FOUND Water Week
The Spinnaker, wine country pools, Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Café Aquatica, Ciele, Junedays, best waterfront restaurants, MORE
RESTAURANTS • First Person
Set sail
Designed by Sausalito modernist architect Don K. Olsen, The Spinnaker would be a show-stopper anywhere, a mid-century masterpiece that manages to evoke both The Jetsons and Miami Vice. But unlike landlocked counterparts like Westlake classic Original Joe’s, this Marin restaurant is perched (maybe a bit precariously?) at the edge of the Bay by a set of sea-worn bolsters, with kayakers, seals, and aquatic birds just feet from its floor-to-ceiling windows.
That’s the close view; in the distance you’ve got the SF skyline, Angel Island, and Alcatraz. It’s a slam dunk for visiting friends and family, a deal made even better by the venue’s abundance of seats and extremely rare waits for a table. The latter can be explained by the restaurant’s proximity just off Sausalito’s main drag. Built in 1960 atop Shell Beach, a prehistoric shell mound leveled into a spit of usable land around the turn of the last century. The restaurant facade, its name written in period script, isn’t visible to the throngs of tourists on the other side of the marina.
Its hidden-in-plain-sightness has made it a favorite with industry professionals and dyed-in-the-wool SF locals, many of whom remember when restaurant co-founder and former state senator J. Eugene McAteer’s namesake San Francisco high school (grads include Sam Rockwell, Aisha Tyler, and Margaret Cho — and, guess what, they’ve all been Spinnaker patrons, too) was still serving students. The school closed in 2003, but McAteer’s restaurant trucks on.
And it does with a menu that feels unchanged from the day McAteer and partner Bill McDonnell opened the spot, a throughline ensured by Bill’s son, Tim, who runs it today. Open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, we’re talking crab cakes, Shrimp Louis, and a respectable seafood grill, or a NY steak and lobster combo that — at market price — offers the classic Bay Area experience of jaw-dropping sticker shock.
The best nights at the Spinnaker are the ones that begin right before sunset, with a martini or bubbles (many on the decent wine list available by the glass) and a range of starters. The shrimp and prawn cocktails are always fresh and bracing, as are the oysters, served with a nice mignonette. Seared scallops and mussels, prepared with heirloom tomatoes and leeks, also satisfy, while roasted whole artichoke and its lemon aioli are a pleasant diversion. As you pick at shells and leaves, the sun will drop, the Bay will glow, and the night shift — herons, seagulls, maybe an otter — will roll by. In an ever-changing region, a place that remains the same, right down to its cast of wildlife regulars, can be a sweet comfort, indeed. –Eve Batey
→ The Spinnaker (Sausalito) • 100 Spinnaker Dr • Sun-Thu 11a-9p, Fri-Sat 11a-10p • Reserve.
GETAWAYS • The Nines
Hotel pools, wine country
Auberge du Soleil (Rutherford), Provence-meets-Italy color palette, views of endless greenery, vintage fountain, intel, book
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Objects
Elevated water accessories, 3 ways
ON THE WATER: Boat days are fun, in theory. And for those who are simply guests on a seaworthy vessel, perhaps in practice, too. But, for the host, they can be chaotic and stressful. Yes, there are the practical elements: Do we have enough gas? Are we stocked with life vests? But then there are the essentials: Do we have enough snacks and drinks packed in appropriate containers? Junedays (above) makes coolers for life on the water, helping take some of the work out of pre-voyage planning.
Unlike traditional, popular coolers, which are hard, bulky and heavy, Junedays’ water-repellent and lightweight coolers are designed with lugging in mind: up and down a dock, back and forth from the beach, to and from a park picnic. They’re also made with food-grade material and feature a modular storage system, so lots of different snacks and sodas fit in separate compartments, all in one cold bag. I’m a particular fan of the Winnie 2 Bottle Wine Cooler, which I pack with a bottle of bubbles and plenty of cups. It’s water days made easy.
→ SHOP: Winnie 2 Bottle Wine Cooler (Junedays) • from $34.
MAKE IT SPARKLE: Many people stock their wedding registry with high-thread-count sheets and Ginori 1735 china sets, but when I got married, all I wanted was the Aarke Carbonator 3. Having lived many years with a hand-me-down SodaStream, I was ready for an upgrade from this Swedish home brand that defines elevated essentials, transforming mundane moments around the house (like carbonating water) via eye-catching sleek accessories.
I’m not sure I can say with full confidence the Carbonator’s (very fizzy) bubbles are any fizzier than my previous machine, but the bubbles was never the issue — it was the ugly, plastic office-looking device that had to sit on my counter. Aarke’s models are composed of stainless steel and in addition to plastic bottles, they also sell stainless steel and (for other models) glass water vessels. As soon as my Aarke arrived, I happily put my Sodastream on the Brooklyn stoop — still totally usable for someone who was blissfully unaware of this superior option they could display with pride on their kitchen counter.
→ SHOP: Carbonator 3 Kit Stainless Steel (Aarke) • $220.
COME FLOAT AWAY: As the saying on the needlepoint pillow says: “Any day on the water is a good day.” But it’s an even better day with the right pool float. In the category of elevated pool floats, the Frontgate Lazy Day Pool Seat reigns supreme. Shaped like a classic chair, legs dangle freely in the water, while bottoms are fully submerged, torso and arms completely free to hold drinks or books. The floats are insanely durable, capable of surviving summers going from pool to ocean and back again. They’re the buoyant upgrade to those plasticky Amazon-specials currently deflating in your pool. –Sylvie Florman
→ SHOP: Lazy Day Pool Seat (Frontgate) • from $77.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Beauty
Sun’s harvest
Botnia is the only skincare brand on the shelves of me, my mom, and my sister, three different cities, climates, and skin types between us. So when the cult-favorite brand out of Sausalito finally launched its Gentle Sun Cream SPF 30, I took note. A recent visit to their lab and microfarm confirmed it was worth the wait.
