Cortland

Stop! Runaway Car Collides with Wild Side West

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

It’s been a bad week for vehicular control here in Bernalwood. Last Saturday we had a car flip over on Precita, while on Wednesday a runaway car bonked into the sidewalk bench at Wild Side West on Cortland. Neighbor Teri tells it:

My friend took the shot. All I heard was that a runaway ghost car parked in front of BofA just slowly rolled across the street and hit that bench. Through the crosswalk!! It was Wednesday around 5:30.

Looks like damage was light and no creatures were injured, but… WHEW!

PHOTO: Neighbor Teri’s anonymous friend

Back of Liberty Cafe to Become Bistro-Style Outdoor Cinema

/ Todd_Lappin / 19 Comments

Liberty Cafe

As you may recall, last fall the Liberty Cafe on Cortland was purchased by the owners of Vega, the Italian restaurant across the street. Now that the new owners have had some time to settle in, they’re preparing to make some changes to the bakery zone in the back. The food-obsessed Inside Scoop blog has the details:

The front cafe area isn’t changing. It will still serve the Liberty Cafe lunch, dinner and beloved brunch.

But in the back bakery area, there will be some changes. During the day, Liberty Cafe is working with nearby Sandbox Bakery for the baked goods. The bakery is still open with the same hours, but all the goods coming out there are Sandbox’s. (Sandbox’s Mutsumi Takehara is using the oven there for bread, too.)

During the evenings, the plan is to screen movies and serve thin-crust pizzas — almost like an extension of owner Vega Freeman-Brady’s pizzeria (Vega) across the way. They’re putting in heat lamps and new beer taps.

Innnnnnnnnteresting. Baked good from Sandbox during the day, with a smaller-scale Foreign Cinem-type thing happening after dark. All that sounds like a rather tasty combination.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

New Videos from Anda Piroshkis and Big Dipper Baby Food

/ Todd_Lappin / 1 Comment

To be a merchant on Cortland Avenue in 2012 is kind of like being a New Wave band in 1983: Apparently, if you want to get ahead, you’ve gotta have a video.

In that spirit, Anda’s Piroshkis and Big Dipper Baby Food, two tenants of the 331 Cortland marketplace, recently commissioned their own promotional videos, and both businesses turned to filmmaker Justin Jach to get the job done:

Stylish DPT Parking Daleks Arrive on Cortland

/ Todd_Lappin / 20 Comments

I’m not quite sure if this is a symbol of Bernal’s ascendant world-class stature or a sign of the Big Brother apocalypse, but the City’s Department of Parking and Traffic installed two automated multi-space parking meters on the 400 block of Cortland recently — one on the north side, and one on the south.

Oddly, the two machines are different makes and models. And even though the machine on the south side of Cortland (shown at top) is so stylish that it would look right at home in any major Scandanavian design capital, I’m inclined to take its arrival as a sign that the end is nigh.

Newfangled Electric Bicycle Shop Opens on Cortland

/ Todd_Lappin / 14 Comments

Last weekend, The New Wheel opened at last at 420 Cortland. As previously reported, The New Wheel is a newfangled kind of bicycle shop, specializing in electric bikes that effectively “flatten” San Francisco hills — including our own Bernal Hill. The awesome posters inside the store illustrate this idea:

From the New Wheel website:

What should an electric bike be like? It should be easy to operate and maintain, like a bicycle. It should elegantly and seamlessly combine pedal power with a silent, powerful electric motor. It should be practical, designed to match the utility of an automobile. And it should be built of high quality components that will last. The New Wheel sells electric bikes that exceed the highest expectations.

The design of the shop is lovely, inside and out. I dropped by during The New Wheel’s opening party on Friday night, and introduced myself to store owner Brett Thurber:

Mr. Thurber was predictably giddy, and excited to be here at last. He also tells us there will be opportunities coming up soon to witness the hill-climbing power of the products he sells. In the meantime, do stop in, say hello, and check out the wares.

