This week’s tablehopper: cinched up. (free)

what’s cookin’

Hi, gang! Welcome to PRIDE Month! Boy, do I love seeing our city awash in rainbow LGBTQIA+ fluttering on the streets and trans pride flags in apartment windows, a much-needed contrast from the bleak news about how queer rights, programs, and safety are under attack.

Today’s column includes a big feature that ended up being perfectly timed with the significance of PRIDE month: for the past few months, I’ve been watching, researching, and waiting to share the wonderful news that The Cinch Saloon, the second oldest gay bar in San Francisco, has a new owner and caretaker who’s going to stabilize the future of this iconic bar, the last gay bar on Polk Street. Since I’ve been doing a deep dive on the history of the bar’s location, which has so much meaning for the queer community, it’s like a lush piece and archivist profile wrapped into one. I hope you enjoy reading it below. If you have anything to add or change or share, please get in touch! (Mil gracias to Juanita MORE! for waiting to release the press announcement so tablehopper could run this story first. 💋)

Don’t forget: this Saturday June 7th is WINeFare, the only wine fair centered around women in natural wine, showcasing pours from over 40 makers and importers (there will be several queer women pouring as well)—read all the deets in this past post on tablehopper, and I hope to see you there!

Mark your calendar! Next Thursday June 12th, I’ll be emceeing Gazetteer SF’s Chat Room: Food, a lively food event with an awesome lineup of local food peeps at Swedish American Hall. See below for details and a subscriber-only giveaway!

Father’s Day is coming up on Sunday June 15th, and today’s newsletter has a couple ideas for you (see below for new brunch service at two spots)—I’ll have more next week!

As a followup to last week’s jetsetter and subscriber-only guide to Athens, here’s the podcast interview with me and post that just published today on The Gomes Guide about traveling in Greece! I had so much fun chatting with Shannon Gomes about my past trips to Greece, talking about the cuisine, culture, island-hopping, local products, beaches, and some crazy stories. Have a listen!

A little deal for you! A few weeks ago, I mentioned a $35 credit for new customers to try Imperfect Foods, and now they’re running a special offer of $50 in credit for you if you use my referral code to try their grocery delivery service. I say stock up on strawberries and make this crazy-delicious homemade strawberry almond milk (thanks to 101 Cookbooks for bringing this recipe for pink happiness into my life).

This week’s news went absolutely gangbusters at the last minute, and I was already up until 3am last night writing this damn thing, so some of the news mentioned today is super-thin on backstory or details. Thanks for understanding—I’m doing the best I can to keep up with all the news while trying to tell stories thoughtfully over here without totally losing my marbles!

Thanks for your ongoing support.

With Pride,
~Marcia

the chatterbox

Barrera’s Cocina Mexicana Just Opened in Cole Valley

Standard Deviant Is Having a Party at Their New Pier 70 Location This Friday

Some breaking news: Standard Deviant Brewing’s new location at Pier 70 is holding a grand opening party this Friday at 2pm! The site mentions: “New location, still the coldest tasting beer in SF” and “The Dogpatch soaked in sun, light breeze off the bay, and modern stylings. Indoor outdoor vibes, high ceilings and great natural light.” Sign me up. Hours for now: Fri–Sun 2pm–9pm. 1070 Maryland St.

A16 Napa Opens Right on Time for Southern Italian Summer Vibes

Congrats to A16 founder Shelley Lindgren and partner Kitty Oestlien on opening A16 Napa, with a chic and airy Mediterranean look in the former Miminashi in downtown Napa. You’ll find a full bar (with cocktails from Rye’s Greg Lindgren), a curated list of local and Italian wines (including Lindgren and Oestlien’s Tansy), and chef Yosuke Machida’s pizzas and new dishes from their live-fire grill (take a look at the menu here). Read more in this SF Chronicle story. Open Mon–Sat 5pm–10pm, Sun 5pm–9pm, and lunch is coming soon. 821 Coombs St., Napa.

