Resolute wine bar san francisco

More than two years after Bar Agricole temporarily closed its doors, owner Thad Vogler is finally ready to debut his celebrated San Francisco bar at its new home in the Mission District. Bar Agricole, now at 1540 Mission St., opens on Wednesday, Aug. 3, as a tasting room with a drink menu focused on single-origin spirits. A selection of single-origin whiskeys, gins, vermouths and agave spirits, among others, will highlight Bar Agricole’s new spirit line that’s expected to launch nationally later this year. “We are happy to be a part of the city again,” Vogler told SFGATE via email. “It’s scary but it feels like a privilege not to be taken for granted.” Tucked inside Bar Agricole’s new digs are light-colored wooden booths, wooden floors and a ceiling decorated with wooden panels, with blue light fixtures providing contrast. At the focal point of the tasting room is an aqua-tiled bar where bartenders will work with massive ice blocks for its roster of craft mixed cocktails, from … [Read more...] about San Francisco’s Bar Agricole finally reopens after a two-year closure

It’s been a frustrating couple of months for Jaynry Mak. She's spent thousands of dollars repairing damages made to Dim Sum Corner after back-to-back vandalism and theft this summer. The latest break-in happened on Thursday morning after surveillance footage showed a man smashing the glass entrance and stealing two cash registers. KPIX first reported the story. “Mentally and emotionally, we’re over it,” Mak, managing partner at Dim Sum Corner, told SFGATE. “We don’t look like a business that’s open, and it's had a significant impact on us.” The incident occurred around 2 a.m. on Thursday when a man loitering outside Dim Sum Corner, at 601 Grant Ave., hurled an unidentified item at the door, according to Mak. Mak said when she saw surveillance footage later that morning, she saw that the man paced outside the restaurant for a few minutes before he entered the shop and ran out with two cash registers. Dim Sum Corner, located at 601 Grant Ave., was burgalrized on … [Read more...] about San Francisco Chinatown restaurant Dim Sum Corner vandalized a third time this year: ‘We’re over it.’

Somehow, the Cat Club has stuck around long enough to become as timeless as the music it plays. The raised dancing cage and Whore Alley. The two divided dance floors that work in unison like the brain’s hemispheres. The 1980s and kink nights. The same staff, DJs and colorful regulars who have been doing this for almost 30 years — they’ve become mainstays in an ephemeral San Francisco nightlife culture. But that eclectic consistency only took root after a series of random events. Had it not been for a local chef’s post-jail bar conversation, a forced shutdown, a scrapped grill service, the promotion of a barback to club manager, and a surprise visit from a world-famous new wave band, who knows what alternate timeline would have unwound at 1190 Folsom St. It definitely wouldn’t have been as weird, or bold, or inviting. What began as Cat’s Grill and Alley in 1993, when the South of Market District was dominated by house and techno clubs, dared to be different as it packed hundreds of … [Read more...] about ‘We are the Cheers bar’: The stories behind San Francisco’s beloved Cat Club

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 9 The first time Kevin Sessums walked into a gay bar, he knew he had found his people. Merely a teenager in Jackson, Miss., in the early 1970s, he had used a razor blade to meticulously rearrange the numbers on his driver’s license to gain entry to Mae’s Cabaret. Bars and nightclubs have long served as safe spaces for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and other marginalized people, and for the former Vanity Fair writer who chronicled his childhood growing up in the South in his memoir “Mississippi Sissy,” no amount of effort to get inside was too much. “I experienced a new kind of joy,” says the now 60-year-old Sessums. “I found my tribe. I found redemption. It wasn’t just that I found a place where gay people could be together, but it was a camaraderie that went across socioeconomic levels, gender and racial lines. It was something I didn’t … [Read more...] about After Orlando, focus is to rally around San Francisco’s gay club scene

Little Shucker, a new bar from the team behind The Snug, is replacing The Grove at 2016 Fillmore St. The concept will focus on lower alcohol content — below 20% — across wine, beer and cocktail selections such as spritzes. Little Shucker’s food menu is headed by Adrian Garcia, who formerly worked at Michelin-starred San Francisco restaurants Benu and Quince. With a prime location on Fillmore Street between California and Pine streets, the business corridor is known for its people watching and window shopping. Little Shucker is coming in “ early 2023 ,” according to the San Francisco Chronicle . (SFGATE and the Chronicle are both owned by Hearst but operate independently.) Jacob Racusin, a managing partner at The Snug, sees the approachable bar as “like a Parisian bistro,” because of the large windows that will open up to outdoor seating. “It’s just what a lot of us want these days, especially when you want to enjoy a lighter meal,” Racusin told the Chronicle. “We’re … [Read more...] about New bar Little Shucker from The Snug team to open in SF’s Pacific Heights, focus on low-ABV drinks

