Author: Todd_Lappin

Off the Hill: Best Cheap Eats in the Mission, Carnival Parade on Sunday, Beach Chalet Blues, and a Market Street Makeover

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It’s time for Bernalwood’s Friday buffet of warmed-over nibbles from around The City:

The 20 Best Dishes Under $10 in the Mission  (7×7 via MissionLoc@l)

Design Unveiled for New SFMOMA Addition (SF Chronicle)

Don’t Forget the Carnival Parade on Sunday Morning!! (FunCheapSF)

Let’s Roll: Best San Francisco Food Trucks of 2011 (SF Weekly)

The Odyssey of the Original Beach Chalet at Ocean Beach (The Richmond Blog)

Planning Underway to Make Market Street Not Crappy (Streetsblog)

PHOTO: Carnival 2009 in the Mission, by Telstar Logsitics

Indie Rock Star or Bernal Heights Civilian?

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An analysis of the photos from that recent Bernal Hill video shoot by The Cool Ghouls and some other pictures in the Bernalwood Flickr Group prompted an important insight: Bernal Hill can make anyone look like an indie rock star.

Consider: The photo above shows The Cool Ghouls, a San Francisco music group. The Cool Ghouls have a myspace page, which means they are ACTUAL indie rock stars.

Now, for comparison’s sake, consider that all the people shown below are NOT indie rock stars (as far as we know) — but they look like it anyway.

Bernal Heights

bernal heights park II

beacon-ing

Sophie Isabelle Iribarren

A Hollywood Moment at Avedano’s

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old neon
Roll cameras! Lights! Quiet on the set! Aaaaaannnd ACTION!

Reader Otto of the Bernalwood Intelligence Agency wrote in to report that a fancy-schmancy camera crew was filming on location at the fancy-schmancy Avedano’s butcher shop last night:

I just walked by Avedano’s Meats, 235 Cortland, and there is a film crew there, right now, well 5:40pm or so. Sign outside says “you agree to be filmed…” for The Cooking Channel/Lion Television. There is a rental RV parked out front with production people lounging around. The nice lady at the corner shop next door says it is a London-based cooking show, they are filming all over town, they were filming in Chinatown earlier today, and they’ve been at Avedano’s for a while. That’s all I know – pretty exciting stuff, eh?

Yes! But then again, perhaps we should be used to this sort of thing by now, with so many food celebrities setting up shop our neighborhood, eh?

PHOTO: Gail Williams

New Street Art Outside Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack

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Street Art by Haculla

Street Art by Haculla

Street Art by Haculla
There’s some new street art to ponder while you wait for your pasta at Emmy’s Sapghetti Shack, across from the Taoist Safeway.

We’re told that both pieces are by l’artiste qui s’appelle Haculla, and both were commissioned by Emmy herself.

If there’d been one of those dorky Facebook thumbs-up “Like” buttons on the side of the building, I definitely would have pressed it.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Cheerful Bernalwood Bobos Fear Exile to Sunset District

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Hey brother, do you happen to have an affordable 1 BR apartment for a cosmopolitan couple in need of a glamorous address? Homemade signs posted to Bernal Heights utility poles are practically a form of local folk art, and Going West spotted this gem:

Bernal Heights is where everyone wants to be. Saw this sign posted on a pole on Cortland and in some other places around. You’d think it was impossible to find a place to live here.

Here is a contrast-enhanced detail for the small print-challenged. Also, new Bernalwood slogan: “SAVE US FROM THE SUNSET!!!”

PHOTO: Going West


An Old Plan to Build a New Tunnel Under Bernal Heights

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Along time ago, in the office of a city planner far, far away, a plan was hatched to solve San Francisco’s traffic problem.

The year was 1928, and the San Francisco Traffic Survey Committee had mapped out a vision for the future that involved widening selected city streets to adapt them for use as major arterial throughfares.

Bryant Street in the Mission was to become one such proposed artery; it would carry much of the traffic traveling between South of Market and the Peninsula via Bayshore and San Bruno Avenues. But how would all those vehicles get from Bryant to Bayshore (and vice-versa)?

Why, through the Bernal Tunnel, of course!!

Look closely, and it’s right there: A short tunnel running under present-day Franconia Street to whisk motorists through layer upon layer of our beloved Bernal Hill chert. One end of the tunnel would open roughly at the intersection of Holladay and Faith, and the other would disgorge traffic at the site of what is now that weird triangle-shaped gas station at the junction of Precita, Bryant, and Cesar Chavez.

Notice the other plans in store too. Like, for example, completing the street grid across the top of Bernal Hill via a much straightened-out Esmerelda Avenue (presumably after much of the hilltop was quarried and flattened). GENIUS! No Bernal Hill Park! No unseemly wildlife! No feral radish! Just a few dozen more homes, and a much more tidy drive around the neighborhood… all in the name of Progress.

PHOTOS: Unedited version of 1928 map via the ever-fabulous Eric Fisher

Some Lovey Dovey on the North Slope

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A North Slope voyeur sent us a tale and a photo of avian romance:

Lovey Doveys were out today. This pair nests here every year, sometimes right in the flower pot, but I’ve not seen this kind of a show before. Those darn birds were at it for hours and hours while I worked in the room next to that deck.  I definitely will have to scrub that table. Yuck.

Now sing along!

