TrooRa Magazine - The San Francisco Issue '21 - Cover Two by TrooRa Magazine

TROORAMAGAZINE.COM

THE

SAN

FRANCISCO

ISSUE

ISSUE #4 | VOLUME 4 | SEPTEMBER ’21

Unmasking Designer

Lance Victor Moore’s

Exquisite BeSpoke Creations worn by A list Celebrities Fashion Designer Jad Racha’s Inspiration

Lance Victor Moore’s

Exquisite BeSpoke Creations worn by A-list Celebrities Fashion Designer Jad Racha’s Inspiration

Innovative engineering, Design and Technology defining a new class of vehicle.

Lucid Motors Luxury mobility company reimagining what a car can be.

Hotel zelos

Hotel zepplin

VICEROY HOTELS & RESORTS With provocative design, intuitive service, and imaginative art encounters, each Viceroy hotel is a reflection of the local culture and a uniquely authentic experience.

Hotel Zetta

viceroyhotelsandresorts.com

elegant and timeless bridal and evening wear

jadracha.com

Collier boucles et bracelet - @martinebrunjewelry Photo Credit - Photographer Latil Pascal - @latilpascal Model - Elisa Bellone - @elly.body Make-up Artist - Stephanie Joffroy - @diamondheart_makeupartist

martinebrun.com

Fall 2021, photographed by @theginstarp Styled by @lucostudiong @isaintlu.co Beauty by @jogis_artistry Model @abiolasonaike_ @nkwuda.Victoria

The Art Of Wearing vicnate.com

Fall 2021, photographed by @theginstarp Styled by @lucostudiong @isaintlu.co Beauty by @jogis_artistry Model @abiolasonaike_ @nkwuda.Victoria

The Art Of Wearing vicnate.com

celebrating us, the strong, resilient, and radiant women in our communities that inspire the world with our diversity and beauty

cocoacentric.com

Inspired by a love of vintage pieces, flowing feminine dresses, florals, and life by the sea. cobblerslane.com

Healthy beauty that works. Personalized guidance that’s unparalleled.

image credit Justin Buell @justinbuell aylabeauty.com

a hub of inclusivity SAN FRANCISCO —

ello and welcome to the special 2021 San Francisco issue. Why SF ? In addition to being the home base of our magazine , the Bay Area is known as a hub of culture , diverse thinking, and inclusiveness. I hold great affection for the cit y, having visited twice in two different stages of my life. As a kid, I remember heading to San Francisco as a stopover before a trip to Hawaii. We did all the touristy things—gaped at the Golden Gate, saw the sites from the cable cars, ate Dim Sum in Chinatown. At the time, I didn’t understand the unique history and ideals of the city.

But I was for tunate enough to visit again as an adult. This time, I didn’t concentrate on the piles of chocolate in Ghirardelli Square, but rather the people. San Francisco attracts diverse tourists as well as holding its own unique histor y of diversit y. As our founder, Tr ystanne Cunningham, says, “ the beauty of the city is the people, the diversit y and inclusivity, the ar ts, and knowing that it ’s always been on the forefront of change and progress.”

In the nex t few decades came the Gold Rush—attracting thousands of US settlers—and the building of the railroad—attracting thousands of Chinese workers and creating the largest Chinese settlement outside of Asia. EDITOR’S NOTE

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San Francisco was founded on land inhabited by the Ohlone-speaking Yelamu tribe. In 17 76, Juan Bautiza de Anza came from San Diego to create a Spanish mission. A “California Republic” was briefly declared in the 1800s until James Montgomer y claimed the area for the U.S. in 1846. Shor tly after, the city was officially renamed San Francisco.

The 1900s star ted with an ear thquake that leveled 25,000 structures. But the city was rebuilt stronger including the now-iconic Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay Bridges. These times also saw the internment of Japanese Americans and an influx of African Americans who arrived from the South during WWII.

San Francisco was also the transition point from WWII to the Cold War with its hosting of the 1945 conference that led to the U.N. Char ter. More and more people were drawn to the cit y to take up work in the Bay Area and the neighborhoods expanded and diversified. Culture in the cit y was already abounding, but the 1950s and beyond proved San Francisco to be a powerhouse of inclusivity. From beat poets to the “summer of love” to the labor, gay, and women’s rights movements, the city earned its reputation for embracing change and progressive thinking. Today, the booming Tech industr y has per vaded the city. But it does so at a cost. “ The Tech industr y is moving here and really changing things and pushing out the ar ts. What San Francisco is known for [is] being pioneers of progress,” Cunningham explains. “ The ar ts are alive in San Francisco and this issue is here to prove that.” Within these pages, you’ll meet some of SF ’s great up-and-coming people and businesses. You can learn how fallen neighborhood trees are turned into beautiful, bespoke pieces (From Soul Trees to Custom Home Interiors). Check out the SF food scene with featured chefs Suzette Gresham (More than a Chef ), Daniel Azarkman (El Lopo), Ravi Kapur (“Local Food” with a Hawaiian Twist), and more. E xplore the ar ts with James Bacchi (#InTheSky), Mark Decena (Kontent for Change), and Sarah Arnold (Capturing a Concer t).

