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On this episode of the California Now Podcast, host Soterios Johnson dives deep into some of San Francisco's most celebrated and lesser-known neighborhoods with three expert guests. First, Johnson is joined by Evan Goldstein, master sommelier for the San Francisco Giants. With more than 30 years as a professional oenophile, Goldstein shares some fun on-the-job anecdotes along with his perfect wine and snack pairings at Oracle Park. “Sauvignon Blanc and garlic fries is one of my favorites,” he reveals. “And then, of course, you're going to have one of the renowned tri-tip sandwiches that we do. It's funny how people will freak out [about what to pair it with] if it's a sandwich, but if you tell them it's a steak, “Oh, I'll have a Cabernet with it.” Goldstein also explores San Francisco's diverse wine scene, from trendy wine bars in the Dogpatch to neighborhood haunts in the Inner Richmond. Next, Johnson reconnects with Bay Curious podcast host Olivia Allen-Price. The freshly minted author discusses her new book before getting into some under-the-radar gems in North Beach—including the Dear San Francisco revue. “It's kind of like Cirque de Soleil, but with a San Francisco twist,” she says. “It's a small theater, so you're really close to these people doing amazing tricks with their bodies that just will blow your mind. I went a couple weeks ago and I'm still thinking about it.” The podcaster also tells Johnson where to go for dinner and a show in sunny Potrero Hill. Finally, Johnson talks culinary and cocktails with Lauren Saria, editor of Eater San Francisco. Saria shares a new way to enjoy a beloved city activity: a cable car bar crawl. After that, Saria breaks down her perfect Saturday—brunch spots, taco shops, and vintage stores included—in hippie haven Haight-Ashbury. The professional foodie also points listeners to some noteworthy happy hours and bars downtown, as well as some splurge-worthy restaurants. “In San Francisco, we are so fortunate because we have so many really lovely and special high-end restaurants where you can have a three- or four-hour dinner, and everything will be perfect” says Saria.
We open Part 2 with a discussion on the nature of neighborhood bars. An opportunity arose for John when he left the corporate world. His then-wife, Sommer Peterson, reminded him of his idea to open a bar when she also left the 9 to 5. Sommer researched spots in the general area of Divisadero and stood in lines at City Hall. After scouting a couple other locations, they found the current spot, which looked like it would work. Sommer and John worked out an agreement with the landlord and they got to work building the space out to become a bar. John's childhood friend, Nerius Mercado, asked to be part of this new adventure, and came on as a co-owner, which he remains to this day. Molly Bradshaw, whom you might remember from our episode this season about Mission Bowling Club, was a good friend of Sommer's growing up. Molly knew bartending and also wanted in. The four formed a partnership and signed the initial lease in early 2008. John and I go on a sidebar on Divisadero neighborhood history at this point in the recording. We also delve a little into John's personal history. He lived at McAllister and Masonic as a kid before his family moved, first to the Inner Richmond and then to Anza Vista. We trace some history of the Mini Bar location. When they signed the lease, there had most recently been an artist who lived there and effectively turned it into a live/work studio. Before that, it was a produce market. And before that, according to one patron, it used to be a Black video store run by her dad. Sommer and John had talked about making it a community space and the importance of art that comes from the neighborhood. They talked with neighborhood groups about their plans to get feedback and share their plans. Shortly after signing the lease and starting the build-out, they ran into issues. A neighbor wanted money to drop his protest of their opening, which put the approval of their liquor license on hold. They were forced to stop the build-out while they waited for an ABC hearing in Sacramento. At the time, Mark Leno was SF's rep in the state legislature, so John reached out to his brother to see whether they had any connections. Leno sat on the SF Nightlife Commission then. The very next day, John got a call from ABC to let him know that they would issue a provisional license and work on the build-out could resume. A week later, on Friday, August 15, 2008, Mini Bar opened its doors to patrons. They hadn't yet established a price list, a little hiccup in the face of the enormous task of building a bar from scratch. John asked his partners to call nearby bars and restaurants to see what the market rate was, which pushed the opening back by a whole hour. No bigs. John ends the podcast talking about the importance he places on having clean bathrooms. That's where patrons spend alone time, after all. "Respect them in their alone time, and they'll respect you back," he says. Not a bad way to run a business. Check back next week for Part 3 with Mini Bar's bar manager and one of its two art curators, Erin Kehoe.
