Ice box classic
Bar Maritime, Understudy, Mar Vista, San Francisco Flower Market, best caviar service, MORE
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUNDLISTING
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RESTAURANTS • First Person
Ring it in
Tucked inside a wood-paneled, century-old space in Union Square, Bar Maritime is a place fans of classic San Francisco will appreciate.
The former Burritt Room, renovated by Los Angeles-based Sur Mesure Partners, swung open on the second floor of the renovated Palihotel in February, reborn as a casual seafood bar.
The current cocktail menu, from local bar star Larry Piaskowy (Rich Table, True Laurel), includes a couple of pre-batched classics kept freezer cold — a gin or vodka martini and an Old Pal, featuring a house rye blend, Campari, and dry vermouth — as well as a whimsical selection of Piaskowy creations. There’s a “Tuna” Margarita, so named because it features prickly pear puree (“tuna” is slang for the fruit in Mexico); and the house Maritime Martini featuring Japanese flavors of plum wine and sake. Clarified coconut milk punch All That Glitters is like an ever-so-slightly smoky pina colada.
An adjacent restaurant space, Maritime Boat Club, is set to debut this spring, but Bar Maritime has its own substantial food menu from chef George Dingle (Monsieur Benjamin, Benu). There’s a pair of rotating crudos, a solid shrimp cocktail, and an oyster service that arrives in a small wooden boat. There are also larger plates like mussels and steak frites, but you could have a sweet date night or pre-dinner snack with just some fries and fried shrimp, coated in Old Bay-seasoned panko and served with an excellent remoulade for dipping.
At last call, there’s a free round of shots for anyone left standing, after which a bartender rings a ship’s bell to send everyone home. –Jay Barmann
→ Bar Maritime (Union Square) • 417 Stockton St, 2nd fl • Wed-Thu 4-11p, Fri 4p-12a, Sat 2p-12a, Sun 2-9p • Walk-ins only.
RESTAURANT LINKS: Revival for Upper Haight’s Club Deluxe • Dalida team plots Lower Pac Heights restaurant • Park Tavern announces members-only lounge • Marina Italian Norcina to open neighboring cocktail bar • Who are all these bar takeovers really for?
WORK • Wednesday Routine
The wheel is turning
ERIN HUPP • artist • Erin Hupp Ceramics
Neighborhood you live in: Oakland
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
Wednesdays are my favorite, because they’re studio days. I’m either throwing on the pottery wheel, trimming, or glazing my pieces. One Wednesday a month, I devote myself completely to new directions in my art practice. I started time-blocking development days a few years ago because it’s so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day, rather than imagining something new. On the other Wednesdays, I’m throwing orders on my wheel, like the recent pedestals I designed in collaboration with chefs Frank Vollkommer and Philip Tessier for Understudy, a new patisserie in St. Helena.
What’s on the agenda for today?
Much of my art practice is based on collaboration, which involves a beautiful, inspiring process with chefs and interior designers. This month, I’m working on something a bit different — designing a jewelry collection with Subikksha Balaje Bhasin, the owner and designer of the jewelry brand Goldstories. She had the idea of using the sculptural design of my Ink Texture Fold plate to inspire a full collection of jewelry — ring, earrings, pendant, and necklace.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
I always have restaurant plans, and I have so many favorite restaurants in the Bay Area. Both Nightbird and Californios feature my plates in their multi-course dinner menus. Enclos, a newer restaurant in a renovated 1880s Victorian house on the Sonoma square, also features three of my pieces. For some hidden gem casual dining in the Bay Area and wine country, I recommend Molino Central (Sonoma), Popoca (Oakland), L’Ardoise (San Francisco), and Bake Sum (Oakland) for pastries.
How about a little leisure or culture?
Hiking and backpacking is how I recharge. Last summer we backpacked Chilnualna Falls in Yosemite and this upcoming summer we have permits to Desolation Wilderness, a picturesque part of the Pacific Crest Trail, where we’ll swim in pristine alpine lakes after a rigorous six-mile hike with a pack.
