Floor-to-ceiling
SoMa listings, Donato & Co., Rainbow Zebra, Enclos, best private dining rooms, MORE
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Market day
Once known as “South of the Slot” (for the Market Street track on which cable cars ran), SoMa’s original iteration was immortalized by the Jack London short story of the same name as SF’s hardscrabble, blue-collar zone. It’s since been the starting point for two tech booms, with freshly built residential towers rising to house those workers. Today, the condo market in the area is booming, with 126 of them changing hands in the last year, per Compass, at a median price of $702K. Expect that figure to rise with the ranks of commuters heading downtown. Three listings to mull before the inevitable uptick:
→ 588 Minna St #401 (SoMa, above) • 2BR/2BA, 998 SF condo • Ask: $720K • roof access and dedicated parking in OneEleven building • Days on market: 77 • Agent: Lei Cao, MaxReal.
→ 236 Clara St, #6 (SoMa) • 1BR/2BA, 1695 SF condo • Ask: $1.25M • live/work loft with single parking space • Days on market: 20 • Agent: Ilona Edwards-Marsovszk, North Point.
→ 401 Harrison St, 35D (SoMa) • 2BR/2BA, 1297 SF condo • Ask: $2.15M • floor-to-ceiling windows inside Ken Fulk-designed The Harrison • Days on market: 35 • Agent: Elizabeth Hirsch, Compass.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: AI is SF’s office lease bright spot • Condo conversion for SF ADUs • Applebee's magnate buys Market Center • Williams-Sonoma founder’s Glen Ellen estate hits market at $9.25M.
WORK • Wednesday Routine
Multi-hyphenate
ANDREA GORDON • artistic director • Rainbow Zebra Productions (a resident company at the Magic Theatre)
Neighborhood you live in: Claremont Knolls, Berkeley
It’s Wednesday morning. What’s the scene at your workplace?
The cardinal rule of theatre is to never give up your day job, especially in the current economic situation for the arts, so I’m also a top-producing Realtor at Compass and have a podcast about the business called REalizations. Most Wednesday mornings, I have podcast sessions scheduled, then go through around 500 emails and deal with real estate work. In the afternoon, I work on anything to do with the theatre — whether it is casting, reading plays, rehearsing, marketing, or fundraising.
What’s on the agenda for today?
I’ve been writing a play called John's Ashes that will be read this coming year. Earlier in the day, I had a listing appointment at a coffeehouse (I got it) and met with my advisor for my transformative studies PhD program at CIIS to plan my next year's classes.
Any restaurant plans today, tonight, this weekend?
We love Italian food, and I love to go to Donato & Co. in the Elmwood, or Bellanico in Oakland. Great food and ambiance!
How about a little leisure or culture?
We really enjoy playing with our pets: two cats, two dogs, and two parrots. Also, I play piano and take lessons, so I practice a fair amount (never enough). I started lessons at 60, and I am 68 now, and for my 65th birthday, I bought myself a beautiful Steinway grand. I'm getting better!
Any weekend getaways?
Sycamore Mineral Springs in Avila Beach is a favorite. The springs are great, and the whole place is super relaxing.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I bought and framed a beautiful woodblock print by Hiroshi Yoshida called Numazaki Pasture, which, for many years, I’d searched for.
What store or service do you always recommend?
I love Your Basic Bird in the Elmwood, where the owner, Claudia, is fantastic, and she carries my children's book about my parrot, Yo-Yo Ma, called Yo-Yo in a Tree. Jon Moriarty, who owns The 14 Karats in the Elmwood, is a phenomenal jewelry artist. Also, April Higashi has a gallery on 4th Street called Shibumi. She holds beautiful curated showings of jewelry and art, and April is a master jeweler, working with organically inspired designs.
Where are you donating your time or money?
I donate five months of the year's food to the Berkeley Humane Society, and also sublet my office to them (since I wasn't using it enough). I also donate to Berkeley Repertory Theatre's school.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Stay Alive
Braves v Giants • Oracle Park (Embarcadero) • Fri @ 615p • FB130, $110 per
Joey Avery • live special taping • Cobb’s Comedy Club (North Beach) • Sat @ 915p • preferred, $46 per
Big Country • openers: Tommy Tutone, Bow Wow Wow, Gene Loves Jezebel • DNA Lounge (SoMa) • Sun @ 730p • upper VIP, $102 per
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Will & Harper star Harper Steele named SF Pride’s Celebrity Grand Marshal • Sunset Dunes clocks in as SF’s third-most-popular park • Revisiting SF-set series ‘Midnight Caller • Should musicians be able to pull the plug on resellers? • Trendwatch: Fake My Run.
GETAWAYS • Sonoma
Victorian roots
The Skinny: Saison Hospitality corporate chef Brian Limoges opened Enclos in December, in partnership with Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards & Winery. Set inside a restored Victorian home near historic Sonoma Plaza, the restaurant’s restrained exterior belies the extravagance within.
The Vibe: Japanese-meets-Nordic-meets-Sonoma-County. Inside, original crown molding and stained-glass windows are juxtaposed with shou sugi ban charred wood paneling, reclaimed wine barrel floors, and fluffy textured artworks made from local wool. Almost every table in the 30-seat dining room has views of the open kitchen and wood-burning hearth. Director of dining and artist Larry Nadeau welcomes each table with a sketch, often a Sonoma landscape. The personal touch sets the tone for an elegant, approachable fine dining experience.
The Food: Produce is mostly from nearby Stone Edge Farm's 16-acre organic garden, which also supplies the honey, eggs, and olive oil. A 10-course tasting menu that vacillates between dainty dishes and comfort food is served in the main dining room, while Stone Edge Farm wine club members have access to à la carte light bites in the adjacent 25-seat, plant-filled patio lounge.
Limoges pays homage to his New England roots with a clam chowder-inspired twist on chawanmushi and bite-sized spiny lobster croustade snacks. Hand-cut tajarin pasta in a gouda, hazelnut and smoked vanilla cream sauce is loaded with freshly shaved truffles. Pastry chef Sophie Hau’s honey chestnut ice cream sandwich, dramatically presented on a honeycomb rack, is very good.
The Drink: Wine pairings are available, including from Stone Edge Farm’s Bordeaux-style library. Champagne and Bordeaux selection are also available by glass or bottle.
The Verdict: Enclos is operating with a profound attention to detail in both the kitchen and dining room, as well as dishes that capture peak NorCal flavors. –Amber Gibson
→ Enclos (Sonoma) • 139 E Napa St • Wed-Sat 5-9p • Reserve.
Photo: Adahlia Cole
GETAWAYS LINKS: Wine country report: A16 opens outpost in Healdsburg… seafood spot Bistro Lagniappe launches in same… Le Cheve spin-off Con Amor Botanas y Tequila coming to Napa… an off-grid home on 500 acres in Paso Robles • SFO airlines, ranked • The story behind the house in Mountainhead • Haggling for that European five-star hotel deal.
RESTAURANTS • The Nines
Private dining rooms
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.
Nightjar (Hayes Valley, above), Kim Alter’s exclusive PDR venue for 5-course dinner & full bar (seats 8-14) or cocktail reception (6-20), reserve