San Francisco is a preservation-minded city, but as we hear in this episode, not all parts of the city get the same amount of preservation love. Alum Andrea Dumovich Heywood talks with us about her research into Clement Street, a diverse neighborhood in the city's Inner Richmond area, that is considered the city's second Chinatown. You'll hear what makes this neighborhood vibrant, the few places that have been landmarked, and the case for designating some of the area's intangible heritage. And please complete our quick survey - enter to win a fab Save As mug!
For this episode of The Vinyl Detroit Podcast Interview, Brian spoke to the talented Glenn Donaldson about his recent project's 2021 record Uncommon Weather on Slumberland Records.Recorded in his home in the Inner Richmond neighborhood of San Francisco, Glenn wrote, recorded and performed nearly every instrument on the album. Recommended by Beth Arzy (Aberdeen, Trembling Blue Stars, The Luxembourg Signal, Jetstream Pony) via her Instagram account, Brian instantly fell in love with this medium-fi pop masterpiece.Glenn's current project has been compared to myriad of artists including East River Pipe, The Magnetic Fields, 80s pop, The Bats, Kelley Stolz and even Bruce Springsteen! Brian and Glenn also speak about his prolific song writing output, songs about love and how he's accidentally become an ambassador for Inner Richmond. A musician with a varied music past, Glenn shares how he has always wanted to have a project where the music would be played on the radio. He achieved this with Uncommon Weather, found on various 2021 Album of the Year lists.This episode features extended samples from Uncommon Weather including Don't Ever Pray At The Church On My Street, I Hope I Never Fall In Love, The Biggest Fan, The Record Player And The Damage Done, The Songs You Used To Write and I'm Sorry About Your Life.This interview with Glenn took place on the eve of releasing his best work yet, the flawless Summer At Land's End, out in Slumberland on February 4, 2022. It will surely be found once again on many Best Of lists for 2022. Glenn was a very endearing guest and provided a fascinating look at his music and his approach behind Uncommon Weather.
The Reds, Pinks & Purples - "Don't Ever Pray in the Church on My Street" from the 2021 album Uncommon Weather on Slumberland. With his project The Reds, Pinks and Purples, San Francisco-based singer/songwriter Glenn Donaldson pays tribute to his hometown with his third and latest album, Uncommon Weather. The Inner Richmond district is captured in muted, pastel colors on the album artwork, giving it a nostalgic feel, mournful for the days when it was a reasonable place for musicians and artists to live. Uncommon Weather was self-recorded and mostly self-performed, with Donaldson channeling his hero Dan Treacy of Television Personalities. Read the full post on KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It isn't every episode that we get to learn more about the main character in a book. First of all, if you haven't already read Home Baked, Alia Volz's autobiography about her mom, her dad, and the pot brownie business they had in San Francisco in the 1970s, please do. In this podcast, Alia, who was born and raised amid that booming business four decades ago, dives deeper into her parents' stories, both individually and as a couple. As she does in her book, she sets the stage for her eventual arrival, back when her parents lived and cooked baked goods in a warehouse in the Mission. And then Alia wraps up Part 1 with the story of her birth. Related Podcast Alan Kaufman Part 1 and Part 2 We recorded this podcast outside of Alia's home in the Inner Richmond in April 2021. Photography by Michelle Kilfeather