Everything at Botnia happens in-house, from raw material production to testing to shipping, and Botnia publishes its batch records online, following European manufacturing standards by choice. A few blocks inland from HQ, Botnia’s founder Justine Kahn tends a four-season microfarm abuzz, at this time of year, with California poppy, sage, calendula, rose geranium, witch hazel, yarrow, and lavender. It’s the sole source for the hydrosols in Botnia’s products, supplemented by partnerships with other local farms.
Those same hydrosols, calendula and rose geranium, show up in the new sunscreen, alongside 18% zinc oxide for broad-spectrum protection and jojoba, raspberry seed, and sea buckthorn oils to nourish and reinforce the skin barrier. Astaxanthin, an algae-derived antioxidant, helps the zinc blend naturally, so there’s no white cast typical of mineral sunscreens. I put the Sun Cream to the test in a week-long road trip up Highway 1 right after my visit, reapplying the silky, scentless, and never-greasy cream between beachcombing and coastal hiking.
I wear sunscreen year round, yet I’d never landed one I felt loyal to. Knowing exactly where Botnia’s Sun Cream comes from makes me think that — for me, and my family — a new staple has entered the routine. –Ilana Curtis
→ Shop: Botnia Gentle Sun Cream SPF 30 • $68 for 50 ML.
WORK • Wednesday Routine
Ocean action
ANNE PARK • CEO • Sustainable Ocean Alliance
Neighborhood you live & work in: El Cerrito
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
My days start at sunrise with a cup of Earl Grey tea and a few quiet moments to journal or jot down thoughts, before launching into a marathon of calls with partners, investors, entrepreneurs, and my team at Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA). Lately, we’ve been busy closing our latest ocean investment in Dispurse Bio and launching our Ocean Leaders Fellowship. A lot of my time is spent helping identify and support extraordinary entrepreneurs and young leaders working to solve some of the ocean’s biggest challenges.
What I love most about our work is the thoughtfulness behind it. Whether we’re evaluating a potential investment or selecting a new fellowship cohort, we spend a lot of time asking hard questions about impact, scale, and what it’ll take to create meaningful change. SOA is a fully remote organization, so my colleagues are spread across the globe, from the Philippines to Paris.
Living in the East Bay, I’m fortunate to have a desk that looks out toward the Bay. Between calls, I often find myself staring at the water, imagining the whales and sharks moving through it, and wondering whether my grandchildren will have the chance to do the same someday.
What’s on the agenda for today?
My job is ultimately about helping people understand that a healthy ocean is essential to a healthy future. Today’s a mix of meetings with philanthropists, investors, and entrepreneurs, all centered around one question: how do we accelerate solutions at the scale and speed this moment requires? While the challenges facing our ocean can feel daunting, what keeps me motivated is that many of them are still reversible — if we act now. Helping catalyze that action is what I’ve dedicated my career to.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
We’re incredibly fortunate in the Bay Area to have access to such amazing local produce and thoughtfully-sourced food. My current favorite lunch spot is Kitava. I love their focus on healthy, consciously sourced ingredients, and somehow everything on the menu manages to be both nourishing and delicious. It’s become my go-to when I need a quick reset between meetings.
Banter is my favorite wine bar to catch up with friends and bump into community members. It is El Cerrito’s best kept secret.
How about leisure or culture?
With summer upon us, you’ll often find my family and me at the Redwood Grove Concert Series at the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley. The setting is magical: towering redwoods, great music, a wonderful community atmosphere. We also love catching shows at the Greek Theatre for date nights. There’s something special about live music outdoors on a warm summer evening.
Any weekend getaways?
We’re a family of weekend warriors. Hiking, biking, camping, sailing, if it gets us outside, we’re in. We just returned from our annual camping trip to Salt Point State Park with a group of close friends. We spend our days walking the coastal bluffs, admiring wildflowers, exploring tide pools, and building elaborate sandcastles on the beach. It’s simple, beautiful, and one of our favorite family traditions.
One of the highlights of every trip is stopping at Café Aquatica in Jenner on our way home. It’s become a ritual. We grab a table overlooking the water, listen to some live music, and enjoy whatever seasonal dishes are on the menu that day. There’s something about lingering over a great meal after a weekend outdoors that helps us hold onto that vacation feeling just a little longer. If we’re not quite ready to head home, we’ll sometimes go out of our way to stop at Heath Ceramics to check out their gorgeous wares and Fish in Sausalito for sustainably caught seafood before making our way back to the East Bay.
What was your last great vacation?
My last truly memorable vacation was a girls’ trip to San Miguel de Allende with my best friend, and it completely captured my heart. Every corner felt like a postcard. One of our favorite spots was Zumo Rooftop Bar, where we’d settle in with a cocktail and watch the sun set over the city as the pink spires of Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel glowed in the evening light.
As someone who travels frequently for work, I especially appreciated having the chance to slow down, explore without an agenda, and simply soak in the atmosphere. San Miguel is one of those rare places that leaves you feeling both energized and reflective. I came home inspired, already thinking about when I could return.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Restaurants, waterfront
Greens (Fort Mason), enticing vegetarian dishes like mesquite grilled jerk tofu w/ veggies from local farms, vegan and gluten-free options, reserve