Any weekend getaways?
Our annual family vacation is at Mar Vista, up the coast near Gualala. It’s a gorgeous drive up the 101 to a set of renovated cottages with French country charm, ocean views, and goats and chickens (fresh eggs!) on site. My children help gather and distribute the freshly laid eggs to each cabin, feed the goats, and watch the bunnies. There is an organic, pick-your-own garden and the kids love making special salads for us. Gualala is a cute town with everything you need on a vacation, from coffee shops and farmers markets to Friday fish fries. Most years, we indulge in a lunch or dinner at the Harbor House Inn while the grandparents watch our children.
What was your last great vacation?
I celebrated my birthday in Mexico City. We stayed at La Valise and dined at Quintonil, Em Restaurant, and Masala y Maiz. I also loved getting lost in the scents and ambiance of Xinu perfumerie.
Photo: Kristen Loken.
WORK LINKS: SF trails nation in RTO • In tight labor market, ‘the idea of working with my dad is becoming way more appealing’ • Biglaw Spine Index tracks firms’ level of capitulation • What it’s like to retire in Paris.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Shop
Rose-colored glasses
The San Francisco Flower Market has been a sweet insider experience since 1912, operating for the last 50 years at 6th and Brannan St. From the SoMa warehouse, you could pick out a cute succulent for your office desk, assemble a massive bouquet, and pick up a tuna melt at the old school cafe. In January, the whole operation moved to Potrero Hill, reopening in a 125K-square-foot warehouse that smells like roses (literally).
More than 45 different vendors made the move to the new location, a concrete jungle with a big gray warehouse, stalls separated by rolling gates, and flowers overflowing from shelves and buckets. There’s nothing quite like a stroll through the cut flowers, tall branches, live plants, wreathes, vases, ribbons, and more. On a recent visit, I treated myself to two dozen long stem roses for $30. My usual shop in Noe Valley — as much as I love it — would have charged a couple hundred.
The market is the wholesale hub for the floral and design industries, which means for most hours, only those with pre-approved badges are allowed entry. But during specific windows on Wednesday through Saturday mornings, it’s open to the general public, allowing all of us to shop like the pros. –Becky Duffett
→ San Francisco Flower Market (Potrero Hill) • 901 16th St • Wed-Fri 8a-1p, Sat 8a-2p.
GOODS & SERVICES LINKS: Outdoor retailer Sierra opens first CA store in Tahoe • Is Tesla fast-forwarding odometers? • No, Patek Philippe did not pay for placement in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors.’
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Caviar
The Nines are FOUND's distilled lists of the Bay Area’s best. Additions or subtractions? Hit reply or found@itsfoundsf.com. For the full archives, click here.
Little Shucker (Pac Heights, above), chips & dip evoke sour cream and onion, reserve
Vault Steakhouse (FiDi), potato pavé ‘tots,’ reserve
Popi’s Oysterette (Marina), deviled eggs dotted w/ chives and caviar, reserve
Saru Handroll Bar (Russian Hill), fatty tuna handrolls rock an extra row of roe, walk-ins only (waitlist)
Bodega SF (Tenderloin), leveled-up banh khot or turmeric pancakes, reserve
Itria (Mission), caviar spaghetti twirled around a spoonful in the center, reserve
Dalida (Presidio), caviar added to crispy saffron rice, reserve
Lazy Bear (Mission), mini sourdough bread bowls stuffed w/ chowder and caviar, reserve
Tsar Nicoulai Caviar Cafe (Ferry Building), lemon pot de crème w/ golden caviar, reserve
ASK FOUND
First, a quick primer on how this works: You send us the pressing questions of the day (on dining, services, living in the Bay Area). We all put our heads together (us, FOUND, + you, FOUND subscribers, who are also FOUND) in search of truth and beauty.
Today, two FOUND subscriber PROMPTS for which we seek your input:
What’s your go-to Bay Area weekday breakfast spot?
Which Bay Area wine bar has the best food menu?
Got answers or more questions? Hit reply or email found@itsfoundsf.com.