This Week in Travel – Travel News Podcast. Co-hosts Gary Arndt and Jen Leo SPECIAL GUEST DON GEORGE: Don George is the author of The Way of Wanderlust: The Best Travel Writing of Don George and of How to Be a Travel Writer. Currently Editor at Large for National Geographic Travel, he has been Travel Editor at the San Francisco Examiner-Chronicle, Salon, and Lonely Planet. In addition to writing and editing, he also teaches workshops and leads tours around the world. This Week’s News: What is Travel Shaming? https://traveltomorrow.com/what-is-travel-shaming/ Don George talks about his new ebook, "Wanderlust in the Time of Coronavirus.” Destination San Francisco Don: Restaurants - Greens, Zuni Cafe https://greensrestaurant.com/ http://zunicafe.com/ Jen: Clement Street in the Inner Richmond. Family Travel Hotel Zephyr, Fisherman’s Wharf, Exploratorium, https://www.hotelzephyrsf.com/ Adult travel: Carvallo Point https://www.cavallopoint.com/ Gary: National Parks in the Bay Area Picks of the week: Gary – Starlink - expanded Beta into rural areas - Australia and New Zealand, will change travel over the next several years. Life-changing internet for remote areas Jen – COVID-19 US Travel Restrictions: State-by-State Guide for March 2021 https://www.travelpulse.com/gallery/impacting-travel/covid-19-us-travel-restrictions-state-by-state-guide-for-march-2021.html Don – Autumn Light by Pico Iyer, Long Pedal of the Sea by Isabelle Allende Find Gary: Everything-everywhere.com Don: don-george.com Jen: @jenleo, @bitcuriousmom
Meet Rob Lam, a Vietnamese-born chef making his mark with authentic cuisine from his homeland at the new kid on the block Lily at 225 Clement St. in San Francisco’s Inner Richmond. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Adrienne L. Wiley is the founder and lead designer for Frolick Jewelry. She launched Frolick in 2004, from a desire to create a collection of jewelry that was vintage inspired but contemporary and effortlessly chic for women of all ages. Adrienne initially learned to make jewelry as a hobby at age 15, but rekindled her interest years later after taking a class at a local bead store. In the beginning she made her designs at the kitchen table and sold them to friends and family. Six months after launching the line, Wiley decided to leave her job at a Fortune 500 company to pursue Frolick Jewelry full time. She spent the first year traveling around the country participating in shopping events and searching for premiere retail locations to carry the line. The line garners the attention of publications such as WWD, Lucky, Marie Claire, In Touch, SF Chronicle, and more. Celebs also love the line. Hollywood A-listers, including Chelsea Handler, Rachael Zoe, Mariah Carey, and Serena Williams, have been spotted wearing Frolick. Adrienne is also the owner of Covet, a jewelry and gift boutique opened in 2009 in SF's Inner Richmond neighborhood. Most recently, Wiley wrote Adventures in Wholesale, a book dedicated to helping emerging designers navigate what they'll encounter while building a wholesale business. Adrienne hops on the podcast to discuss leaving her day job, how she cultivated all her wholesale accounts, and the future of retail in this global pandemic. For show notes: https://www.girlgangcraft.com/podcast-ep-11 Level Up Academy: https://www.girlgangcraft.com/levelup Ampjar: bit.ly/Ampjar
In his book, San Francisco: Year Zero, Lincoln Mitchell ties together threads of the Giants, punk rock, and the political upheaval that hit the city in November 1978. In this podcast, Lincoln talks at some length about those three topics: baseball, counterculture, and the assassinations and their aftermath of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. If you missed Part 1, please go back and check that out. We recorded this podcast at Blue Danube in the Inner Richmond in January 2020. Photo by Jeff Hunt
Lincoln Mitchell's family came to San Francisco from New York City in the 1970s. In this podcast, Lincoln talks about growing up in the city and being a fan of the Yankees and the Giants. He discusses how he came to love baseball, his family's and his own sense of politics, schools he went to here, and both the differences and similarities between New York and our city. We recorded this podcast at Blue Danube in the Inner Richmond in January 2020. Photo by Jeff Hunt
In this last podcast of Season 2, Chloe Jackman talks about various office and service jobs she had before she was inspired and able to pursue her photography full-time. She also talks about the realities of being a working artist in San Francisco, especially when it comes to renting. If you missed Part 1, please go back and listen. Michelle and Jeff will be taking a few weeks off as they prepare for Season 3. We'll be running some favorite episodes from Seasons 1 and 2 in the meantime. Season 3 will launch on Jan. 11, 2020 with a show and art opening in SoMA. Please save that date and stay tuned to Twitter and Instagram for more info coming out over the next several weeks. We recorded this podcast at Chloe's studio in the Inner Richmond in October 2019. Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