San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins is pulling back over 30 plea offers she deemed too lenient for defendants accused of selling fentanyl, marking the most concrete rebuke to date of her office’s previous administration under Chesa Boudin. The Wednesday announcement came as Jenkins announced a slate of new policies intended to clamp down on a drug epidemic that has laid waste to the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood. The directives would amend the prosecutors’ treatment of bail, drug-free school zones and and diversion programming — all potentially boosting the time a defendant remains behind bars. “On my watch, the DA’s office is going to take these cases seriously,” Jenkins said in an interview. “We are dealing with a public health crisis with regards to fentanyl, and no longer are we going to be giving a free pass to people who sell (that) drug in San Francisco.” The plea offer withdrawals and new policy guidelines are all but certain to be blasted by public … [Read more...] about Targeting fentanyl dealers, new S.F. D.A. to revoke plea offers in drug crimes made under Boudin

Cowgirl Creamery is closing its remaining retail presence at Point Reyes Station after 25 years. The Bay Area institution, best known for its selection of artisan soft cheeses like its famous Mt. Tam, made the announcement on Thursday in an Instagram post that said the store at 80 4th St. in Point Reyes Station would permanently close Sept. 5. Pamela Dressler, managing director at Cowgirl Creamery, told SFGATE in a statement that the decision to shutter the cheese shop at Point Reyes Station was a difficult one but also necessary “for the sake of the overall business.” “Point Reyes Station was the home of Cowgirl for many years, and it will always be a cornerstone of our story and who we are, but there have long been challenges with maintaining a retail shop and cheesemaking facility in this location,” Dressler said. “For instance … we are unable to build bathroom facilities and unable to scale Red Hawk production and meet the demands of existing and new consumers. Both of … [Read more...] about Bay Area’s Cowgirl Creamery to close last retail shop, in Point Reyes Station

What, exactly, are the San Francisco Giants doing? Their playoff hopes fading with every error they commit, the Giants had a chance to reset themselves at the trade deadline and start building for next year and beyond. Even though they’re only a few games out of a Wild Card spot, the Giants aren’t contenders in any sense of the word, barring a miraculous turnaround (and playing passable defense). Despite their questionable roster construction, there are some bright spots that would be far more valuable to true contenders. Veteran bats like Joc Pederson and Wilmer Flores who could have helped the lineups of actual contenders. Any number of bullpen pieces with proven track records. Even arguably the best starting pitcher on the market in Carlos Rodon, whose quirky contract option and sketchy injury history may have blunted the return a bit, but still would have brought back a valuable piece or two. (What does it say about the rest of the roster that all those tasty trade chips … [Read more...] about SF Giants’ baffling trade deadline left them in a purgatory far worse than the alternative

Chicken strips chain opens in Oakland, and more restaurant openings around the East Bay The East Bay’s food scene saw no shortage of restaurant openings in July, giving area diners new options for their next meal out. Chicken fingers franchise Raising Cane’s saw lines of fanatics at its Oakland opening . Sushi bars and an Asian fusion kitchen came into the East Bay’s outer reaches, as Berkeley welcomed a cold-pressed juice operation to the always-busy Shattuck Avenue and Oakland received another Ethiopian spot. That’s all in addition to Sarah Kirnon’s new Holder’s House and Snail Bar spin-off Slug in Oakland, both recommended in The Chronicle’s guide to the Bay Area’s best new resaurants . Continue for more on recent East Bay restaurant openings. (And find last month’s edition here .) Gussie’s chef brings fresh cafe to Oakland Museum Town Fare at the Oakland Museum of California campus, originally helmed by Brown Sugar Kitchen’s Tanya Holland , returned under a … [Read more...] about Soul food queen’s latest restaurant debuts in Oakland, plus other East Bay openings

Good morning, Bay Area. It’s Friday, Aug. 5, and the three-day Outside Lands festival starts today in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Here’s what you need to know to start your day. A national public health emergency A week after San Francisco declared a monkeypox state of emergency, U.S. health officials did the same Thursday as cases swelled to more than 7,100 nationwide. The declaration will help free up resources and hasten other measures to combat the virus. “We’re prepared to take our response to the next level in addressing the virus, and we urge every American to take monkeypox seriously and to take responsibility to help us tackle this virus,” Xavier Becerra, U.S. secretary of health and human services, said during a media briefing Thursday. San Francisco is a local hot spot with more than 400 cases reported as of Thursday. California, which declared a statewide public health emergency three days ago, has the second-highest number of cases in the country, more than … [Read more...] about Bay Briefing: U.S. declares monkeypox a public health emergency