Lovey Dovey

I said you’re the cutest thing that I’ve ever seen
I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

I tell you that I love you and you ought to know
I love the way your father slammed the back door
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

I get a high when you kiss me and I’m on the ceiling
My knees get weak, my heart beats, my head starts dreaming
I love you pretty baby, place no one above
Give it up, IYou’re the cutest thing that I ever did see
Love those peaches, got to have that tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

I get a high when you kiss me and I’m on the ceiling
My knees get weak, my head starts dreaming
Give it up, I just can’t wait because

You’re the cutest thing that I ever did see
I really love your peaches, got to shake that tree
Lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

And I’m walking and I’m talking but I feel alright
Said lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind
Lovey dovey, I can’t get you out of my mind

Otis Redding: Lovey Dovey Lyrics
Songwriters: Ahmet Ertegun;Memphis Curtis

San Francisco Declares War on Radish

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Bernal Journal shared this photo taken near the south gate on Bernal Hill.

Though a quiet and seemingly humble foe, it seems our City has been overrun by marauding hordes of feral radish. To combat the Radish Menace, park maintenance officials today reached for the nuclear option.

Sources tell Bernalwood that in closed-door meetings, Fleet Admiral Alice Waters had vehemently opposed this proposal. Instead, Waters favored the use of a counterinsurgency technique that she called “The Salad Strategy.” But in the end, her plan was overruled.

Meanwhile, Bernal Journal is not pleased:

PHOTO: @bernaljournal

Cool Ghouls Film “Oh California” Music Video on Bernal Hill

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Last week it was glamorous fashion shoots, and this week it’s music videos by the hipster undead…

San Franciso’s Cool Ghouls recently filmed a video for their cute song “Oh California” on our rapidly-browning hill, and the finished product is a lot of fun to see. There’s no embed for the finished video via the band’s Facebook hoo-hah, but by all means watch it right here. To grab the music, download the free Cool Ghouls EP.

PHOTOS: Kate Shay

Three Recent Bernalwood Mysteries, Now Solved

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One of the most fun things about editing Bernalwood has been watching the speed and (collective) intelligence of this blog’s readership. Simply posing a question or highlighting an unknown usually results in someone chiming in with the answer to the question we’ve all been asking.

It happened yesterday, for example, when a Bernalwood reader quickly provided an explanation for Sunday morning’s police activity on Coleridge. It also happened a few other times recently, but you might have missed the updates if you weren’t following the comments. So let us now highlight some useful knowledge provided to us by the BIA (Bernalwood Intelligence Agency):

MYSTERY 1: What was Tony’s Trade Winds?

Toni's Trade Winds

What’s the story behind the old sign on Cortland, and the business it once advertised? Reader Patrick D says it was a breakfast joint, and he paints a vivid picture:

In the early 80′s we dropped in twice or three times for breakfasts. Hearty, solid, with some fine banana pancakes, known as a specialty. Was open, as I remember it, only intermittently – maybe only in the mornings? Inside felt like an old Provincetown Cafe I used to go to in the 60′s: low ceiling, wooden tables, wooden chairs, cups continually refilled with hot, boiled coffee.

MYSTERY 2: What is the Proposed Name and Business Plan for the New Cannabis/Coffee Shop at 3139 Mission Street?

3139 Mission Street

What will they call the proposed new dispensary/coffee shop? And will it really be like a coffee shop in Amsterdam? According to Reader L, a board member with the nonprofit that will operate the dispensary, the facility will be called “Herbal Mission” and it will be much less fun than Amsterdam:

To clarify alot of misconception the proposed [medical cannabis dispensary]/coffee shop at 3139 Mission st will not be one entity. The coffee shop will occupy the front of the building creating a storefront with outdoor seating for people to enjoy high-end coffee and pasteries and in no way will serve any cannabis products. The MCD will occupy the back of the building and have a seperate entrance from the coffee shop and only qualified patients will be able to enter the Dispensary. The Dispensary will not allow any smoking or vaporizing on site.

MYSTERY 3: What Will Become of Al’s Cafe Good Food?

Al's Cafe

The elderly sisters who ran Al’s recently closed down the venerable cafe, and a sign in the window says the place will be back under new management. What does that really mean? Reader Otto was on the case:

We walked by there a week or two ago while a cleaning crew was working on the place, and the new manager was standing outside talking to someone. After getting over our shock at the place being closed and the front window display being empty, he told us that Jean and her sister had sold the place to someone who worked there, he’d be managing it for the new owner, and they planned to fix it up and clean the space top to bottom. They said they might eventually try to open for dinner and add some new equipment to expand the menu, but mainly they plan to keep it a diner with the same low prices. We’ll see…

Thanks to one and all for your memories, your insight, and your gumshoe sleuthing. Bernalwood is community-powered, so you are encouraged to chime in anytime with tips, breaking news, or oddball photos of sightings of strange things in the neighborhood. Either use the comments, or our direct email hotline at <bernalwood *at* gmail *dot* com>. Thanks!

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

Documenting the (Lost?) Blues Scene at Skip’s Tavern

/ Todd_Lappin / 24 Comments

This is the trailer for Joshua Weaver’s a documentary-in-progress about the now-silent Skip’s Tavern on Cortland Street:

From the outside, Skips Tavern looks like any working class bar. Slightly out of place in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood of Bernal Heights, Skip’s Tavern is a vestige, a throwback to an earlier version of this community. This place is well established and has a large following. In fact any night of the week the place is jamming. The flavor is blues, pool, and cheap drinks, and it attracts a diverse crowd.

The Tavern is a movie about Skips. We visit, listen to the music and mingle with the patrons’. Also we will look into why this place exists, what has made it work the way it does, who made this happen, and why it attracts such a cross section of the San Francisco community. We will hear personal stories and through this we will find out about the man named Regi, who passed last year. We will find out about his legacy, and why he is missed so much that there is now a permanent altar to his memory across from the small stage.

We will also hear about the struggle with the neighborhood. As the area gentrifies, Skip’s has had troubles with noise complaints.

At end we will have a deeper under standing of this cultural icon, the people who built it, and those who will keep it going. We will see Skips as a model for society, a place where people so easily look past differences to come together for the love of music.