ONE BLOCK highlights the people and places of a particular block. Modest stipends are available to Dogpatch, Mission Bay, Potrero Hill, Showplace Square, and South-of-Market residents who’d like to profile their block; those interested should contact editor@potreroview.net.
Eastside of Tennessee Street, from 22nd to the Tubbs Cordage Company building
Jaclyne (Jacky) and Michael Recchiuti
Jacky was raised in Honolulu, Oahu; Michael comes for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She moved to San Francisco in 1985; he arrived a year later. “We met through Jacky’s roommate and mutual friend while she was the assistant hotel manager at Campton Place and I was the pastry chef’s at Taste Catering and had my own business making specialty event/wedding cakes,” said Michael. “We didn’t hit it off at first, but I called one day for Laura, her roommate, to hang out and Jacky answered the phone. Something clicked then. I picked her up for an all-day-epic-date and we’ve been together ever since.” They landed in Dogpatch in 2011, attracted by “the community of people.”
The couple own and operate Recchiuti Confections and the Lab Café. Michael is responsible for production and research and development; Jacky is the creative director. “We both ran the café when it was a full service restaurant; now if functions as an event space for our taste Project six-course dinners and a popup space for Feastly,” said Michael. One of the best things about his work is creating “…a food product that brings happiness to the recipient,” he said.
Michael’s grandmother baked wedding cakes for her Italian neighbors. Jacky’s father “was a fearless athlete, played pro-baseball in Hawaii/NY/Japan and retired as a firefighter/fire chief.” A wonderful day for the couple is “actually getting to sleep in a little; hang out with the cats for a breakfast, go for a great long walk to a museum/hear music/see a performance for the day, popping into a friend’s restaurant for a light meal… alternatively cooking for friends and neighbors when we can and hanging out in Dogpatch,” said Michael.
As far as music, the couple likes Bill Frisell, Snarky Puppy, Four Tet, Tim Hecker, and Middle Brother. Michael is particularly fond of Brian Eno, while Jacky lends her ears to Jesca Hoop and Bastille. The pair prefer Delfina, Locanda, and Bar Tartine in the Mission, Stone’s Throw in Pacific Heights, and Kronner Burger in Oakland.
Sarah Christianson and Jesse Mullan
Christianson grew up on a farm in North Dakota, an hour north of Fargo. Mullan was born in Iowa, but mostly raised in Minnesota. “I was attending the University of Minnesota and took an intro photo class,” said Mullan. “Sarah was getting her MFA and was the TA. We fell in love, but I moved out to California” – Mountain View – “the next year for work. We dated long distance for another year before she finished her graduate degree and moved out to live with me.”
The couple settled on Tennessee Street in 2011. Dogpatch “feels like a small town because we know a lot of our neighbors and local business owners,” Christianson said. Mullan likes “talking to neighbors on the street!”
Christianson is a documentary photographer. “I get to travel, work on projects I care about, and exhibit them for others to see,” she said. “My next show will be opening March 24 at Zener Schon Gallery in Mill Valley.” Mullan is a software engineer at Pandora. “I love solving problems and seeing computers do work on my behalf,” he said. “I read The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder at a very young age, and it was enthralling.”
A perfect day for Christianson is “having breakfast and a lazy morning with Jesse, then working in the darkroom, followed by supper with friends.” Mullan likes to “sleep in a little, wake up to Sarah, make breakfast, pickup bread from Just For You, meats from Olivier’s, produce from a Sunday farmers’ market here in Dogpatch, go for a light hike, and make supper together with Sarah.”
These days Christianson is listening to “David Bowie; he will be greatly missed.” The couple is drawn to The New Spot, Gilberth’s, Poquito, Hard Knox, and Moshi Moshi in Dogpatch.
Ian Flores
Flores and his partner, Annabelle, are both from Southern California. They each lived in the Bay Area in the 1990s before meeting, moving to Dogpatch in 2008, and Tennessee Street in 2011, where they’re now raising a daughter.
The couple own Mr. and Mrs. Miscellaneous on Third Street, where they sell ice cream and “other sweet nibbles…Ann and me met through our old boss actually, we never worked together before opening shop though,” said Flores. “Same restaurant, different years. Weird we were in a lot of the same places just not the same time. LA, SF, NYC…she thought we might hit it off. I guess it worked. I still don’t know if it was her intention but she kinda lit the spark…”
A perfect day for Flores: “employees show up healthy, freezers work, no one yells at me for not having cookie dough…”
Herrera Family
Dennis Herrera moved to Tennessee Street in 1993. Five years later he was joined by Anne, with Declan, now 14, a more recent addition. Dennis grew up on Long Island, mostly in Glen Cove. He moved to San Francisco in 1988. He treasures “the diversity of the folks that live in the neighborhood and the genuine feeling of community that you find. I think it’s unique in San Francisco.” Dennis was elected City Attorney in 2001. The best thing about his job, he said, is “that I can use the power of the law to make a difference in people’s lives on virtually any issue under the sun. To have the power to right wrongs is tremendously gratifying.”
Anne hails from Los Angeles. After a brief detour to Scottsdale, Arizona she settled in San Francisco, and met her future husband at a friend’s wedding at the City Club in 1997. She’s a realtor for Sotheby’s International Realty. The best thing about her work, she said, is “bringing buyers and sellers together. The seller loved the home once, and possibly still does. It’s nice to see it pass on to its next caretaker. Even though a home sale/purchase can be very emotional, it’s a big business transaction, so being part counselor and part knowledgeable sales person is essential.” Anne’s grandfather started Artz and Cook Real Estate in Sacramento in 1924.
