Leftovers

Akira Beard is an artist based in the Tenderloin, but that we’ve somehow never met. He is best known for painting layered portraits of pop culture icons with text around them, and awesome images of altered American currency. He teaches at the Academy of Art University and at an art center for elders, and we first saw his work at a show he had last year at the Shooting Gallery. We quite obviously quite liked this piece because the message could very well be our own motto about the Tenderloin, “it drives some people crazy, others can see the beauty in it”. Apparently he even made some t-shirts with it, in collaboration with Bayfitted on Ellis & Leavenworth (we’ll have to investigate that).

While we like the pieces where he uses the portrait of a historical figure or of a celebrity as a base (such as this one or this one), we really like his art with elders series and the sketches he takes of people sitting in cafés.

By the way, do you recognize the person in this portrait? (hint)

San Francisco’s diverse neighborhoods are all packed to the brim with a wonderful and eclectic mix of local owner-operated businesses. It’s these family-run bars and cafés, the chef-run artisanal food shops and the designer-owned fashion emporiums that are at the core of what defines the communities in this world-class city.

Small Business Saturday, held on November 26, 2011, is a day to support independent business owners, help fuel the economy and invigorate communities across the country. It’s in this spirit that we celebrate “small” in a big way with this fun guide to our favorite local spots that make San Francisco what it is. So, put this pamphlet in your back pocket, refill your BART Card and hop around to some of these wonderful restaurants, bars and shops on Small Business Saturday, for exclusive offers—everything from discounts to special gifts.

The guide is interesting because the businesses included in it are offering special discounts or freebies this coming Saturday, and several of those businesses are based in the Tenderloin/TenderNob. We’ll let you browse through the whole guide yourself, but for example you’ll find that farm:table is offering a free 8oz coffee with any purchase, Jones is doing a buy-one-get-one deal between 5-9pm, Kare-Ken is taking 10% off all purchases, and Mike Page Style Lab is taking 20% all products and services, while Public Barber Salon is doing a 15% cut and color.

Some of you might be thinking, “Passion Cafe, why have I heard that name before?” That would be because it’s been in the news a bit, and not in a good way. A little while back, the owner was attacked for no apparent reason, in spite of how he’s been tirelessly trying to be a positive force in the neighborhood and resisting to move to another location. This obviously does not bode well and while some people think that chunk of 6th is just an extension of the Loin, I’d take the old Dottie’s location over 6th Street there any day. Still, given the cool rooftop terrace and the huge increase in seating, with a little more security they could possibly do extremely well. Especially with the new 94 room hotel opening soon just a block up at 7th & Market in the old Grant building.

Undoubtedly, this is just another piece in the puzzle of redeveloping Mid-Market.

Photo of Passion Cafe’s rooftop terrace by bobbydejesus

Neighborhood stalwart and original keystone in the Dennis Leary empire, Canteen has been around for… what, 6 1/2 years already? Apparently Leary decided that it was time to dust off the old green counter and other interior elements. He’s now shifted it to a red counter with plywood paneling and this red light setup you see in the photo above. This has all been done without any closure to the restaurant though as it has been worked on during the day when they’re not serving and on Mondays when they’re not open. Just yesterday when we walked by we saw a lot of activity with several workers busy finishing up some more remodelling.

With all his other ventures going on, you do feel it when Leary isn’t in the kitchen, but it’s good to see that they’re still in business with a packed house just about every night. According to the Inside Scoop, though, Leary is sometimes in the kitchen on Tuesdays and Saturdays when the restaurant serves a prix-fix dinner instead of their usual a la carte menu. Also, as of this week the restaurant will now be serving brunch only on Sundays albeit with extended hours (8-3pm).

It appears the national media lens has descended on our lovely neighborhood. The first business to get no end of attention this holiday season is Hooker’s Sweet Treats. He’s been featured in gift guides in Food & Wine as well as Martha Stewart (yeah, Martha Stewart in the Loin). Then, on top of that he was filmed for the Cooking Channel’s Unique Sweets (shoot pictured above, from Hooker’s Facebook Page).

As they were apparently in the neighborhood, the Cooking Channel hopped a couple of blocks over to cover the newly remodelled Brenda’s as well. Apparently they were on a Southern deliciousness binge.

The episode(s) featuring these two will be airing at some point in February, so stay tuned.

Yes, it is here, the end of Cala Foods which will be December 3rd at 10PM. So, get your 3AM munchie runs in beforehand. We covered this back in June with the fact that a Trader Joe’s is looking to open in the spot. Of course, out front there are public hearing signs for the 15th of December in case anyone was looking to NIMBY shit up.

It’s important to note that they’re gradually selling out of inventory and have already closed off several barren aisles. For the gourmets out there though, if you didn’t get in on the Specialty Mustard section earlier, you’re shit outta luck now.

On November 5th they closed down the space at 441 Jones that we all knew, and a few days later opened the space next door that they had been renovating for the last few months and you can see below. Meanwhile the work is continuing in the original space, which is now closed, and hopefully at the beginning of the next year both spaces will be finished and ready to be fully enjoyed.

So the new Mister Lew’s looks much like the old one, with the same red walls and paintings, but without the pool table, jukebox, or the TV for the Wednesday movie nights. You’ll also note that there are a lot of blank spots for fixtures as the space is still quite stripped down. According to the bartender last night, they haven’t decided on the final concept yet, but it will definitely have a different name and a different look. As to there being a wealth of Sazeracs on the menu? That remains to be seen as well.

I’ve often felt much the same way, although given that I’m often paying taxes, I would probably get screwed if I had to deal personally with the cops. This is in great contrast to those in the neighborhood who rack up 20 warrants before any laws are actually enforced upon them.

By the way, is that a llama wearing a Buddhist robe?

For those who for the last year have been wondering, “Oh, when will Brenda’s start serving in the original half of the restaurant?” the answer is now. Starting yesterday, they’ve fired up the old-but-now-remodeled half finally doubling their seating space, and in the process pretty much disavowed everything we had said previously in regards to the partial move. Now the space is open and free-flowing with a great set of antique mirrors decorating one wall and a cool aged mural on the other. It looks better in the inside and outside, having the whole (historical) building devoted to Southern goodness.

Writing this after having had dinner there tonight we have to say that the new space is coming together quite nicely much like the dinner menu which is falling in to place and laying out some solid plates. We even tried something completely new that we loved: their sweet potato dumplings, which are more like almost sweet ravioli with a heavenly creamy sauce. Oh, and the biscuits and beignets are still solid. Which you now have an excuse to go eat again, as y’all need to go check out the gorgeous new space.