl

Readers of these sketches columns may remember I’m bullish on San Francisco — optimistic about its future. And, while I acknowledge the city has problems, I believe they are so... Read More
North Beach Journal

Gourmets, gourmands, voluptuaries, jazz, and my doctor

By Ernest Beyl

Well, here it is February, and I’m still grappling with Christmas — Christmas presents that is. I received a lot of gifts this year. The older you get, the more presents you re... Read More
Appetites and Afterthoughts

An ode to chocolate on St. Valentine’s Day

By Ernest Beyl

Well, soon it will be Valentine’s Day, or St. Valentine’s Day as it appears on liturgical calendars. And I will be out buying a two-pound box of See’s chocolates for Joan, my... Read More
Appetites and Afterthoughts

The spaghetti symposium

By Ernest Beyl

“Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.” — Sophia Loren Isn’t that a great quote? I suppose one could say the same about me. My fondest teenage memories include times ... Read More
North Beach Journal

A plebian gourmand’s glorious dinner party, faux food, table talk, Gino and Carlo at 75

By Ernest Beyl

I’ll be frank here. I seldom dine at San Francisco Michelin-starred restaurants. Nor do I frequent the San Francisco Chronicle’s top-rated selections. Why? It’s because I’... Read More
North Beach Journal

Changes: Good and bad in the old neighborhood

By Ernest Beyl

Yes, our city is changing. but not all the changes are good. Not all the changes are bad, either. And, here in North Beach — one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods — change i... Read More
North Beach Journal

Pho, ‘San Francisco Noir,’ signs of the times, the Grateful Dead, and Alice Waters

By Ernest Beyl

COIT TOWER IS FILLED WITH PHO I used to entertain the not too far-fetched idea that Lillie Hitchcock Coit’s wonderful tower on Telegraph Hill was filled with red sauce piped down... Read More
North Beach Journal

A Bull Shot, me and Julio, and a wig for Halloween

By Ernest Beyl

THE ORIGINAL BULL SHOT Recently I had a yen for a Bull Shot, so I got myself over to Original Joe’s and consulted with bartender Michael Fraser. While preparing one for me — vo... Read More
A & E

Sixty festive years of the Monterey Jazz Festival, and a backward glance at an American art form

By Ernest Beyl

I admit reluctantly i prefer to hear small jazz groups — trios, quartets, sextets — in what we once called smoky nightclubs. That’s the way Stan Getz and the Modern Jazz Quar... Read More
North Beach Journal

Perhaps a compromise on the Piazza St. Francis-Poet’s Plaza plan?

By Ernest Beyl

It was my intention in this sketches column to give readers some positive news on the Piazza St. Francis-Poet’s Plaza, Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s visionary plan to turn a short se... Read More

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