Chloe Jackman grew up all over San Francisco. In this podcast, she takes us on a journey through several different neighborhoods she lived in and schools she went to. After high school, she lived in Santa Barbara long enough to graduate and realized how good we have it here in the Bay. Check back Thursday for Part 2, our final podcast of Season 2. We recorded this podcast at Chloe's studio in the Inner Richmond in October 2019. Film photography by Michelle Kilfeather
We at Kinktra In The Raw VOTE Siouxie Q for president, in this episode this most phenomenal woman takes us all to school as she addresses the dangers surrounding SESTA -FOSTA and brings to the forefront a broad range of topics such as transgender issues, sexuality, politics, and pornography. She shares her journey into the adult industry but most importantly her passion for raising awareness for the rights of sex workers, sex educators, and the overall sex industry. Siouxie currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee and continues to write, perform, and fight for sex worker’s rights at the local, state, and national levels. So grab a pen and paper take notes and be aware of the current injustice taking over our now highly suppressed nation. About Siouxie Q In 2010, Siouxsie Q left her retail job and began dancing at The Lusty Lady Theater, a unionized peep-show in San Francisco. Shortly after, she began her career as a sex worker while living in Inner Richmond, commuting to an apartment in East Bay to conduct business. Initially using the Internet primarily as a marketing tool, Siouxsie has stated that podcasts have "really transformed how I do business." By 2012, she had settled into her career and, at the urging of her boyfriend, began a regular, biweekly podcast as a way to speak out against California’s Proposition 35, Measure B. Originally called, “This American Whore,” the podcast’s name was eventually changed to “The WhoreCast” after a dispute with "This American Life," the public radio program. After the passing of Proposition 35, the podcast was expanded to cover a broad range of topics. In 2013, she was featured on CNN after organizing an Obamacare registration drive dubbed the “Healthy Ho’s Party.” The event, designed to encourage sex workers to enroll in newly established insurance exchanges, was declared a success, with nearly 40 attendees filing enrollment paperwork. Keep Up With Siouxie Q IG : @siouxsieQmedia @Therealwhorenextdoor Twitter: @siouxsieQMedia @IllReputePod Snap: @realwhore Www.fancentro.com/therealwhorenextdoor Www.thewhorecast.com
From the 1870s to the 1890s, horse racing drew crowds to what are today blocks of Inner Richmond homes.
Reviewing the Irish bars of the Inner Richmond along Geary Boulevard, from Ireland 32 to The Blarney Stone. Plus, fond memories of Pat O'Shea's.
A strange Greek revival building in the Inner Richmond was once home to a powerful political organization.
The story behind the wide streets and stately houses of Jordan Park in the Inner Richmond
In Episode LIV, Kolsky and Bonta ignore their ordinary mandate to talk about national issues and go hard on the Bay Area sports scene (which admittedly has been popping up in the big time headlines lately). The Giants won the World Series, the 49ers are in a strange state of organizational turmoil, and a particular couch in the Inner Richmond district may very well soon be literally tossed out the window… This podcast comes to you LIVE (to tape) from Bonta Hill Studios, in between the Warriors beating the Rockets and Bernard Hopkins losing to Sergey Kovalev -- you'll love their topical commentary on sporting events that are more than 24 hours old!! Enjoy!
The Affordable Care Act and the cancelation of millions of insurance plans, the Oakland Interfaith gospel Choir, the "world's best turkey sandwich" in San Francisco's Inner Richmond, and local musicians The Nightingale Trio.
Talking about the Richmond District's Big Four cemeteries around Lone Mountain, the resting place for San Francisco's dead from the 1850s until their removal in the 1930s.