If you can’t actually stand atop Bernal Hill at sunset, the next best thing is to look at a 360-degree panorama image taken at sunset from the same spot. This one was taken just a few minutes ago by La Lengua’s uppity chief spokesblogger, Burrito Justice.
Check it out in full Pan-O-Rama-Vision. Meanwhile, if Burrito Justice is still up there, someone should go check his papers…
Are you a oenophile? Do you know someone who is a oenophile? Or do you simply enjoy saying the word “oenophile?” If you answered in the affirmative to any of these questions, you’ll be glad to know that the folks at Liberty Cafe are opening a new wine bar next week.
From Grub Street:
Cozy up, Bernal wine-os: On February 1, theLiberty Café (401 Cortland) is re-launching its wine bar in the carriage house out back, called the Liberty Wine Bar, serving snacks, charcuterie, and small plates as well as a selection of fine wines from around the world. Also, as a generous introduction to their wine list, they’re hosting two free wine tasting events on Thursdays in February.
Grub Street also has a copy of the menu and wine list, right here.
Amid all the predictable (if tedious) gnashing-of-teeth one hears about the transformation of Bernal Heights from the working class enclave it was a few decades ago to the middle class oasis it is today, it’s nice to find some pockets of downmarket freakishness that are still rough-around-the-edges, despite the passage of time.
Here’s a good example: The Skull House, midway up the hill on Folsom, on Bernal’s north slope.
Images by Telstar Logistics
Over on the Bernalsafe mailing list, there’s been a flurry of chatter for the last few days about a rash of muggings (and attempted muggings) that have taken place recently along the Tompkins Street corridor, just south of Cortland. Most of the crimes seem to involve well-organized groups of goons who operate in coordinated pairs from opposite ends of the block to entrap potential victims from multiple angles of attack.
One commenter posted an account of one such incident last week, along with some useful tips on how to avoid becoming a victim yourself. (Hint: YELL!) Republished here by permission:
I’m writing both in response to the recent post re: Almost Mugged and to alert you to an on-record mugging this past Saturday night, 1/22.
I — and my neighbor who was mugged — live on Prentiss, between Tompkins & Jarboe Streets.
My neighbor got off the bus on Cortland to pick up something @ the JC Super on Cortland/Ellsworth. Walking home from Cortland (Cortland / Folsom / Jarboe / Prentiss) he was followed by a group of 6-8 young men between the ages of 18-23. He was unaware that they were following him until they jumped him, mid-block on Prentiss.
Like the other poster, the group was split into twos — all walking separately, but coordinated; easy to miss if you’re not really paying attention.
They followed him to Prentiss street, grabbed him, beat him on his body & face, and took his cell fone. His wallet, in his front pocket, was left on his body b/c when he fell to the ground, his body hid its location. Only when he bit the arm of the man who was holding him around the neck from behind, was he able to scream for help.
His housemate heard his screams from down the street, and came running. I heard him from my bedroom, which was directly across the street, and I called 911. The group split up and ran in every direction. I stayed on the fone w/dispatch while 2 police cruisers arrived quickly. Dispatch also sent an EMT — which eventually took him to the hospital for stitches over his eye and a scan to confirm no broken facial bones.
Oddly, he was actually mugged in front of several houses that have very bright motion-sensor lights.
Bottom line: Be safe. Don’t walk alone if you can help it. Be aware. Do not walk while on your fone /checking email, etc.
My neighbor does not have life-threatening injuries. He will be OK. But the trauma — facial injuries and emotional — is heartbreaking.
The police told us (me and a few neighbors who came out) that there have been a number of these coordinated muggings lately (here in Bernal Heights, the Mission, and other neighborhoods), and that it’s really hard to catch them w/out physical identification. Many of them have a “get-away” car just a few blocks away and use their cell phones to arrange pick-up.
Tip from the police: If you are mugged/attacked, or see something suspicious, ACT. Scream, yell, run. Get a look at their SHOES; they spend $ on their shoes and will not “drop” or leave them as they flee from a crime; they WILL drop identifiable clothing — hats, jackets/hoodies/vests — as they run.
Image: Crime map for the week of January 17, 2011, from San Francisco Crimespotting
Yesterday Brady Lea captured the improbable perfection of the balmy January weather we’ve enjoyed during the last few days. If only it was this balmy in July!
Have you seen this man?
Last week the SFWeekly ran an article about Kelli Christensen, a woman who is searching for her father. Her dad, Marty Christensen (shown above), is homeless and has been out of contact for decades. Now an anonymous tipster wrote to Bernalwood to suggest that the missing man may have taken shelter around Bernal Heights:
I live in South Bernal Heights and recently connected two things together. Mainly, my dog’s favorite stranger is a man we know as Marty that we regularly see in the neighborhood and interact with. You can imagine my surprise when I saw his name in the SFWeekly.com and several photos of him. Evidently, he is homeless and his daughter is still looking for him.