JEANETTE SMITH Contributing Editor

SAN FRANCISCO ISSUE 2021

San Francisco is rich with hidden gems and raw talents. We couldn’t be more thrilled to introduce you to them in this issue. Enjoy!

TECHstyle SoftWEAR Surface & Shape installation Shanghai MoCA Butterfly Dream installation (opposite)

quenlife.com

PHOTOGRAPH ED B Y CHARLES SCHOENBERGER. MODEL D XU EE X TXEURE SZI H MA M. O HN AS I R. H RA OI B R ERROTBD EO RU T GDLOAUSG. L MAASK. EMUAPK E E RUN P EESRTN OER SO TO B LREO DB OL. E D O . M A K E U P C E L E S T I N E P E A R L U R B A N O . WA R D R O B E J A D R A C H A C O L L E C T I O N . A C C E S S O R I E S L A N C E V I C T O R M O O R E . T R O O R A .

STORY BEHIND THE COVER

BY: JEANETTE SMITH & T R Y S TA N N E C U N N I N G H A M STORY CONCEPT BY: BRIAN ESTERLE PHOTO CREDIT: CHARLES SCHOENBERGER MODELS: DEXTER SIMMONS & XUE XUE ZHA HAIR ST YLING: ROBERT DOUGLAS MAKE UP: ERNESTO ROBLEDO CELESTINE PEARL URBANO WA R D R O B E D E S I G N S : J A D R AC H A ACCESSORIES: LANCE VICTOR MOORE P H O T O R E T O U C H I N G : N ATA LYA B E L AYA

STORY BEHIND THE COVER

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Story Behind the Cover

an Francisco is a city at the forefront of change, but rising changes from the tech boom have been slowly pushing out the arts and culture that make San Francisco so unique. As soon as Editor In Chief and Founder of TrooRa [ Trystanne Cunningham] noticed the beautiful, bespoke jeweled masks from San Francisco-based designer Lance Victor Moore, she knew it would be the perfect showcase for our issue’s theme and the feature of our cover shoot. The photoshoot combines the trials of being alone and the equally arduous journey to knowing oneself. The concept for this story, envisioned by Brian Esterle, was to reveal how much “ We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.” to quote the late Maya Angelou. Our models—Dexter Simmons and Xue Xue Zha—put on their masks as they first journey through themselves, asking “who am I?” The models must feel warmth in their own skin.

Xue Xue meanwhile emerges and stands pensive as something tickles her mind. She contemplates who she is and who she wants to become. In one shot , Dex ter having put the mask that cleverly transforms into a crown, Xue Xue radiates newfound confidence as she begins to realize self-love through this exchange.

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In one shot Dexter, puts the mask on, sending a jolt of confused emotion. Not knowing whether it ’s ecstasy or pain, they are caught between the electric feeling of being in the moment while being cupped by a temporary fear. In the space between, they know they belong anywhere.

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In the space between, they know they belong anywhere.

Eventually, the models meet. Xue Xue and Dex ter steal glances at one another and a myriad of thoughts are translated. “Can I trust you? Who are you? You don’t know what it ’s like to be me.” We see in their wardrobe—designed by Jad Racha—how they have grown independently comfor table. While their journeys are independent , there is a recognition that we all must face a similar path to self realization. “ We wear a facade like a mask to show a different person than who we are, but [underneath] we’ve really been the same all along,” says Tr ystanne Cunningham, Producer of our cover photo shoot. “ We don’t need to hide ourselves. [Masks] should be for play, jewelr y and beauty. [As she chuckles] “also as protection during a global pandemic, but always in a fashionable way whenever possible, ALWAYS Jouge it up.” By acknowledging and loving their differences, the models finally come together, proving community is a superpower. “ The fact is, ever y thing is better together. Diversity is better. Unity is better. If we want to see real change in the world, we have to acknowledge that we are all products of our environment.

SAN FRANCISCO ISSUE 2021

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Separation is a poison; community is the future,” says Brian Esterle, Associate CoCreative Director of the San Francisco Issue ’21 photoshoot.