A New Taker for the Former Foliage/Marlena’s on Precita Park

It Smells Like Something’s Baking: Updates on Leadbetter’s Bake Shop and Bones Bagels

For Your Consideration: New Brunches and a Chic Lunch

I have some new service updates for you, and I think both of these new brunches would be fun options for Father’s Day. The recently opened MESKI—the Afro-Caribbean and Ethiopian restaurant and bar from Guma Fassil of Meskie’s in Berkeley, chef Nelson German of aLaMar Dominican Kitchen & Bar and Sobre Mesa in Oakland, and NBA champion Draymond Green—is now serving Sunday brunch. The menu includes steak tibs hash with atakilt wat potatoes, plantains, and sofrito roja; pollo guisado shakshuka with Dominican braised chicken, Castelvetrano olives, and injera; platano maduro Foster’s crêpe with berbere-spiced chocolate mousse and korerima sugar; and teff pancakes with coconut dulce de leche praline and macerated fruit. Cocktails and music are also part of the experience. Served Sundays 11am–3pm. 1000 Larkin St. at Post. 

This week, The Caffè by Mr. Espresso in Downtown Oakland is celebrating their two-year anniversary all week long (through Saturday June 7th) with limited-edition coffee drinks, exclusive pastry collaborations, pop-ups, $1 espresso shots, birthday cake by the slice, and giveaways. The lineup of partners and treats includes maritozzi from Cafe Poesia (want!), to a spiced iced mocha in collaboration with Cafe Colucci—check out the full lineup on their Instagram page. 1120 Broadway, Oakland.

Join Me for Gazetteer SF’s Chat Room: Food, a Night of Conversations with an Incredible Lineup of Local Culinary Talent on June 12th

I hope you’re available next Thursday June 12th for the latest event in Gazetteer SF’s Chat Room series! Chat Room: Food will feature lively and interesting conversations about the Bay Area’s incredible bounty of deliciousness with local food and beverage industry leaders, and yours truly is the MC!

Confirmed speakers include Stuart Brioza, Brandon Jew, Ravi Kapur, Melissa Perello, Nichole Accettola, Azikiwee “Z” Anderson, Casey Wentworth, Eric Ehler, Craig Stoll, and Alexis Rorabaugh. The event takes place at the Swedish American Hall, and you’ll find tasty offerings from some of the Bay Area’s top pop-ups as well.

Chat Room events are free to attend for Gazetteer SF subscribers, and tickets are available to non-subscribers for $27.22 (includes fees). Tickets include free-flowing beer and wine from 5:30pm–8:30pm. 🍻 This event is 21+. Doors: 5:30pm; show: 6pm. 2174 Market St. 

Grande Crêperie at the Ferry Building Marketplace Is Closing

This surprising news just rolled in from the Le Marais Bakery group: “We are losing our Ferry Building Grande Crêperie location, we are very sad to write. It is sudden and unexpected, as in January, we were given a commitment for a new lease. In April, we were told the “team in LA” feels we are no longer part of the “cultural mix.” We’ve always felt the opposite, as the only French-owned business, where our daughter has been raised riding along in her father’s chef cart at the farmers market. 

“We built-out Grande Crêperie after the pandemic when many locations were vacant or closed, investing our savings, renovating to bring it up to code. Our French community came out for crêpes bretonnes with views of the Bay like summers in Brittany. We have always been told we’d be a “longstanding tenant,” that they have the greatest respect for us, and we always reached target earnings. We struggle to understand how our space could be offered when we had been given a new lease, when we transformed it into a beloved gathering spot with lines out the door. 

“We were both raised in restaurant families – Joanna’s nana owned Pulcini’s Tavern in Pennsylvania, Patrick’s family, a French café in New York – and we do this from the heart, as does our whole team. We love what we do, and just to add, we love the Ferry Building, as it is so connected to our food philosophy, connecting us as a family to all of the farmers there. We tried to bring something special to this spot next to the market, serving the best street food of France made with locally grown ingredients from the farmers market. That for us is the saddest part of losing this location, the loss of this culture of connectedness that we so love in this business. 

“This sudden decision is going to make things very difficult. Artisanal bakeries have narrow margins, things must be kept in a balance to support our commissary, where we make everything from scratch, and all our employees. We will be tremendously thankful for your support of our Le Marais locations – 1138 Sutter Street, 498 Sanchez, Marin Country Mart, and in Mill Valley at 250 E Blithedale – and through delivery and catering. We love San Francisco, this city is our home, and we want to be able to continue to have our bakeries and cafés here.”
~ Thank you so much, Mille mercis, Patrick and Joanna Ascaso

I will be reaching out to the Acasos and Hudson Pacific Properties/the Ferry Building for more details about the closure. They could be closing as soon as the end of June, so head over there soon and show them your support.

