Cortland

Yum! Celebrate the One Year Anniversary of 331 Cortland

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

331 Cortland
True confession: It took me a while to clue in to what’s going on at the 331 Cortland food market. It’s basically six gourmet kiosks congregated under one roof, but there’s more to the concept than just fancy food; 331 Cortland also acts as a kind of incubator for budding food entrepreneurs who want to get a start in the business with lower risk and relatively lower cost. They build their businesses, and we get to taste the R&D. Very cool.

331 Cortland is marking its First Anniversary this week, and you can join the celebration during an open house party on Friday evening, April 22, from 6 to 9 pm. There will also be a series of classes and presentations on Saturday the 23rd, beginning at 12 noon. Check out the complete schedule.

Meanwhile, Tablehopper brings a tasty status report on the 331 Cortland Class of 2011:

The one-year mark comes with some changes too as both El Porteño Empanadas and ICHI Sushi are ready to move on from the small business incubator site. El Porteño will focus on expanding their market presence at the Ferry Building and in Whole Foods Markets, while ICHI is busy with their new sushi bar.

Within the space, Paulie’s Pickling and Bernal Cutlery will be expanding their kiosks. Bernal Cutlery plans to offer a larger inventory of knives, and Paulie’s Pickling will increase their sandwich offerings (they’ve already grown from 4 to 12 sandwiches, including “Bernalogna” and beef brisket) and will add new items, like cookies from Debbie Does Dinner and rugelach from Black Jet Bakery. By the way, you can also nab Paulie’s pickles at Whole Foods Market on Haight, Home Restaurant, Smoke BBQ, Lilah Belle’s, The Liberty Café, and a couple local bars (The Dogpatch Saloon, Marlena’s, Stray Bar, and Wild Side West).

PHOTO: Telstar Logistics

Coming to Cortland: Organic Baby Food for Savvy Short People

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

Cortland Avenue offers delicious, gourmet food for omnivores, herbivores, and even canines. But until now, there’s been no place that caters to high-powered babies who need hearty, healthy food to go. You know the type: The kind of kid who will one day roll down the window of his/her Rolls-Royce at a traffic light to politely borrow your Grey Poupon.

Luckily, those discriminating kids won’t have to suffer much longer. If all goes according to plan, Big Dipper Baby Food will open at the artisanal food marketplace at 331 Cortland in late May. From the press release:

Local Mom Claire Hoyt knows how hard it can be to put a freshly made organic meal on the table every night for a small child — she’s been doing so for her son Forrest for the past 18 months.  For hard working parents who want nothing but the best for their precious young ones, Big Dipper Baby Food is poised to serve fresh, organic, and delicious baby food from the Bernal Heights community in a convenient and affordable manner.

Making the transition from her career as an art director with a corporate food and house wares company, Hoyt is pursuing her lifelong dream of being a business owner. Her mother was a chef and always had her own successful restaurants and food businesses. When Hoyt became pregnant, she knew that in the next few years she would be making adjustments in her life to accomplish similar goals. When she came upon the community at 331 Cortland, she and the vendors (Paulie’s Pickling, Bernal Cutlery, Spice Hound) knew it was a perfect match for the neighborhood’s incubator space.

“I’m most excited to get started at 331 Cortland. Big Dipper has been a business plan I’ve had for over a year and having my own business is a lifelong dream,” said Hoyt.

The Bernal Heights community filled with young families is a perfect fit for a quick and healthy stop where Hoyt’s bulk creations of simple purees for infants’ first foods will be available. Purees will include items like Baked Fuji Apples with Sweet Potato, and Roasted Pears and Pineapple.

For babies graduating to the more textured and complex foods, Roasted Parsnips and Apple Mash with Cardamom; Braised Butternut Squash; and Brown Rice Pudding with Mango and Coconut Milk; are sample seasonal offerings.

There will also be selections for toddlers featuring simple classics like Chicken Potpie with some “hidden” super foods. For instance the “cream” sauce in the potpie is a yummy cauliflower and leek puree, and the biscuit topping is made with sweet potato. By sneaking in those extra vegetable servings in a way in which kids crave, parents are also happy.

PHOTO: Quinn, Krisna, and Tommy

Yoga Reading, Yoga Stretching with Alternadad Neal Pollack

/ Todd_Lappin

Writer Neal Pollack wrote “Alternadad,” an all-too-poignant memoir about the challenge of being male and remaining cool even after having a kid. Since he now (presumably) has the whole parenting thing down pat, Pollack’s has turned his attention to yoga, while anointing himself the “Hot Jew of the Yoga Generation.”

