Holiday by the Bay: San Francisco offers plenty to do this festive season
San Francisco has always offered a diverse number of specific pleasures, the perfect smorgasbord for holiday revelers.
While the city is known and identified by popular landmarks from its historic Embarcadero waterfront to its urban Union Square shopping mecca, there are other worthy, satisfying places to explore.
Comprehensively rounding up the City by the Bay is an impossibility, so The Bee offers a holiday sampler of two distinctive neighborhoods and two classic districts.
This town does the holidays as well as any place can, providing both classic, big-time experiences and modern, lower-key alternatives.
THE ALTERNATIVES
Valencia corridor
Valencia Street is just a short hop west from Mission, but the two streets might as well be on opposite sides of the city. On Valencia, the grit and grunge gives way to hip urbanism and alternative holiday shopping at smart, inviting stores such as Aldea (890 Valencia St. 415-865-9807, ). This is gift idea central, and it does indeed provide “inspiration for every room in the home,” as a clerk told me. There were colorful doormats, coffee cups, candles and bedroom sets, all with strongly individual design elements.
Half a block away, Paxton Gate (824 Valencia St., 415-824-1872, ) transports you back to Victorian-era naturalists and explorers. Inspired by the natural sciences, the store carries “treasures and oddities” such as animal and plant ephemera, taxidermy, bones and skulls, framed and mounted insects, jewelry, fossils and minerals, and design consulting for outdoor spaces. The store has an extension, Paxton Gate’s Curiosities for Kids (766 Valencia St., 415-252-9990) with an assortment of toys and games influenced by the natural world based in pre-digital creativity.
Another throwback just down the block is F.S.C. Barber (696 Valencia St., 415-621-9000, ), which also hearkens to days when men just walked into a barbershop for a haircut and a shave. Sam Buffa started the first shop in Manhattan as an alternative to high-end salons and his second location here has caught on not only for its old-school services but also for the “curated” selection of men’s grooming products it carries.
Getting there: Take BART to 16th and Mission and walk one block west on 16th to Valencia. Or start at 24th and Mission (also from BART) and go north on Valencia (one block west). Or connect via 18th Street, which hits the center of the Valencia corridor. If you’re driving and can’t find street parking (often a challenge), there’s a garage on 21st Street between Valencia and Mission.
Eats: Want something casual? Try El Toro Taqueria, 598 Valencia St. (at 17th Street), San Francisco, (415) 431-3351. In the market for midrange? Check out Luna Park, 694 Valencia St. (at 18th), (415) 553-8584, , or Mission Cheese, 736 Valencia St., (415) 484-6553, www.missioncheese. Want to go upscale? We suggest Locanda, 557 Valencia St. (between 16th and 17th streets), (415) 863-6800, .
Dogpatch
One of the city’s oldest neighborhoods has become one of the more up-and-coming. Though not cutting as wide a swath as the Valencia corridor, a few blocks of Dogpatch have plenty of holiday flavor, particularly with chocolatier extraordinaire Michael Recchiuti’s tiny Little Nib Store at 807 22nd St. (at Tennessee Street). One of the artisan chocolate movement pioneers, Recchiuti’s outpost has an assortment of decadent gift boxes.
Eric and Danette Scheib, the beloved owner-designers of Lemon Twist (801 22nd St., 415-558-9699, ), make locally sewn “fashions for individuals.” The couple’s modest pop-up store in Dogpatch already has become a destination for progressive-minded fashionistas. They plan to hold it down until Feb. 29 and then relocate nearby. Rickshaw (904 22nd St., 415-904-8368, ) manufactures custom messenger bags, laptop sleeves, e-reader sleeves and classic folios. The Yellow Building Project (1001 Minnesota St. at 22nd Street) houses popular Italian eatery Piccino, MAC Apparel’s second San Francisco store, and DIG Wine Bar in a renovated 150-year-old stable house.
Getting there: At the eastern edge of the city, the center of Dogpatch is 22nd Street at Third Street. The Muni T Line runs down Third Street, and the 20th Street station is one double-length block north of 22nd Street, the main sector. The 22 Muni bus comes in from the Mission, and the 48 (from 24th and Mission) eventually reaches 22nd Street, although by an indirect route.
Eats: Want something casual? Try Dogpatch Saloon, 2496 Third St., (415) 643-8592). In the market for midrange? Check out Piccino, 801 22nd St., (415) 824-4224; , or Yield Wine Bar, 2490 Third St. (between 20th and 22nd streets), (415) 401-8984. Want to go upscale? We suggest Serpentine, 2495 Third St., (415) 252-2000, .
