Crab walk
Princess Seafood, Mill Valley listings, Printemps NY, Noma Kaffe, MORE
GETAWAYS • Mendocino Coast
Princess cut
Bay Area oyster expeditions usually stop at Point Reyes or Bodega Bay, but venturing further up the coast to Mendocino County has its own rewards. One is Princess Seafood, purveyor of a market, restaurant, and fishing boat in Fort Bragg. The boat (The Princess) is helmed by captain Heather Sears and an all-woman crew, which fishes for wild king salmon, Dungeness crab, albacore tuna, and local cod.
Cross the mouth of the Noyo River, wind down into the harbor, and keep rolling past the market to find the restaurant at the end of the lane. It’s in a weathered boathouse right at the foot of the bridge, looking through to a view of the Pacific Ocean. White umbrellas shade wooden tables on the back deck, decorated with a few fishing nets and abalone shells. We strolled in with a Labrador retriever, who was welcomed, as were a few other well-behaved dogs and kids.
We drove four hours specifically to try the Dungeness crab roll, and as sandwich purists, were pleased. The Princess pulls in live crabs, so the fresh crabmeat is milky sweet, and you get a good quarter-pound bundled tidily on a soft roll, with only a slice or two of tomato to distract. Consider, also, the clam chowder, thick, creamy, and well-peppered, or the fish tacos.
Wash down your crab with a cool coastal sparkling or white from one of several acclaimed wineries nearby like Navarro and Husch. Princess Seafood might be a crab shack, but it gets the luxury ingredients right. –Becky Duffett
→ Princess Seafood (Fort Bragg, CA) • 32096 North Harbor Dr • Thu-Sun 11a-5p • Walk-ins only.
GETAWAYS LINKS: Cal/French Bistro Lagniappe headed to Healdsburg • Charlie Palmer taking over trio of Paso Robles hotel restos • The perils of Kyoto, a perfect city • Inside the country’s saddest airport lounge.
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Genuine draft
Home to the region’s first sawmills, Mill Valley has long left behind its beginnings as a quarry, lumberyard, and ranch. It’s now a cozy, 4.85-square-mile community with a population of around 14,000, most of whom (contrary to its name) live in homes that cling to the side of the region’s steep hills. Those homes changed hands at a median price of $2.25M in the past year, Compass reports. Here, three listings to mull:
→ 268-270 E Blithedale Ave (Mill Valley) • 5BR/3BA, 2565 SF house • Ask: $2.995M • 1907 flatlands build with custom woodworking • Days on market: 8 • Agent: Amanda Mulholland, Outpost.
→ 398 N Ferndale Ave (Mill Valley, above) • 5BR/4BA, 4449 SF house • Ask: $3.795M • 2025 build on 1.5 acres of private hillside • Days on market: 7 • Agent: Jodi Spagna, Sotheby’s.
→ 75 Buena Vista Ave (Mill Valley) • 4BR/4BA, 4064 SF house • Ask: $6.25M • south-facing 1994 build in downtown MV with SF, valley, and Bay views • Days on market: 46 • Agent: Joshua Deitch, Coldwell Banker.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: Burlingame bar owners snap up Union Square’s Le Colonial space • How tech millionaires get cash to buy Bay Area mansions • Vacant Pier 29 warehouse to become artists’ studios • Mark Zuckerberg’s residential journey.
CULTURE & LEISURE • May the fourth be with you
Giants v Rockies • Oracle Park (Embarcadero) • Fri @ 715p • FC124, $124 per
Sean Hayes • The Chapel (Mission) • Sat @ 7p • GA, $28 per
World Goth Day Festival • The Vth Gathering • USS Hornet (Alameda) • Sun @ 12p • all access, $136 per
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Tariff troubles thwart SF gallery show • SF International Arts Festival begins this week • SF is down to a single art school • David Sedaris on extreme fashion.
GETAWAYS • New York City
Bienvenu
The following post appeared in a recent edition of FOUND NY. Want more New York City in your life? Subscribe to FOUND NY, with issues dropping on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Recently, the walls seemed to start whispering “Printemps” (in a sultry French accent, of course). The French luxury department store’s imminent New York opening kept cropping up in conversations and publications, and all I could think was that their PR must be working overtime — and whatever they’re doing is working on me. Intrigued by the buzz, I made plans with a friend to visit the store.
Printemps occupies several floors of One Wall Street, an Art Deco skyscraper once the Irving Trust headquarters, now mostly luxury condos. With towering windows and architectural details, the building feels well-suited to the Printemps brand. Inside, shoppers can browse a wide range of high-end fashion, accessories, and beauty products, and pause for a glass of champagne and a bite (caviar, perhaps) at one of the elegant bars within the store.
In its communications, Printemps resists the department store label, preferring the term “project” to describe the opulent, multi-use space, complete with a food program led by Top Chef alum Gregory Gourdet. It’s a curious choice. To me, the idea of a new age of luxury department stores is what makes Printemps exciting.
Growing up, I romanticized stores like these in New York, though I’d missed their heyday. The Thoroughly Modern Millie soundtrack was my childhood obsession, sparking within me a fascination with the Roaring ’20s-era old-world glamour of Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, and Barneys. Printemps feels like a revival of that legacy, merging French luxury with New York history. Elements of the original design have been preserved, such as the landmarked Red Room, home to breathtaking floor-to-ceiling mosaics.
Inside the Red Room, which now houses designer shoes, there was a clear divide between the champagne-sipping shoppers considering high heels and the eager tourists snapping photos. When the Red Room was the Irving Trust reception, only those of a certain class were privy to its grandeur; now, it’s open to all. This is the beauty of a luxury department store; it’s there for those who can afford to go home with a (soon-to-be iconic?) kelly-green Printemps shopping bag and those just there to wander and admire its splendor. –Phoebe Fry
→ Shop: Printemps (New York, NY) • 1 Wall St • Daily 10a-7p.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Larder
The wait is Noma
Noma Kaffe is the freshly minted subscription coffee arm of René Redzepi’s famed Copenhagen restaurant. And true to Noma form, the service already has a waitlist. Subscribers who made the cut will receive monthly deliveries of two 250g bags for $65 (including shipping), designed for filter-style brewing. The team promises the waitlist will move, with new slots opening each month.
Carolyne Lane, who ran the restaurant’s coffee and tea program for the past six years, heads up the Kaffe, which roasts its beans just a few minutes away from the restaurant under the supervision of head roaster Alistair Hesp. “We value clarity in flavor,” says Lane, explaining Noma’s mission to “taste a coffee’s origin in the cup.” This translates to light-roasted beans and coffees with a tea-like quality that offer nuanced, delicate cups with tastes of cherries and jasmine.
The project is sourcing beans from a number of locales, including Mexico, where they procured 20 distinct nano lots from indigenous Tzeltal and Tzotzil communities. Drink up. –Kat Odell
→ Shop: Noma Kaffe • monthly subscriptions from $65 per.
LOST & FOUND • Behind the Paywall