LE DOSSIER
The people, places and things you need to know right now
1. CART BLANCHE
The newly published “State Bird Provisions” ($25; Ten Speed Press) gives fans a behind-the-scenes peek at the Fillmore Street phenomenon that caused a stir with its creative small plates served dim sum style. In addition to recipes that unite bold, seemingly at-odds ingredients in dishes such as clam-kimchi stew (pictured), the book shares married chef-owners Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski’s secret arsenal of homemade pantry items that serve as the backbone for such distinctive dishes. statebirdsf.com
2. GOLDEN HAYES
Hayes Valley’s recent influx of fetching food and drink destinations includes
Anina (aninasf.com), a mod-trop cocktail spot with bold Moroccan tiles, chunky pendants from L.A. ceramicist Heather Levine and a floral mural by Argentine artist Lucila Dominguez. For the modern Italian eatery A Mano (amanosf.com), S.F. designer Hannah Collins (Media Noche, Flores) created a high-energy space where diners fork-twirl handmade bucatini underneath a floating wood-slat ceiling structure. Spanish newcomer Barcino (barcinosf.com) welcomes guests with plant-draped metal trellises and Catalan-influenced dishes such as Spanish flatbread with foie gras and membrillo. At Robin (robinsanfrancisco.com), a modern sushi joint by chef-owner Adam Tortosa (formerly of Ink in Los Angeles), inventive nigiri combos such as mid-rare Waygu with shaved frozen foie gras are matched by creative decor: a dripping gold paint treatment by Caroline Lizarraga, an autumnal FireClay tile backsplash and a hieroglyphic bird logo by Jordan Ma.
3. ROOMS WITH A VENUE
Situated in the splashy new downtown entertainment district surrounding the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, the Residences at the Sawyer (thesawyerresidences.com), shown here, feature arena privileges such as preferential access to Kings games and sold-out concerts, and exclusive entry via a residents-only tunnel. In San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood, award-winning Los Angeles design firm Marmol Radziner gave the
Paramount (theparamountsf.com) a reboot worthy of its striking neighbors, the Contemporary Jewish Museum and the newly expanded SFMOMA, including a polished marble lobby with a living wall from Habitat Horticulture.
4. STIRRING RETREATS
Chef David Barzelay and bartender Nicolas Torres, seen above, of Michelin darling Lazy Bear (lazybearsf.com) bring their meticulous, ultra-seasonal food and cocktails to True
Laurel, the duo’s casual Mission Creek hideaway decked in stone, leather and old-growth bay laurel. At Cold Drinks ,a swanky cocktail den hidden in Chinatown’s bustling food emporium China Live (chinalivesf.com), a chic Art Deco-meets-“Blade Runner” interior by renowned design firm AvroKO is the backdrop for inventive scotch cocktails served by waiters in bespoke tuxedo jackets from Al’s Attire in North Beach. In Oakland’s hip Temescal neighborhood,
Roses’ Taproom (rosestaproom.com) eschews the usual industrial brewery aesthetic for a soft palette of apricot-hued walls, smooth ash-wood tabletops, and a teal Fireclay tile backsplash.
5. SHOP TALK
Anthem Menlo Park (anthemsf.com) brings to the Peninsula the same high-end furnishings that made its two Pac Heights shops a regular stop for interior designers, plus numerous lines not found in the S.F. stores, including Mabel Chong jewelry and Brahms Mount linens. In the quiet midcentury suburb of Albany, the coastal-influenced
Morningtide Shop (morningtideshop.com) features products from California designers — nesting bowls by Fort Bragg’s Colleen Hennessey, jewelry from San Francisco’s Honey and Bloom — alongside cookbook signings, tarot readings, and weaving workshops for kids. In Larkspur, HG
the Shed, a classic English greenhouse plunked in front of Marin Country Mart’s Hudson Grace (hudsongracesf.com), brims with flowers, vintage planters and garden tools, including a watering can in the shop’s signature orange.
6. LATHER OF LUXURY
Formed by Herzog & de Meuron alums Victor Lefebvre and Mei-Lan Tan, the new Oakland-based Umé Studio (ume-studio.com) designs functional home goods that double as objets d’art. For their tactile Erode soaps, they teamed with Tonic Naturals to reimagine the sink-side staple as one-of-a-kind sculptural objects, poured and cast by hand into luscious slopes and ridges.
7. HORSING AROUND
As an alternative to busy public barns and extravagant show stables, longtime riders Michele George and Julie Dowling founded the Nicasio
Riding Club (nicasioridingclub.com), a modern equestrian facility and clubhouse that welcomes fellow horse lovers to ride, train and socialize on a serene 38-acre property in West Marin. Dowling, a San Francisco architect whose firm designed interiors for Calistoga’s Solage resort, stripped an existing 4,000square-foot barn down to its structural components, painted the exterior black and converted a storage space into a lounge-like clubhouse where riders gather for wine and cheese.
8. COMMON GROUND
Ever since the Headlands Center for the Arts (headlands.org) moved into two former Army barracks at historic Fort Barry in 1984, the organization has invited artists to reimagine its space. Last month, the center unveiled three permanent artworks as part of the Commons, a new plaza and amphitheater designed by CMG Landscape Architecture, the Bay Area firm that designed SFMOMA’s rooftop sculpture garden. “Welcome Terrace East & West” by Ball-Nogues Studio repurposes a broken concrete driveway as a terrazzo-enhanced promenade. “Wall Space” by Rotterdam designer Chris Kabel uses a building exterior as a screen for commissioned texts and imagery. And “Doubledrink” by S.F. artist Nathan Lynch pairs unwitting couples at a ceramic drinking fountain designed for two.