As I scribble this column, I sift through memories, North Beach memories of course. Let’s consider the majesty of the written word. The old neighborhood has seen both flood a... Read More
At a meeting of the Marina Merchants Association held in October 2012, two possible new tenants for Lombard Street, a pot club and a pet store, were on the agenda. Only one had peo... Read More
A groundbreaking ceremony on November 13, 2012, signaled the beginning of a much-needed facelift for the landmark Metro Theater, which has been a boarded up blight on Union Street ... Read More
I sit in a salon chair as my long hair is slowly unraveled from huge plastic rollers. I have just spent a half-hour under an old-fashioned hooded hairdryer, so that my locks, satu... Read More
Last month in the first North Beach “Sketches” column, I called the old neighborhood “la dolce vita with an attitude.” Yes, Columbus Avenue — resembles Rome... Read More
They’ve put up the Christmas decorations at the Fairmont. That means the tractor beam of the holidays is in full swing. All in all, it’s a captivating sight. One has to... Read More
Has anyone seen Herb Gold lately? The famed writer and überman of letters of Russian Hill hasn’t been seen around his haunts — such as The Crepe House on Polk Street. ... Read More
North Beach is an enclave of Mediterranean ambience overlaid with energetic and adventurous seekers of the good life. In the North Beach rakish bohemian culture there’s alway... Read More
scape•goat \skāp-gōt\ 1. A person made to bear the blame for others or to suffer in their place. 2. Chiefly biblical. A goat let loose in the wilderness after the h... Read More
San Francisco has cultivated such a saloon culture over the years, yet there are very few bars open at 6 a.m. In the Marina, there used to be a few taverns that were open that earl... Read More
Lest readers think this series on the bordellos of San Francisco is never-ending, let me assure them that I am running out of madams and this will be the end of it. Unless, by popu... Read More
Life is unfair,” says my old friend, Tom Constanten, “but once in a while it’s fair in our direction.” I try to keep that in mind when I think of T.C., as the many ... Read More
Our history of the bordellos of San Francisco continues with a few profiles of some of the most fascinating, outrageous, vexing — and do I dare use the word “endearing�... Read More
Page Street has become the bane of my existence where bicyclists behaving badly are concerned. Driving home one recent afternoon, I stopped at a four-way sign, looked all direction... Read More
Those who aren’t aware of essayist, novelist and poet Calvin Trillin and his canonical work on food and the eating thereof are destined to live out their lives in a gastronom... Read More