I have seen him many times in the past two months near the Alemany Farmer’s Market and Bayshore Smart and Final. I am sure many people in Bernal Heights will recognize him right away as a friendly guy that says hello. He is always looking dapper and hardly fits the description of a homeless man with a drinking problem like it says in the article. For this reason, this charming man named Marty Christensen may be hiding in plain sight!
If you could, please have neighbors help find him, and, if they do, have him call his daughter. I texted her on January 20th, 2011 to tell her the news, and she asked me to reach out to locals in South Bernal Heights. She will be back in February to follow up in the neighborhood.
Kelli Christensen’s telephone number was published at the SFWeekly as (559) 312-7264.
Thanks to Randy Antin, for sending the photo along.
Although this song has nothing to do with Bernal Heights per se, there’s something about it that seems congruent with the spirit of our neighborhood — precisely because it also runs contrary to the spirit of our neighborhood.
Written and performed by an earnest singer-songwriter, the tune describes his surprise at finding automotive salvation, kindness, and human connection at a WalMart in a remote corner of Texas. It’s a story of stereotypes defied and gratitude expressed, which is a feeling that I suspect that many in Bernalwood will understand first-hand.
Our friends at CurbedSF have posted a revealing interview with Burrito Justice, the chief spokesblogger and armchair insurrectionist for La Lengua, the uppity “microhood” that lies in the ambiguous flatlands at the foot of Bernal’s western slope.
Tell us something we don’t know about La Lengua? It’s not Bernal Heights. And it’s not the Outer Mission — that’s next to Daly City. And it’s not Noe Valley, despite all the strollers. La Lengua is like New Jersey or Korea — trapped between bigger and more famous neighbors, but scrappy, proud and resourceful as a result.
Bernalwood comes in for some impudent prodding, which we will haughtily tolerate as the kind of thing we must haughtily tolerate (because we are more glamorous):
Bernalwood is kind of a pain in the ass — while we are doomed by topography to live in their shadow (at least in the morning), we do like drinking with them at night.
But here’s the real news flash: The La Lengua Land Grab is not yet finished:
We are in an expansionist welcoming mood for huddled blocks yearning to be free — southern Mission, eastern Noe, western Bernal, give us a call.
Shocking! Paging Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon… please pick up the red crisis phone!
You eat local. You eat slowly. You buy organic food. If all that is good for you, isn’t it reasonable to assume the same is true for your pet as well?
In the food section of Wednesday’s New York Times, writer Samantha Storey described the latest bourgeois-foodie obsession: Home-cooked food for dogs and cats.
And buried farther down in the story was a local wrinkle involving Bernal’s own Avedano’s Holly Park Market:
Since the fall, the butcher shops Marlow & Daughters in Brooklyn and Avedano’s Holly Park Market in San Francisco have been selling pet food made from grass-fed meat raised on nearby pastures. Melanie Eisemann, an owner at Avedano’s, said the store’s custom mix of ground meats, organs, vegetables, garlic, eggs, parsley and yogurt sells for $3.25 a pound. Avedano’s also reports a robust trade in marrow bones, many of them bought as snacks for dogs.
Ms. Eisemann said customers say that they like knowing the source of their meat, whether it will ultimately be served on the table or on the floor. Entering the pet food market has also been a boon for the business, since Avedano’s, like Marlow & Daughters, is a whole-animal butcher where no part of the beast goes to waste.
Hat tip: Noe Valley SF. Photo: Telstar Logistics
A Little Yumminess is a blog about ” experiences as moms pursuing a passion for eating and cooking & sharing food adventures with our kids.” Said moms visited Cortland recently, and came away with happy bellies:
A highlight of a recent adventure to Bernal Heights with my friend Rachel and our little ones, was one of the best sandwiches in recent memory at Sandbox Bakery. Check out this beauty: whole wheat roll with toasted hazelnuts, thick cut smokey bacon, roasted tomatoes and arugula. Can you say yum? In addition to this epic BLT we sampled a chili dog (one of their other sandwiches du jour), and of course some sweet treats including a cupcake with passionfruit buttercream. Big thumbs up from us moms for their excellent coffee and espresso drinks as well. The shop is tiny making it a little challenging as a sit-down lunch stop with kids. There are just a few stools inside and strollers definitely get in the way. If you get lucky, there might be a spot on one of the benches out front.
Danieli doesn’t put it quite that way, but Bernalwood is quite confident that’s what she meant:
Perhaps motivated by a drive to prop up the bee populations decimated by colony collapse disorder, beekeeping has become popular in cities worldwide. We visit one San Francisco beekeeper who keeps her hive in a Bernal Heights backyard where she escapes once a week to check on her colony. For Alexandra Danieli, beekeeping is part meditation and part fascination with a magical world of GPS, honing pheromones and group intelligence.
Someone posted a rather impolitic question on Quora, one of those crowdsourced online question-and-answer services:
I’m not going to touch this one — because a) I’m a hetero guy, and b) I spend more time at El Rio than Wild Side West, and c) I wasn’t aware of the stereotype. (“Dang, I thought the lesbians lived on Valencia!“) But hey, if you’re feeling game, feel free to answer either at Quora, or in the comments here.
Bernalwood 