Volume XL, No. 10
December 2016 / January 2017
Our 40th Year
THE NOE VALLEY VOICE A Movable Feast
Retired Kaiser Doctor Helps Those in Need
Eating In Without the Hassle of Cooking
By Corrie M. Anders
Physician Now in His 11th Year at Project Homeless Connect
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amantha Varghese had a simple culinary question for her friends and neighbors. Was there an individual or company that prepared delicious, homecooked meals and delivered them to homes in Noe Valley? Varghese, a recent transplant from Charlotte, N.C., was asking around because she was tired of eating out in restaurants or cooking her own dinners after a busy day’s work as a physician assistant. “I didn’t move here to cook all day,” said Varghese, who shares a 27th Street house with roommates. Varghese was surprised to discover a cornucopia of choices—at least a dozen online food delivery services offering to help her stay out of the kitchen. Some, like Munchery, deliver meals that merely need to be reheated. Others, like Blue Apron, drop off food kits filled with pre-measured ingredients that customers can easily assemble and cook. Still other businesses deliver hot foods that can be ordered from the menus of hundreds of San Francisco restaurants. Meal delivery in the city has become so diverse, in fact, that Varghese was able to select a Noe Valley startup that deliv-
And to All a ‘Good Night’
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s the Noe Valley Voice prepares to enter its winter hibernation, we wish you patience and fortitude in dealing with the traffic cone that is our presidentelect, and all his associated ilk. We’ll return in January (maybe it was all a terrible dream) and work on our February 2017 edition.Your deadline for news, letters, Class Ads, and the like is Jan. 15. For display advertising, Pat Rose will grant you a few more days to get us your file. Thank you for your support. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been doing this for almost 40 years. But you keep encouraging us. That’s a good thing. —Jack Tipple and Sally Smith and the Voice elves
By Matthew S. Bajko
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Rouge in San Francisco. The menu changes weekly and customers can choose from a mix of American and international cuisine, with organic meals for both vegetarians and meat eaters and special dishes for holidays. The company’s prices are comparable
n 2004 San Francisco officials launched a new program they dubbed Project Homeless Connect in an effort to combine various services for the city’s homeless population in one location once a month. Four years into his retirement from Kaiser Permanente at the time, Dr. Don Bardole decided to volunteer at the third Project Homeless Connect. He was immediately impressed by the operation, and in 2005, signed on as its volunteer comedical director. “The first time I went, it was total chaos,” recalled Bardole, 67, an 18-year resident of Noe Valley. “I said to myself I could help organize it after attending several of the Project Homeless Connects.” Eleven years later he remains in the
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There Are Enough Veggies for All. Erica Murray loads plates for husband Andy and daughters Hannah and Isabel (right) with food delivered by their favorite meal service: Frannie’s Kitchen. Photo by Najib Joe Hakim
ers Turkish food prepared by Turkish families in their private homes. The business, which launched its pilot effort in November, is so new that it does not yet have a name. Food delivery companies are reluctant to reveal specific data about the customers they serve in Noe Valley. However, Jessie et Laurent, a San Rafael-based firm named for founders Jessie and Laurent Boucher, acknowledged that it had a large following in the neighborhood for its professionally prepared foods. “I think the people in Noe Valley are kind of enjoying the good things in life, so we do have quite a few clients there,” CEO Jessie Boucher said in a phone interview from New Zealand, where she is on vacation. Boucher said her 35-year-old business started to soar two years ago, riding the wave of Munchery and Sprig, two popular and well-funded firms that launched on-demand meal services in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Jessie et Laurent customers order from an online menu for up to a week’s worth of food that can be refrigerated and reheated. “It’s made to order, so it’s fresh when it comes to your home,” said Boucher, who trained at Le Cordon
A Passion for Art and Humanity. Dr. Don Bardole’s artworks and engaging smile enliven his Noe Valley home. His advice on encountering people living on the street: “Acknowledge the homeless you see.” Photo by Beverly Tharp
Noe Courts Makeover Moves Toward Finish Meanwhile, Controversial Home Remodel Near Park Approved By Matthew S. Bajko
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The Cement Has Been Poured. The sod is on the way to our neighborhood park at the corner of 24th and Douglass streets. Photo courtesy SF Recreation and Park Department
revamped Noe Courts Park is set to debut in late January or early February after an eight-month renovation. Once complete, the overhaul of the small park at the corner of 24th and Douglass streets will feature redone basketball and tennis courts, upgraded single-stall restrooms, a terraced lawn with seating, picnic tables, and new midblock entryways from 24th and Elizabeth streets. A wheelchair-accessible ramp will snake its
way up from the children's play area at the park’s southeast corner to the middle of the park. In the works for five years, the $1.2 million project was made possible by a Community Opportunity Fund grant, the voter-supported 2008 and 2012 Clean & Safe Neighborhood Park Bonds, funds secured by District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener, and the San Francisco Parks Alliance. After years of debate over the park’s new design, work on the project began in June. “Overall, the design is increasing connectivity across the park from Elizabeth to 24th streets to the playground and the tennis and basketball courts. It is a much more functional design," said Brett Desmarais, a project manager with the city's recreation and park department. “It really CONTINUED ON PAGE 11