North Beach Classic: A Local’s Review Of Sotto Mare I’m a food guy, and as anyone in my orbit can attest, this is nothing new. I’ve always been this way, largely due to my Italian grandmother’s influence. For Grandma, food was the primary activity; when I was growing up, … Read the rest
Respect The Craft: Suiting Up At Al’s Attire In North Beach, a neighborhood that makes dressing down an art form, bespoke fashion might sound like a nonstarter. But for Al Ribaya, custom clothing has proven to be anything but. Al’s Attire, the shop the clothier opened on … Read the rest
Pick A Pair Of Pretty Packards: Local Restaurateur Makes Lucky Find I understand collectors. My mother was a collector, but she had her own name for it: she called herself a “picker.” What this meant for me as a child was a lot of time spent at garage sales, estate sales, … Read the rest
St. Patrick’s Child: One Bartender’s Crooked Path To Tupelo As an enclave that has always been chockablock with bars, North Beach is, not surprisingly, a place where bartenders are held in high esteem. The neighborhood’s barkeeps have an outsized place in our hearts and in our history, as should … Read the rest
Steve Kerr & Family Pay Visit To Al’s Attire Here in North Beach, we see our fair share of celebrities, as one would expect: this is where everyone wants to be these days. But like most San Franciscans, here in the Beach we tend to play it cool in … Read the rest
Limited Time: Dazzle Bar Pop-Up Breezes Into North Beach Tomorrow Everyone is different, but we’ve all got rituals when it comes to looking our very best. Whether it’s a straight-razor shave, a shoeshine or getting your curls blown out, its always good to know we’ve got these things in our … Read the rest
George Chen’s Chinatown: A Walk With The Owner Of SF’s China Live It all started with a phone call last Tuesday morning. It wasn’t a number I recognized, but I picked up anyway. “Joe? George Chen.” A pleasant surprise: I had reviewed Chen’s genre-redefining restaurant China Live in September, and spoken to … Read the rest
North Beach Event: A Crab Feed For The Kids At Salesian Club San Francisco is a city known for its distinct neighborhoods, and perhaps none of them possesses more charm and mystique than North Beach. There have been a lot of reasons posited for our unique position in the public’s imagination, and … Read the rest
Pasta Pop-Up Raises The Stakes In North Beach North Beach has changed a lot over the past 10 years, and there is one thing that is undeniably better than it used to be: the Italian food. Francesco Covucci, along with his partner Pete Fazio, has been a big … Read the rest
Sotto Mare’s Rich Azzolino Dishes On Seafood, His Retail Fish Market In case you’ve been traveling abroad for awhile, there has been a sea change on America’s fine dining scene over the last decade. As the farm-to-table food revolution that started in Alice Waters’ humble Berkeley kitchen at Chez Panisse 46 … Read the rest