Another Longstanding SF Restaurant Closes After 40 Years, and a Neighborhood Restaurant Shutters in Noe Valley

Over the weekend, I posted an Instagram story about the unfortunate and sudden closure of FOG CITY (it will always be Fog City Diner in my mind) after 40 years of business. I was blown away with all the comments, DMs, and memories my followers shared—it was such a fun time over there in the 90s and aughts with Levi Strauss and Il Fornaio nearby, and all the advertising agencies and TV stations. I was reminded about the VISA commercial, which brought legions of diners to the restaurant, as well as its appearance in “So I Married an Axe Murderer.” 

Fog City Diner was opened by “the Bills” (Bill Higgins and Bill Upson of Real Restaurants) in 1985, with chef Cindy Pawlcyn at the helm, with a then cutting-edge, eclectic, small plates format. Around the time she departed, chef Bruce Hill was brought on to run the kitchen in 2000–2001, and I remember back in 2013 when the Bills partnered with Hill (who also partnered with them on Zero Zero, Bix, and Picco) to relaunch the diner as FOG CITY. Hill completely redesigned the kitchen, while the iconic streamline moderne style got a major design redo by Michael Guthrie (some folks hated it, while others thought it was needed)—the menu also got a big update from Hill and chef Erik Lowe (who was previously Hill’s chef at Bix for five years), adding oysters, an epic burger, and fried-to-order crullers. Hill stepped away from the project three years later, around 2016.

The farewell post from GM Brett Maurice, who has been there since 2015, didn’t share any details about the sudden closure on May 30th, but it’s obvious things aren’t what they used to be over in that area, especially after the pandemic. But 40 years is one helluva run, and the unique diner/restaurant was part of so many fond memories for both locals and tourists alike. 1300 Battery St. at Embarcadero.

sponsored event

Savor, Sip, & Party at Foodwise Summer Bash on June 22nd

Celebrate our local food and farm community at the freshest party of the season, Foodwise Summer Bash, at the Ferry Building on Sunday June 22nd. Feast on unlimited food and drink from 50 beloved Bay Area restaurants and beverage makers, featuring peak-summer produce from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

From the sunny outdoor plaza to the gorgeous Grand Hall, enjoy an epic walk-around tasting featuring 7 Adams, Dalida, GiGi’s Wine Lounge, Minnie Bell’s, Prubechu, Shuggie’s, and many more. Savor MESKI’s Summer Corn Gazpacho; Outta Sight Pizza’s House-Pulled Mozzarella with Peach Chili Crisp, Sichuan Hot Honey & Pizza Crumbs; Three Babes Bakeshop’s Blueberry Rhubarb Crumble; and other hyper-seasonal delights. And it’s for a good cause! Proceeds support farmers markets, food access, and youth education. See the full lineup.

5:30pm–8pm. San Francisco Ferry Building (Embarcadero & Market St.), 21 and up.

Tickets: $170; take $15 off with promo code TABLEHOPPER.

the lush

Giddy Up! It’s the Next Era of Ownership for San Francisco’s Second Oldest Gay Bar, The Cinch Saloon

How wonderful to begin PRIDE month with uplifting news about the last remaining gay bar on Polk Street, The Cinch Saloon. A few months ago, the future of the historic bar was looking dicey, but fortunately, the iconic bar is being passed like the flaming gay torch it is to its next caretaker, into the capable and thoughtful hands of Scott Taylor, a Cinch regular and former bartender there.

Taylor is the AGM and beverage director at nearby Harris’ Restaurant, where he has worked off and on for the past 20 years, and his business partners for this venture are Harris’ GM Mark Buhagiar and his wife and pastry chef Joann Buhagiar, and Mark’s brother and director of operations, David Buhagiar—the Buhagiar family has been part of and shaping Harris’ legacy since it first opened in 1984, and has deep roots in the neighborhood. Taylor has recently been working with the family on another project, and when this opportunity came along, they acted swiftly to help Taylor manage the transition from The Cinch’s previous owner, Robby Morgenstein. 