PHOTOS: Posters, by The Real WBTC. All others, Telstar Logistics

Four Star Video is Now Succulence; Succulence is Now Four Star

/ Todd_Lappin / 8 Comments

Four Star Video

Four Star Video was a video store on Cortland that also hosted a plant store called Succulence. Now that’s been flipped around. As of last week, Succulence is a plant store on Cortland that also rents videos:

Like a rice grain and a pinto bean, somehow, improbably, we formed a whole protein with video and plant. Virtual and organic. Entertainment and existence. And here we are; five years later, still renting videos and also offering classes on vertical gardening and terrarium building. And seeds for your vegetable gardens. And lighting for your romantic dinner. And freshly made jams and pickles and supplies. And handmade ceramics and necklaces and belt buckles. And art, both utilitarian and otherwise. And, of course, succulents, small and large, of all colors and types, in a state of joy, waiting to be taken home to nurture and nourish.

The video store? Like Joaquin Phoenix, still here! In September last year, we realized we didn’t need to separately “own” two stores on the same footprint, so we merged the two, and now our entire operation is called Succulence. And currently, Succulence has a huge video rental library, with well over 25,000 titles, and 10-20 new titles every week. Our subscription program (cleverly called Kenflix) allows you to rent without late fees and due dates. Our educated staff helps you to pick out what you didn’t even know you wanted. We still offer the opportunity to browse and touch videos with your actual hands. Yes we are constantly making changes to our layout. We must! Our responsibility is to survive. That is our intention; survival. Our plan is to be in business in Bernal Heights, whether or not we rent videos, sell plants, teach classes, or whatever. We want to be up here, at 402 Cortland, schmoozing with you, our friends, our neighbors, and those of you we have just met, offering some good honest business with care and attention. That is our plan. Thank you for supporting us.

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

Sandbox Bakery’s Spinoff at 903 Cortland Now Open

/ Todd_Lappin / 9 Comments

903 Cortland

903 Cortland

903 Cortland

Tasty news. 903 Cortland, the new spinoff from the tastymakers at Sandbox Bakery, opened this week. The Inside Scoop blog brings the, er, inside scoop:

Now open for breakfast and lunch service (with more soon to come) is 903, a new Bernal Heights eatery from Mutsumi Takehara and her folks at nearby neighborhood favorite Sandbox Bakery. As you may know, Takehara was the pastry chef at places like La Farine, Chez Panisse, Rubicon and for 10 years, the Slanted Door.

Unlike the smaller Sandbox, there’s some indoor seating here, plus a refrigerator case with prepared items. Hours are 8am to 3pm for now. On February 1, Takehara says dinner will begin, with hours extended to 7am to 8pm.

Click through to read what’s on the launch menu. Yum.

PHOTOS: Telstar Logistics

An Inventory of Services Offered on the Good Life Bulletin Board

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

For the benefit of potential clients, prospective homeowners, cultural anthropologists, and future archaeologists, Bernalwood presents this comprehensive inventory of services offered via the Good Life Grocery bulletin board, as it appeared on January 7, 2012 at 4:43 pm:

  • Academic Editing (2x)
  • Acupuncture
  • Construction
  • Drawing Lessons
  • Hypnotherapy
  • K-12 Tutoring
  • Pregnancy Counseling
  • Marijuana Addition Counseling
  • Moving and Delivery
  • Prenatal Yoga
  • Salsa Dancing
  • Spanish Tutoring
  • Website Development
  • Writing and Editing

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

The Mysterious New Store at 420 Cortland, REVEALED!

/ Todd_Lappin / 8 Comments

For weeks, mystery has surrounded the newly renovated storefront at 420 Cortland Street. Word on the street was that a tenant had been found. But who?! And what?!

Then, a clue appeared… in the form of a question mark:

Then, weeks later, came… another question mark!

Two question marks! One, containing a bicycle wheel. The other, in the form of an electrical cord. So many questions.

Well, we have answers. Or, at least a partial answer. Or, most of an answer, with a few questions still outstanding. Allow us to explain…

Through the patient hard work of the Bernalwood Signals Intelligence Group, we have learned that 420 Cortland will soon become the storefront for a merchant specializing in the sale of electric bicycles.

Specifically, 420 Cortland will become the new home of the business now known as The New Wheel, which today operates from 782 Columbus Avenue in North Beach. On The New Wheel blog, there is an announcement:

We are in the process of completely re-imagining The New Wheel. Three big changes are afoot:

1. New Location: We are moving to a beautiful 1100 sq. ft. space at 420 Cortland Avenue in sunny Bernal Heights. Mark your calendars for our opening party March 2 and stay tuned for more news and updates!

