Northside SF
Bellingham by the Bay
When in doubt, laugh and eat cheese



Here comes Renée Pelton just when I begin to think that young people have no ideas about how to get through treacherous times. “When in doubt,” says Renée, “be funny.” And funny she is. Renée is a social media maven. She and her game partner, Holly Foster, run Bingo Night at the Bigfoot Lodge on Polk at Washington. Says Renée, “Can you imagine? They pay me money to be rude to people.” I think that’s really the world’s oldest profession.  Then drops in Chelsea Rodahl, the newest rising star chef at Perry Butler’s Café Des Amis in Cow Hollow. Chelsea is chuffed (as the Scots say – it means pleased) about the gig. “I just got a job!” But she’s another young woman of substance. She’s compiling a book about homeless people and working hand-in-hand with Project Open Hand. It’s enough to make a cynical heart melt. …

Let’s turn to another great philanthropist, Maurice Kanbar, whose headquarters is in Pacific Heights. His love of movies is inexorable, his affection is touching to me; it’s great. Maurice is certainly devoted to the notion of good writers conjuring up good stories. Maurice has kept the S.F. Film Festival running smoothly, and successfully, in many ways. Yes, we who love movies and the S.F. Film Festival (much of that success driven by Hilary Hart) lament the retirement of Graham Leggett. He’s ill. Losing Graham from the Film Festival would be like losing MTT at the S.F. Symphony – or losing David Gockley at the S.F. Opera. Yes, these people make a difference. …

The other day, Maurice and I had lunch at Perry’s on Union with Frederic Goldchan, a director and producer from Hollywood. I had no idea that Frederic’s uncle won the Palme d’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival for a famous film produced with Claude Lelouch, A Man And A Woman. That was in 1966. I am such a fan of French New Wave films. That’s why I was stunned to learn that the daughter of Francois Truffaut, Laura Truffaut, lives in Berkeley. She talks, writes and explains that era in cinema. Bless her heart. It’s great to know she’s in the neighborhood. She’ll remind us not to shoot the piano player. And we have so many. …

The inimitable Michael McCourt has re-emerged as a barman at the Mission Rock Cafe in Dogpatch. On his first day last month, he drew well-wishers like Garry Graham, owner of the 19 Broadway Club in Fairfax, and Amory, Garry’s charming wife. Flicka McGurrin, owner of Pier 23 and Sweetie’s in Fisherman’s Wharf, also dropped by, as did a cadre of North Beach curmudgeons, who ventured south of the Bay Bridge to see Michael.  Flicka and Michael have been singing with Garry’s crack 12-piece band lately. It’s a sleeper hit that’s picking up more and more fans along the way. …

Meanwhile in North Beach at Mr. McCourt’s alma mater, Bottle Cap (the former Washington Square Bar & Grill), co-owner Liz Ferro was explaining why she and her chef-husband, Dane Boryta, radically changed the decor. Old-timers may be taken aback by the yellow and the green. … “We wanted to take the brightness and the greenery from the park across the street and bring it indoors,” says Liz. “There are already plenty of dark bars. We had one in Massachusetts. Things change and it was time to change this place.” All of the memorabilia on the walls from the old days have been donated to the S.F. Public Library. … Liz’s barman is Pat Johnson, a very funny guy who works as a librarian during the days. That’s where he met his wife, Gretchen, five years ago. It was love among the stacks. …

Across Union Street, Alison McQuade, the Celtic chutney queen, invited me to a gathering of the 30-year-old American Cheese Society at the Rogue Ales Public House on Union at Powell. There was an array of the best California cheese under the sun. Gordon Edgar, who’s written a memoir called Cheesemonger, was running the show as various cheese producers, like Sheana Davis from Epicurean Connection in Sonoma, expounded on all the thrills of noshing on cheese. There’s great competition among cheese producers. Friendly, but fierce. Sarah Dvorak dazzles. She, at just 31, just opened Mission Cheese at 736 Valencia. She used to work in the kitchen at Jardiniere. She loves cuisine in a passionate way. Her enthusiasm melts the cynical heart – and anything else that gets near a saucepan. … By the way, when I hear the name Dvorak, I think of one of my favorite Czech composers. Flicka, to her friends – that’s Frederica von Stade, the great opera star who lives in Alameda. Flicka checked in the other day to push for her support of the nonprofit Music in Schools Today. Flicka has a wonderful recording of Dvorak’s “Song to the Moon.” Haunting. I can’t imagine that the moon is still considered to be filled with green cheese. I guess Neil Armstrong would have brought home a big bag of it. But at least I get to mention two Flickas in one column. …

Former Nob Hill resident Jenean Fischer, who lived in the Olympian heights of the Gramercy Towers, explains why she had to move back to New York City: “I was walking through the Tenderloin and saw a man snorting cocaine and urinating in the street at the same time. That was it for me.” And who says men can’t multitask?

Bruce Bellingham is the author of Bellingham by the Bay. Torture him at bruce@northsidesf.com.

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