Morgenstein ran the bar with his best friend and life and business partner, Bob Thornton, from July 1998 until Thornton tragically died from cancer on May 1st, 2023, and then the bar sadly became too much for him to manage on his own. (Morgenstein also owned the classic Miller’s East Coast Deli next door at 1725 Polk for 18 years, known for its pastrami and matzo ball soup, until it closed in 2019.)

Taylor truly cares about The Cinch’s current staff and clientele, and wants everyone to be happy, and to help the bar survive—and thrive—and become profitable again. Fortunately, he has extensive experience in the industry, spanning 23 years, from when he transferred from culinary school in Minnesota and relocated to the CCA here in SF in 2003. He externed at Harris’ as a banquet chef, and then worked front of house as a manager for a couple years. He tells me he used to hang out at The Cinch often, and then he started working there three days a week, from when it opened at 6am until noon, and then he’d go cook (oh, youth)! He went on to work at Harry Denton’s Starlight Room, did some consulting on projects in San Diego, and would help out at Harris’ during the holidays, until he returned to work full-time there in his current position as AGM and beverage director. 

What’s great is Taylor knows the DNA of The Cinch extremely well, but also has what it takes to run a bar profitably in these challenging current times—he understands both the back and front of house, and his varied experience managing restaurants, bars, and nightclubs will all come into play as he dials in the bar’s operations.

He’s going to add cocktails on tap (for consistency), and affordable wine on tap as well, which will reduce product spoilage and endless recycling. N/A cocktails and products will be added, and the back bar is going to be elevated, offering some higher-end options for those who want a little something extra (while still keeping prices and products accessible for those who just want a drink). The tap system is going to be redone and moved to the back bar.

Pending the close of escrow, which is roughly looking like August, Taylor is going to close the bar for a couple weeks to give it a much-needed refresh, while still honoring the bar’s patina and saloon style. They’ll be redoing the bar top—which at something like 40 feet is one of the longest bars in the City—and removing the heavy Swiss-style overhang above the bar for better sight lines. The front area will have new tables added along the wall, and there will be new flooring as well.

In the pool table room, the bleacher seating and Star Wars–themed décor will come down, so go say farewell to R2D2 while you can. Taylor is careful to keep all the bar’s memorabilia intact, but some of the tired and kitschy items will be taken down.

There are also plans to update the back patio, but it may not happen until later. The garden atmosphere will continue, but the benches will be redone, and the patio floor will be leveled so it’s finally ADA accessible and inclusive.

For the past month, I was trying to do a deep dive on the bar’s long history, but details were pretty spare or sketchy. Taylor tells me the previous owners wanted to apply to be a Legacy business, but there wasn’t much research completed, so he plans to get that underway. I kept seeing different years listed for The Cinch’s opening (1973, 1974, 1975, 1979), so Taylor will need some help to dig through official city records (if anyone has time on their hands and wants to help, please get in touch!). Looking at The Cinch’s liquor license history, it listed Richard Pearson and Mario Enriquez from 1988 to 1998, but nothing prior. 

I took a deeply fascinating Unspeakable Vice walking tour of the neighborhood with Shawn Sprockett a couple weeks ago in an attempt to learn more about the bar’s history. He kindly shared his incredible spreadsheet with me listing all the gay bars that used to be in the Polk Gulch and Tenderloin (which went from 158 to 2—now The Cinch and Aunt Charlie’s). You’ll need to take his engaging tour to learn about why there were so many gay bars in the neighborhood, from the Butcher Shop to Buzzby’s. 

According to his research, 1723 Polk was the Pink Cloud from 1952–1965 (which may have been a straight bar, but if it was gay, then the location’s history as a gay bar would be the longest in SF!). There’s a gap in the timeline from 1965–1969, but the next owner was Horst “Hans” Grahlmann, who reportedly came to San Francisco from Germany in the 1960s, and transformed it into the Early Bird restaurant (from 1969 to 1973), serving German food. Sprockett says the Early Bird was possibly catering to nurses and folks who worked the graveyard shift, hence the name. Taylor tells me he found an old neon sign for the Early Bird in the basement and plans to install it in the bar—he’d love some restoration help! I tried to find Early Bird ephemera online, but no dice. The restaurant is also believed to have extended into the space that became Miller’s East Coast Deli next door, doubling its current width. Grahlmann reportedly converted the Early Bird into a “gay hang-out” in the early 1980s.