Oy. In any event, Pollack’s new book is called “Stretch: The Unlikely Making of a Yoga Dude,” and you can attend a reading by the Yoga Dude himself at Bernal Yoga on Cortland from 7 to 9 pm on Saturday, March 5, 2011.

Interim Mayor Ed Lee Greets the Natives on Cortland Avenue

/ Todd_Lappin / 2 Comments

Mayor Edwin Lee greets merchants in District 9 with Supervisor David Campos

Ed Lee, our City’s interim mayor, went for a stroll along Cortland Avenue with Distruct 9 Supervisor David Campos last weekend, and Sing Tao Daily was on hand to cover the scene:

天氣晴朗，春意盎然。三藩市市長李孟賢昨天展開首次巡街「走透透」的行程，以步行的方式挨家挨戶探訪Bernal Heights社區商家與市民，希望藉此了解民眾需求，作為政府施政與建設考量的方針。據悉李孟賢下一站可能前往訪谷區巡街。

受第9區市參事坎帕斯（David Campos）之邀，三藩市市長李孟賢昨天前進Bernal Heights社區，沿著Cortland大道訪問商家與市民，李孟賢除親切問候外，也向商家們詢問三藩市當局是否有可以幫手改善市況與街道硬體設施的地方，期望能夠在眾人齊心協力下，改善市民生活品質與促進地方小商業的經濟發展。

一路上民眾都向李孟賢的到來表示歡迎，不少人更要求合影留念。喜歡甜食的李孟賢更掏腰包跟一名為學校籌款義賣的小女孩買了5條巧克力棒，表示要與家人分享。

Bernal Heights社區除了住宅外，更是許多小商業蓬勃發展的地區，書店、雜貨店、影碟出租店、咖啡廳、寵物店皆是小本經營模式商家。

李孟賢表示，所謂刺激地方商業，首先就要以行動支持本地店家做起。

這是李孟賢首次以社區為單位進行步行尋街訪問，接下來他的足跡也將擴展到市內其他社區，正在考量的下一個地點為三藩市南面的第10區，有許多華人聚集的訪谷區可能是屆時確切的巡街地點。

UPDATE 9 Feb, 2011: Darcy from Heartfelt on Cortland managed to get some facetime with hizzhonor Mayor Lee during his visit, and sent this photo along. Work it, Darcy!

Photo: Top, Mayor Ed Lee on Cortland, with supervisor David Campos and a typical fashion-obsessed Bernalian, via Mayor Ed Lee’s Flickr account

Yahoo Says: “If You Are Older, Like to Party, But Prefer a Classy Environment, Cortland Ave Is Right for You”

/ Todd_Lappin / 3 Comments

Our friends at Yahoo recently unveiled a new “Local” news page for Bernal Heights. It contains content from a variety of questionable sources that range from the merely dubious (such as Bernalwood) to the inadvertently hilarious.

The latter category includes a recent piece by Maryam Louise, in which Maryam evaluates the bar scene on Cortland Street from the perspective of someone who would probably rather be in South Beach, Miami. The result is an article that reads as if it could have been written by Lindsay Lohan during one of her drinky relapses:

To summarize the bars in Bernal Heights on Cortland Ave in a nutshell, they are geared toward people over the age of 25 that love budget happy hour specials. In addition, these bars close at 2 AM and offer a party animal spirit without the wild bar fights of the Mission District. If you are older, like to party, but prefer a classy environment, Cortland Ave is right for you.

In some neighborhoods, nightlife is hard to find. Bars are scattered throughout the community and make it difficult to browse. Typically, most alcohol drinkers love to move from one bar to the other within walking distance. It is always nice to start at one place that is quieter and then move on to food or dancing.

On Cortland Avenue in Bernal Heights, bar hopping is an easy task to accomplish. Within 2 blocks, there are over 4 different bars to choose from. Sadly, there is not a bar that specifically focuses on being a nightclub seven days a week, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t dancing and dance music playing.

It’s now only a matter of time until Cortland is overrun with Hummer limousines and underage kids waiting in line behind velvet ropes to enter the Stray Bar. But in the meantime, if you see a slightly tipsy young woman in a cocktail dress wandering Cortland in search of a techno beat, approach her gently and ask if her name is Maryam. If she says yes, urge her to call her mom to come pick her up.