There’s no better way to embrace communit y than by showcasing San Francisco’s talent within our shoot. The exquisitely designed masks were handcrafted by Lance Victor Moore and are paired with jewelr y from his accessories line. Made of materials var ying from metal spikes, glass, gems, bone, jewels and many rare components.

Of course, none of these beautiful images would be possible without our visionar y photographer, Charles Schoenberger, and brilliant cinematographer, Bro Jackson. Our two-day cover shoot was suppor ted by an incredible team including Set Coordinator Grace Hendricks, Second Camera Drazen Grujic, Video Assistant Jose Figueroa, Camera Assistant Nicole Schlaeppi, Production Assistant Kyle Khemmanivong, Cinematographer Assistant Dontae Blinks and photography retoucher Natalya Belaya.

SAN FRANCISCO ISSUE 2021

The wardrobe designs are from Jad Racha’s bridal collection. The makeup, by Ernesto Robledo and Celestine Pearl Urbano, is boldly minimal. And hairstyling by Rober t Douglas perfectly complements each model, capturing their unique beaut y. The st yling and curation of the shoot was a collective collaborative effor t led by designers Jad Racha and Lance Victor Moore and TrooRa founder & Creative Director Tr ystanne Cunningham.

…show diversity and inclusivity, and that we should all be more community-minded.

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She concluded with another quote from the impeccable Maya Angelou’s poignant last words

“There are people who go through life burdened by ignorance because they refuse to see. When they do not recognize the truth that they belong to their community

and their community belongs to them… it is because they refuse to see.” The TrooRa Tribe would like to take this oppor tunity to thank Johnathan Rachman and Judith Ibanez of Johnathan Rachman Designs. Pearl Nguyen and Lawrence Braitman who so graciously opened their home to us for our first day of the photoshoot. In addition, Nate Bourg and Paul Miller of The Academy SF Social Club who hosted our second day of shooting at their exceptional location in the hear t of the Castro. We value your time and effor ts and are ver y grateful to all of you for helping to make all of this possible. Thank you!

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“ The whole idea behind the photoshoot was to show diversit y and inclusivit y, and that we should all be more communit y-minded,” says Cunningham.

Photographer: Elias Gurrola instagram.com/eliasgurrola twitter.com/Elias_Gurrola facebook.com/eliasgurroladesign pinterest.com/eliasgurrola/_created eliasgurrola.com

Contents Story Behind The Cover

26 STORY BEHIND THE COVER THE SAN FRANCISCO ISSUE ‘21 JEANETTE SMITH & T R Y S TA N N E C U N N I N G H A M

Read the story behind our San Francisco Issue ’21 Cover

Home Design & Decor

54 FROM EAST TO WEST BY: NIZIE LOKMAN

Interior Designer Jonathan Rachman Letting his heart be his compass

68 J E A N C L A U D E R O C H AT A R B O R U P CYC L E BY: NIZIE LOKMAN

From Waste to Custom Home Interiors

78 LET’S GET SOCIAL BY: NIZIE LOKMAN

Social and community connections The Academy San Francisco

104

Culinary

S TAT E B I R D P R O V I S I O N S BY: CARY WONG

LIHO LIHO BY: CARY WONG

N O PA BY: CARY WONG

“Local Food” with a Hawaiian Twist

Staying Power

Flying Free

114 ACQUERELLO BY: CARY WONG

More than a Chef 104

124 SORREL BY: CARY WONG

California Dreaming

132 EL LOPO BY: CARY WONG

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El Lopo

140 G O L D I E LOX BY: CARY WONG

Goldie Lox

148 THE VEGAN HOOD CHEFS BY: CARY WONG

The Vegan Hood Chefs Ronnishia Johnson and Rheema Calloway’s obstacles and triumphs in the vegan food industry

154

212

MOCHILL MOCHI DONUT BY: CARY WONG

SARAH ARNOLD PHOTO BY: GRACE HENDRICKS

162

222

LA COCINA BY: CARY WONG

SAN FRANCISCO RAPPER FRAK BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA

Mochill Mochi Donut

Capturing a Concert

La Cocina

San Francisco Issue 2021

Frak

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246

228

OX A N D T I G E R BY: CARY WONG

#INTHESKY BY: MICHAEL DAKS

ERYN KIMURA BY: MICHAEL DAKS

This Japanese-Filipino pop-up is a true story of yin and yang

James Bacchi captures the energy of San Francisco through his mobile photography

Eryn Kimura

236

176

R A P P E R K A LY J A Y ’ S ARTISTIC JOURNEY BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA

