MY COOL NEIGHBORHOOD

Recently, I learned I’m cool. Wait. Let me walk that back.  Time Out magazine rated my San Francisco neighborhood—the Richmond District—one of the 40 coolest in the world. #27 to boot! Carolyn and I have lived in the Richmond for 50 years. The neighborhood—homes and two-flats abutting each other, small apartment buildings, mostly on corners—wasn’t always considered…

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THE MAYOR OF CLEMENT STREET: PART TWO

San Francisco changes constantly. For thirty years, Jesse Fink, 61, owner of Toy Boat Dessert Café on Clement at Fifth Avenue in the Richmond District and unofficial “Mayor of Clement Street,” has kept his finger on the neighborhood’s pulse. Jesse and his wife Roberta opened the Boat in 1982. People asked why own a store…

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THE MAYOR OF CLEMENT STREET: PART ONE

When Carolyn and I moved to San Francisco in 1974, we settled in the Richmond District. We were drawn to funky Clement Street. In 1982, a novel ice cream shop opened on Clement at Fifth Avenue. Ever since, I’ve been going to Toy Boat, presided over by the man who’s earned the title, “The Mayor…

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