Declan, who attends Chinese American International School, likes the basketball court behind I.M. Scott School on Minnesota Street, and is fond of his neighbors. Ann loves Dogpatch’s weather and pedestrian-friendly vibe, particularly “a warm sunny day to play tennis and eat dinner outside on the back deck. No fog allowed.” The family’s favorite eateries include nearby Moshi Moshi and Piccino. They also like Don Ramones South-of-Market, and Locanda and Delfina, in the Mission.
Grace and Peter A. Furst
Grace was born and grew up in New York City, on the lower Eastside. Peter was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and raised in Manhattan, New York City. The couple has lived in San Francisco for almost 30 years, residing on Tennessee Street since 1998.
“Peter and I met in a little well-known neighborhood restaurant in Greenwich Village, The Beatrice Inn,” said Grace. “It was in many ways a version of Cheers. Everybody knew everybody, but there were different groups of regulars. My family was friends of the owners.”
Grace is a therapist. “I work within the framework of Depth Hypnosis, which incorporates, transpersonal psychology, Buddhist philosophy, hypnosis, shamanism and energy medicine,” she said. “I love what I do because it really is effective. My practice has grown tremendously over the years because clients refer. It’s very fulfilling to help people make changes in their life and in themselves and have less suffering. I’m by nature a caretaker/healer of sorts. I’ve been interested in alternative healing since I was I child. I was pursuing a healing path when I was introduced to Isa Gucciardi, who developed Depth Hypnosis. I’d already been a certified hypnotherapist for a number of years, and was pursuing a doctoral degree in psychology when I was introduced to the Depth Hypnosis. I saw the value in it from the start, and have personally benefitted from the work.”
Peter is an attorney. “It suits my limited skills, and I get to help others,” he said. “Trial practice, especially the criminal side, is always exciting. Although I entered the field by happenstance, I was greatly influenced by a man I’d known since I was a child; he was, truly, a living legend in criminal law in New York City. Later, we became partners, along with another person.”
“I have so many favorite things about Dogpatch,” Grace said. “First, I have fabulous neighbors. It’s a real neighborhood and this little part of Tennessee Street is the best of that. I also love that we have the sun, more than any other neighborhood in SF. And, it continues to get better, great restaurants and shops. A perfectly wonderful day is a sunny day in Dogpatch. I have time to take a walk in the neighborhood. Have 5/6 clients scheduled and at the end of the day it’s cocktail hour next door with my neighbors, Michael and Jacky Recchiuti and Susan Eslick.
As far as Peter’s perfect day, it’s “an impossible question for me to answer. I tend to be more cynical than some would like, and “a wonderful day” seems foreign to my way of thinking.”
Grace’s favorite restaurants are in Dogpatch: Piccino, The Lab, Serpentine, and Just for You. “The staff remembers you, and know you are from the neighborhood,” she said “It’s friendly and personalized service. I grew up with that in New York and have often missed that here. It’s great to have found it here in Dogpatch. It’s also some pretty fabulous food! Also have to add, I love to cook and have friends over for dinner. That may actually be one of my favorite things to do. I’m an Italian married to a Latino…we feed people!”
T (Thomas) Olle Lundberg
Lundberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, two weeks after his parents emigrated from Sweden. He moved to San Francisco in 1980. “I was working at an architectural firm, Marquis Associates, and we hired Mary as a marketing consultant. We’ve been friends for over 30 years,” he said.
“I bought our building, 2620 Third Street, in 1996, which serves as the studio for Lundberg Design, but we’ve always had an apartment in the building,” Lundberg said. “For 10 years we lived on the Maritol, an Icelandic car ferry that we docked at Pier 50, but the last five years we’ve lived in the apartment during the week; it’s entered off of our parking lot, which is on Tennessee Street. I’ve always liked the diversity of people and uses” in the neighborhood, “the Hells Angels, Muni, American Industrial, and now even an interesting mix of restaurants.”
“I’m the principal designer at Lundberg Design. We’re mostly architects, but we also have a fabrication shop and we build things. We design furniture, fixtures, landscapes, and occasionally sculpture. I’m very fortunate to get paid to do the thing I love most,” which includes “interacting with my incredibly creative staff and my impossibly interesting clients. I get to live an amazingly interesting life. I’ve had two mentors, both bosses of mine: Robert Vickery in Virginia, who hired me when I knew nothing, and Robert Marquis in San Francisco, who taught me the importance of eating well.”
The couple likes to spend time at their “…cabin on the Sonoma Coast with our two dogs,” Lundberg said. “Hunting for Matsutake mushrooms and then cooking a great meal on our wood hearth for friends, ending the evening with a little bourbon from the bourbon bunker. Charles Phan and I are partners in HardWater, so this tends to influence my drinking habits. These are the days that inspire my design work.”
“We’ve designed quite a few SF restaurants: Slanted Door, Mourad, Presidio Social Club, Sessions, HardWater, Bluestem Brasserie, Seaglass, Out The Door,” Lundberg said. “I love the food at every one of them. Slanted Door was our first, and Charles is a close friend, so it has a special place in my memory. My favorite place that I haven’t designed is Kin Khao, which I think makes extraordinary Thai food. Favorite dishes are the mussels at Sessions and the smoked ham at Henry’s Hunan, this being the dish I’ve eaten more than any other, ever!”