E V O LV I N G AUTHENTICITY BY: DANIELLA SCHOEMAN

Rapper Kaly Jay’s Artistic Journey - Individual style raised in the Western Addition’s jazz and funk milieu

Chef Chris Bleidorn’s Birdsong

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SEVEN STILLS BY: CARY WONG

LA DOÑA BY: MICHAEL DAKS

Seven Stills

230

How multiculturalism has influenced one singersongwriter’s debut album

226

258 RENT CHECK BY: GRACE HENDRICKS

Rent Check

262 SINGER AND SONGWRITER L U K E D AV I D BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA

266 STUNNAMAN BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA

That’s A Rap

Art Music Film

196 SIRRON NORRIS BY: GRACE HENDRICKS

Blue Bears and Burgers From commercial artist to recognizable muralist to animator, Sirron Norris is an all-around artist who only continues to grow.

270 KO N T E N T F I L M S - M A R K DECENA BY: GRACE HENDRICKS

Kontent For Change

276 W I N DY C H I E N BY: MICHAEL DAKS

Windy Chien

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Singer & Songwriter Luke David

Uniquely Hawaiian Skincare From Soil to Skin to Soul

honuaskincare.com

352 THE RETURN OF COUTURE BY: GRACE HENDRICKS

In a world increasingly geared towards commodity and convenience, Couture reestablishes style through craftsmanship and individual client care.

358 DANIEL GEORGE BY: GRACE HENDRICKS

Fashion Is Back

364 MABEL CHONG JEWELRY BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA

Uncivilized Elegance

372 A P O T E C A ( FA S H I O N ) BY: NEHA SURADKAR

Fashion Pharmacy

380 TO K YO G A M I N E BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA 310

Fashion & Accessories

380

Travel

390

LANCE VICTOR MOORE BY: MICHAEL DAKS

OFF THE B E AT E N T R A C K BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA

312 FA S H I O N D E S I G N E R J A D R A C H A ’ S I N S P I R AT I O N BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA

Clean Modern & Timeless Reflecting Classic Elegance

320 THE EXPRESSIONIST BY: NEHA SURADKAR TROORA MAGAZINE

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300 We unmask the man behind the stunning bespoke mask creations worn by A-List Celebrities

A Collaborative Journey of Resplendent Design

For Designer Colleen Quen, each piece is art, an inspiration and an expression of herself

338 STELLA FLUORESCENT BY: NEHA SURADKAR

A Radiant Lens - Accessories Designer Tiersa Nureyev’s Stella Fluorescent

San Francisco Neighborhood Gems

400 REDEFINING H O S P I TA L I T Y BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA

San Francisco’s Viceroy Hotels Give Homage to Art, Serenity, Beat Poetry and Rock and Roll

Wellness

422 S P L A S H O F I N S P I R AT I O N BY: CRISTINA DEPTULA

Archimedes Banya: Combining healthy spa traditions from ancient world cultures

428 POSH GREEN BY: GG BARRON

Posh Green

434 S U S TA I N I N G P O T BY: GG BARRON

One of San Francisco’s longest-running cannabis dispensaries has undeniably left its mark on the city’s history and it continues to pave the path for its future

440 THE DUTCHMAN’S AMSTERDAM BY: GG BARRON

San Francisco’s Amsterdam Cannabis Dispensary Shop 452

470

Beauty BALANCED BEAUTY BY: NEHA SURADKAR

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A boutique beauty haven driven by thoughtfulness, relationships, sustainability and passion

FOUNTYN BY: NEHA SURADKAR

452

Science & Innovation

L AV I S H E V E R G R E E N SKINCARE BY: NEHA SURADKAR

Herbalist Sarah Buscho creates a plant-based skincare brand connecting us to the planet

462 FLORAMYE BY: NEHA SURADKAR

Good for you Good for the planet

Healing with Needles

480 THE BIG PICTURE COMPETITION BY: STEVEN BEDARD

California Academy of Sciences’ renowned Big Picture Photography Competion celebrates some of the world’s best photographers and the year’s most striking images

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444

Hand Crafted Jewelry & Accessories Sustainable Materials Environmental Responsibility

Instagram: @stellafluorescent Pinterest: @stellasfsf

PHOTO CREDIT CHARLES SCHOENBERGER, MODEL XUE XUE ZHA, HAIR ST YLING ROBERT DOUGL AS, MAK E UP ERNESTO ROBLEDO, M A K E U P C E L E S T I N E U R B A N O , S T Y L I N G T R Y S TA N N E C U N N I N G H A M , A C C E S S O R I E S S T E L L A F L U O R E S C E N T , P H OTO R E TO U C H I N G N ATA LYA B E L AYA