2. New People:  For the past year, The New Wheel has been run day to day by founder Brett Thurber. Joining Brett for this new expansion is his partner Karen Wiener, along with a full time mechanic.

3. New Products: We will be carrying a growing roster of the best electric bikes available, along with a selection of urban transportation products from the likes of Brooks, Ortlieb, Fjällräven, Rickshaw, Abus, and Burley. Stay tuned for more news!

But wait: What’s an electric bike?

Our research turned up these product photographs, which illustrate the concept:

Also…

Basically, an electric bicycle is a pedal-driven bike that uses a battery-powered electric motor to provide supplemental propulsion when desired — say, when climbing big-ass San Francisco hills. Conveniently, this also explains the riddle posed by the new shop’s teaser website, which asks:

Get it? You put a bike shop on a hill to underscore the fact that you sell a different kind of bicycle.

To flesh out the details of our story, Bernalwood decided to commit some journalism. We telephoned Brett Thurber, the founder of The New Wheel, to learn more of his plans.

Mr. Thurber proved to be friendly fellow, and he took it well when informed that Bernalwood had pierced the mystery of his shop’s main product. But he assures us that he still has some surprises up his sleeve.

For example, he hinted that the shop may get a new name. And that he has some interesting promotional events planned between now and the store’s March opening date. So we’ll have to wait and see. Which is fine.

Then Bernalwood gave Mr. Thurber the lay of the land. We told him that given the nature of his product, there is only one mystery that the residents of Bernal Heights truly want to know:

Do his electric bicycles have sufficient mojo to ascend the fearsome Folsom Street hill??

Can they climb the hill with style and grace?? And, in a matchup against a typical fixie-riding Mission hipster, would Mr. Thurber’s electrically-assisted bicycles defeat said hipster in a head-to-head race to the summit??

Mr. Thurber expressed confidence that his product can both master Folsom Street and vanquish the hipster. We shall see…

TV’s “Portlandia” Could Also Be Called “Cortlandia”

/ Todd_Lappin / 14 Comments

Over the holiday, I discovered “Portlandia” on Netflix (It’s available for Instant View). Two things about the show stood out for me:

  1. It’s wickedly hilarious.
  2. It could just as easily be set in Bernal Heights, if you don’t mind having a few laughs at our own expense.

But what is “Portlandia?” There’s a nice writeup about the show in the current issue of the New Yorker:

“Portlandia” presents a heightened version of [Portland’s] twee urbanity: a company sells artisanal light bulbs, a hotel offers a manual typewriter to every guest, and a big local event is the Allergy Pride Parade. The mayor, played by Kyle MacLachlan, becomes an object of scandal when he’s “outed” as the bass guitarist in a middle-of-the-road reggae band. (The real Portland’s mayor, Sam Adams, who is openly gay, plays MacLachlan’s assistant on the show.) Armisen and Brownstein, wearing anthropologically precise wigs and outfits, portray most of the main characters: bicycle-rights activists, dumpster divers, campaigners against any theoretical attempt to bring the Olympics to Portland, animal lovers so out of touch that they free a pet dog tied up outside a restaurant. (“Who puts their dog on a pole like a stripper?”) Many characters recur, and, because they often seem to know one another, their intersections from sketch to sketch give the show the feel of a grownup “Sesame Street.”

“Corlandia” “Portlandia” is  excruciatingly funny, very spot-on, and highly recommended. Want a preview? Try this:

Bernal Cutlery: A Sharp Perpective

/ Todd_Lappin / 4 Comments

During a recent reconnaissance patrol on YouTube, Bernalwood uncovered this spiffy new video from Bernal Cutlery, the knife shop tucked inside the marketplace at 331 Cortland:

Bernal Cutlery opened for business in 2005 and specializes in all things knife related. Using time-honored Japanese Whetstone grinding techniques—and finishing by hand with a modified version of an old fashioned Barber’s strop—it offers peerless sharpening services, as well as very high caliber new knives, collectable and vintage models, classes in care and sharpening as well as hosting sessions on knife skills.

This approach results in edges that are sharper, longer lasting and produce far less metal removal making for less wear on the knife. As opposed to fast but aggressive dry grinders and belt sanders, which remove unnecessary amounts of metal and are prone to producing enough heat to ruin a blade, often producing ugly scratches and marks in the process. Japanese whetstones not only are the preferred sharpening medium for fine Japanese knives but are superior for all types of cutlery.