Coffee
Dogpatchers have another place to caffeinate, with the opening of Ikon Coffee on Knox Landing’s 22nd and Mississippi streets ground floor. Roaster Marcel Costas has vended his cuppas at farmers market for more than a decade and ran a café out of his South San Francisco roasting facility during the COVID pandemic. He and assistant general manager Alex Le operate the new coffee bar, offering Especiale espresso shots, at $5 and $7, breakfast sandwiches, and, highlighting Costas’ Bolivian heritage, cheese balls known as cuñapés…While one neighborhood has more coffee, another has less. The Peet’s Coffee outlet located in the 555 Ninth Street shopping center – next to Trader Joe’s – shuttered at the end of last year. The shopping center, owned by Acadia Realty Trust, has multiple vacancies. Nordstrom Rack closed in 2021, followed by Ultra Beauty, Chase Bank, and the removal of the Wells Fargo ATM. Other stores in the area, including Muji across the street at 540 Ninth Street, have also shutdown.
Cheese
The Cheese School of San Francisco is relocating from Ghirardelli Square to Daily Driver’s Third Street space. The Cheese School offers public education, catering, private events and farm tours. Daily Driver is San Francisco’s only organic cheese-making creamery and wood-fired bagelry, which opened at the American Industrial Center in 2019. “We are very excited to continue collaborating with The Cheese School,” said Tamara Hicks, owner of Daily Driver, Toluma Farms and Tomales Farmstead Creamery. “We share a common value in educating urban eaters on the wonder of small-scale artisanal cheeses and we both love telling the story of farmers and cheesemakers in a beautiful, dynamic environment.” The companies opposite operating hours enable them to comfortably share a space. Daily Driver is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; the Cheese School holds classes and events in the afternoons and evenings. The two-story Dogpatch location is 7,000 square feet and includes a cheese-making facility, two wood-fired ovens and a large kitchen, with ample seating and space for Cheese School classes and events.
Bicycle
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is sifting through public feedback, consulting with other municipal entities, and reassessing project goals as part of an effort to develop a revised bike lane proposal for 17th Street. When a new design will be floated, nobody knows…. After 17 voting rounds, in which District 10 Supervisor Shamman Walton was only able to secure support from four of his colleagues, District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin was elected President of the Board of Supervisors last month. The change in leadership reflects a slight tilt towards board moderates, and a potential shuffle in the City’s Black leadership pecking order.
School
Last month, the San Francisco Unified School District shared the floor plan for the Mission Bay School at a Mission Bay Citizens Advisory Committee meeting. Attendees were concerned that the plan was too simple, without “big splashes” of welcoming art or signage at entrances. They also worried that adjacent Owens Street, the school’s drop-off area, is busy and lacks a crosswalk. Tiffany Gong, SFUSD senior project manager, indicated the District will work with San Francisco Public Art to create installations for the two entryways, preferably sourced from the community. Additional art may be added after the school finalizes a mascot. The elementary school’s grounds will include a garden, and pre- and kindergarten play yards. The Linked Learning Hub for high school students, which’ll be on the main building’s fourth floor, will contain a maker space with an outdoor patio. SFUSD expects to have all necessary documents – final plans, specifications, contracts – to begin construction in December, with a target completion date of June 2025, at a cost of $95 million. Multistudio, Inc. is the master planning architect; McCarthy + DLR Group is the design build partner. To date, SFUSD has spent roughly eight percent of the budget.
Redemption
An Army veteran bent on murdering Muslims in the name of freedom. A community of religious refugees who meet strangers with a smile. How acceptance and belonging can transform rage into redemption. In roughly 30 minutes director Joshua Seftel tightly weaves a modern-day magical tale that if we’re lucky will serve as a lasting allegory. Stranger at the Gate, a The New Yorker documentary that has been nominated for an Academy Award, is like a warm hug on a cold night. Look for it on streaming services.