As for the Western exterior, one thought is that it was a remnant of the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition, when Polk Street was styled to look like a Wild West outpost (which Sprockett mentioned is portrayed on the exterior of Brownie’s Hardware down the street at 1563 Polk, which has been in business since 1907), but someone else said that it was from the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915. (We’d love any input here! It’s too much for me to research.)

Grahlmann was quite the character, and went on to open a number of Western-themed bars, including the Rainbow Cattle Company in 1977 in SF (which became Zeitgeist in 1986), and also in Guerneville. Incredibly, Grahlmann opened 39 businesses, which included a mix of gay and straight bars, like Uncle Bert’s Place (later The Mix), Lucky 13, the Mother Lode, and the Rat and Raven. He loved motorcycles and is credited as the “godfather of the urban biker bar.”

Grahlmann was living in Monte Rio (near Guerneville), and in 1998, was shockingly “found murdered execution-style on the back deck of his Russian River home. Jason Bojore, one of his employees at the Rainbow Cattle Company in Guerneville who was apparently repairing Grahlmann’s roof, was found murdered inside the home.” [Via SF Gay History; click through to read more links and history] 

The horrific murders are actually unsolved—the suspect who was arrested in 2002 was acquitted in 2006. I found this website that mentions a future true crime/documentary podcast about Grahlmann in an attempt to revive the investigation (they’re looking for stories from people who knew him). There was also a lot of confusion and drama around his $15 million estate since he didn’t leave a will. It’s absolutely wild. 

So, as you can see, The Cinch Saloon has quite the dappled and deep history. The old girl has remarkably made it this far, and holds so many memories for generations of gay and queer folks. I remember when Anna Conda used to host rowdy punk-drag shows at her weekly Charlie Horse party on Fridays from 2004–2009, and something I have always appreciated about the bar is anyone is welcome there. The Cinch has been a last bastion and beacon of no-judgement queerness in the Polk Gulch for years, offering a perch for barfly queens who have stories and laughs to share, an open door for folks in the neighborhood who just want a drink at 10am, and providing a space on this side of town for picking up some trade before last call.

The walls are covered in remarkable memorabilia and gay SF history, and even if they could talk, there’s plenty already being told. It’s wild to think what the Polk Gulch neighborhood must have been like in its gay heyday of the 1960s and 70s, with over 60 gay bars, bath houses, and more, before AIDS came and cruelly took so many lives, and numerous queer-owned businesses closed, forever changing the fabric of the community.

On Polk Street, San Francisco held its first Gay Freedom Day parade in June 1970. Someone keeping that history alive is the iconic activist, philanthropist, SF guardian, and drag QUEEN Juanita MORE! with the sixth annual People’s March & Rally, which will be on Sunday June 22nd this year. 

A longtime San Franciscan, she shares these memories and thoughts about The Cinch: “I got my first apartment in San Francisco in 1982 with two friends on Nob Hill. My room had no windows, only a mattress on the floor and a cardboard dresser and drawers. I often adventured down to the bars on Polk Street, with which I had been familiar since high school. And the Cinch is where I felt comfortable and began making many new friends (sometimes at the urinal). Years later, as Empress of the Imperial Council of San Francisco, I attended many events with my crown on my head. It is one of the very few queer bars left in my neighborhood. I am so proud of Scott Taylor for standing up and securing the bar’s future. I will be by his side to ensure it succeeds and lives on for a hundred years.”

Here’s to the next era for this irreplaceable bar, and let me repeat: the second oldest gay bar in San Francisco, and the last gay bar on Polk Street—long may The Cinch giddy up and reign. I’ll keep you updated on the temporary closure date for its upcoming facelift (she needs some serious filler and resurfacing!), and in the meantime, swing by and say cheers to the bar’s optimistic future (thank goddess!). Open daily 10am–2am. 1723 Polk St. at Clay.

the starlet

Some quick sightings for you!

Danny Glover came into the new KC Paris Desserts on Fillmore. (Here’s my reel about this precious pastry shop from the luminous and talented Khadidiatou “Didy” Camara.)

Thank you for reading tablehopper! It’s a great time to become a subscriber. Here’s to San Francisco! 🥂