One-Man Kitchen: La Fusión Shines In San Francisco’s FiDi February 22, 2022 When Eduardo Bonilla opened La Fusión in San Francisco ten years ago, he was coming off a fifteen year stint at Zuni Café, Judy Rodgers’ venerated Market Street eatery. It would be his first restaurant, and here the chef … Read the rest
More To Love: Four New Pizzas At Tony’s Pizza Napoletana February 17, 2022 There are a lot of good things about North Beach, and as regular readers know, I spend a fair amount of time enumerating the neighborhood’s virtues here on the blog. I’ve been here for a decade and a half now, … Read the rest
Local Photographer Markelle Palombo Takes A Higher Profile February 8, 2022 North Beach is a neighborhood that has long been known for its creative types, and happily that hasn’t changed too much. Even after the retail shakeout of the last couple of years, we’ve still got storefront galleries–with more apparently on … Read the rest
Vintage Posters: The Old Things Are The Best Things January 31, 2022 I love old things. Looking back, it seems like I always have. My mother loved antiques, and spent a good part of her life buying and selling them for a living; she was a picker, in her words, and didn’t … Read the rest
People’s Choice: Sotto Mare Number One On Yelp In San Francisco December 14, 2021 In 2007, roughly one year after I moved to North Beach from Lower Manhattan, Sotto Mare opened its doors on Green Street. They chose a busy location, directly between the street’s two most storied watering holes, Gino & Carlo and … Read the rest
Thanks To The SFIAC Foundation, North Beach Flies The Tricolore Afresh November 30, 2021 As much as any neighborhood in San Francisco, North Beach has undergone vast, often disruptive changes over the years. Between soaring rents and bust-and-boom business cycles, we’ve seen it all here. Despite all that, when you talk to locals about … Read the rest
Pitch-Perfect Peruviano: Eddy Bonilla of San Francisco’s La Fusion October 27, 2021 Every once in a while you come upon a restaurant and a chef that reminds you what it’s all about. In July, I wrote here about one such chef, the remarkable Eddy Bonilla of La Fusion, who has been … Read the rest
The Wines of Friuli Venezia Giulia: An Event Tailor-Made For North Beach October 6, 2021 After suffering through one of our coldest summers in years, this month San Franciscans are rejoicing at the return of sunshine and warm weather. Our long-awaited Indian Summer has arrived––and for the most part, crowds seem to be following suit. … Read the rest
Instant Classic: The Cars And Friends Of North Beach Car Show September 28, 2021 After one of the windiest, coldest summers in years, fall is finally here, and Indian Summer has returned to San Francisco. It was a quick transition, and as if to demonstrate just how backwards our weather can be, our hottest … Read the rest
Still Smitten: Five Things To Love About Sotto Mare August 25, 2021 When I returned to San Francisco in 2006, fresh from eight frenetic years in New York City, I was looking for a place to settle down–a city that I could call home. Initially, I chose North Beach because the people … Read the rest