THE CLASSICS
Union Square
The scene here conjures up Bing Cosby’s voice and those famous lyrics:
“City sidewalks, busy sidewalks/ Dressed in holiday style.”
This year’s huge Christmas tree, an 80-foot fir, is covered in 21,000 energy-efficient LED lights. There’s an ice skating rink and all those major brand name stores Saks, Barney’s, Neiman Marcus, and, of course, Macy’s. You have a number of places to grab a photo with Santa Claus, certainly a thrill for people of a certain age. If you’re not into shopping, just look at the department store window displays.
Getting there: From the Bay Bridge, take the Fremont Street exit to Mission Street and turn left onto Mission Street, turn right at Third Street, and as you cross Market Street, make a left onto Geary Street. Stay on Geary Street, and as you cross Stockton Street, Union Square Park will be on your right and Macy’s on your left. You can park in the Union Square Garage or in the Ellis and O’Farrell Garage. For the best information on parking, go to .
Eats: You’ll find plenty of offerings anywhere you turn, but we suggest you check out the Westfield San Francisco Centre a couple of blocks away at 865 Market St. more than 30 dining options under one considerable roof.
Embarcadero/Ferry Building
The Ferry Building has long been one of San Francisco’s most famous landmarks, and since the 2003 completion of its renovation, it has become a major destination for tourists and locals. The public food market on the ground floor is always a center of attraction, and for the holidays, there’s a huge ice rink across the Embarcadero at Justin Herman Plaza.
Getting there: The Ferry Building Marketplace is on the Embarcadero at the foot of Market Street. From the Bay Bridge, exit at Fremont Street. Stay on Fremont Street as it crosses Market Street and becomes Front Street. The marketplace is accessible by Muni, BART and ferry boat. The historic trolley cars (Line F Market) stop directly in front of the Ferry Building. Validated parking is available at the Washington Embarcadero Lot across from the Ferry Building. Additional parking is available in the Golden Gateway Garage. Its entrance is on Clay Street between Battery and Front Streets.
Eats: Anything you would want, from tacos to ice cream, oysters to drunken noodles are available at The Ferry Building Marketplace.
Here’s a selection of classic and alternative entertainment to enjoy during a visit to San Francisco.
CLASSICS
Theater
The American Conservatory Theatre’s lush production of “A Christmas Carol” boasts a smart adaptation by Carey Perloff and Paul Walsh and inventive staging by Domenique Lozano. The production also features Bay Area legend James Carpenter as Scrooge. Carpenter got his start in the River City, studying theater at California State University, Sacramento. This year’s production has set an advance sales record, and several performances are already sold out. Tickets, starting at $15, are available by calling the A.C.T. box office at (415) 749-2228 or going to . 7 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays (except Dec. 16) and Saturdays (except Christmas Eve); 2 p.m. Saturdays and Dec. 21-23; 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Sundays; through Dec. 24 at American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St.
The San Francisco Symphony dresses up the already gorgeous Davies Symphony Hall for the holidays, and gets into the spirit with a broad-based slate of shows. If you missed Mariachi Sol de Mxico de Jos Hernndez when the troupe performed Thursday at the Mondavi Center, catch them here for a program of favorite Mexican and U.S. holiday music. They perform at 8 p.m. Dec. 18. The old-school “‘Twas The Night” program with the famous poem and holiday carols and songs performed by the Symphony brass section and chorus runs at 7 p.m. Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, and 2 p.m. Dec. 24 at Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave., (415) 864-6000,
ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCES
Music
Yoshi’s of San Francisco, a world-class performance venue, has several holiday-themed shows in December. Originally known as a jazz club, the generous space on Fillmore now hosts a variety of music in an audience-friendly space. This season’s shows include Hiroshima Christmas, Canadian Brass for the Holidays, Clairdee’s Christmas and Maceo Parker’s New Year’s Eve Party. Yoshi’s of San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore St., (415) 655-5660,
Ballet
The highly acclaimed Smuin Ballet brings it innovative holiday program to downtown San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. “The Christmas Ballet” features two separate acts, “Classical Christmas” and “Cool Christmas,” both filled with ballet, tap, and jazz. The program plays at 8 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and Dec. 20-23; 7 p.m. Dec. 18; 2 p.m. Saturday to Dec. 18, Dec. 21 and Dec. 24 at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission St. (415) 556-5000, .
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