Contributors OF THIS ISSUE

GRACE HENDRICKS

Writer

CARY WONG

Culinary Contributing Writer

CRISTINA DEPTUL A

Contributing Writer

03 04 05

JEANET TE SMITH

Contributing Editor Editor 's Letter

MICHAEL DAKS

Contributing Writer/ Photographer

NEHA SURADKAR

Beauty Contributing Writer

NIZIE LOKMAN

Travel & Wellness Contributing Writer

SHERDELL AH ANUNCIADO

TROORA MAGAZINE

Editorial Design Director

T R Y S TA N N E CUNNINGHAM

Editor In Chief, Founder, CEO

ALEX FRAKNOI AMOS NACHOUM ANDREW CURRY ANGEL FITOR A N I TA B SPA @ACESINCE1990 BIOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE B I G P I C T U R E N AT U R A L W O R L D PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION BRO JACKSON CHARLES SCHOENBERGER

H-K Q-R

HANNAH WAGNER JAMES BACCHI JO-ANNEMCARTHUR JOSE FIGUEROA JUSTIN BUELL K A LY J AY KARI ORVIK @K.BAARDE

R ALPH PACE R I CH AR D VAN R YA N T I S C A R E N O TISCARENO

C-D

OF THIS ISSUE

E-G

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES COLEEN QUEN COUTURE DA R I US TA R E L A DAVI D E N LO E D O N TA E B LI N K S DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN DRA ZEN GRUJIC

L-M S-U

L I N D S AY M I L L E R LUKE GONHES MARK DECENA MICHAEL ALLEN MICHAEL KEENEY MICHELLE K MIN MICHELLE K VALB ERG MOGLI M O L LY D E C O U D R E A U X

SARAH ARNOLD SARAH BUSCHO SARANGNAIK SOFI PENCHER SUSANNA SCOTT S H A N E K A LY N TESSA CHEEK @THALIAGOCHEZ TIM SANTOS TORIN NIELSEN

ERIC WOLFINGER FRAN RUBIA

N-P V-Z

@ _ N ATA L I E A L E M A N N ATA LYA B E L AYA (IMAGE RETOUCHER)

NICK KANAKIS NICOLAS REUSENS NICOLE MORRISON P E T E R M AT H E R

VICEROY HOTEL GROUP VI O LE T TA G O N Z A LE Z YUNG-SEN WU

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A-B

Photographers Credit

STONEANDSAWYER.COM

Designed and hand-produced stoneware ceramic table lamps from the Catskill Mountains of New York

TrooRa Magazine LLC • A For tunest Group PO BOX 152 • Brisbane CA 94005 • 833∙755∙7273 hello@trooramagazine.com

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Welcome to TrooRa Magazine.

The changes will be effective from [September 4th, 2021] on every platform. We would like to take some time and thank you for your time with us. TrooRa stems from Truly Rare. As the founder and editor-in-chief of TrooRa Magazine, I wanted to stay true to my roots by keeping the creole version “Ra” of the word “Rare” in the brand name. My vision to create a space for the unheard and provide a platform for unique talent in all industries has always been a dream. My passion to inspire and be inspired, to amplify voices that are yet to be heard is filtered through each and every story shared in this publication. My team and I forage the corners of the world for inspiring stories packed with individuality. By partnering with passionate creatives, artists and entrepreneurs who are looking to gain exposure through an organic lens, we proudly connect the unheard with individuals that admire TrooRa’s diverse inclusive exclusivity. By reading TrooRa Magazine, we hope to motivate your mornings, inspire your afternoons, energize your evenings, and spark your curiosity at the turn of every page. Against the grain of the mainstream, TrooRa Magazine features a wide range of lifestyle topics, thought-provoking articles, beautifully curated and presented, immersing our readers in a sophisticated and luxurious experience. In a world of conformity, TrooRa Magazine is daring you to stand out. By connecting our readers to insightful stories, brands and meaningfully crafted products across the globe we hope to continue to inspire. TrooRa is a lifestyle brand for the bold, the curious and the unheard that offers an organic and personal journey of learning, growth and reflection alongside a community of unique individuals. Our vision is for each individual to discover what makes them truly rare.

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As we embark on our third year of publication, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support. We are pleased to announce that on [September 1st 2021], we are rebranding our [Name/Logo/Icons and Branding Kit] as part of our rebranding strategy. This step’s major idea is to strengthen our growth and commitments by helping our customers identify with our brand in the marketplace.

T H E

W O R L D ’ S

F I N E S T

kylebunting.com

H I D E

R U G S

HOME DESIGN & DECOR

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HOME

From East to West BY CRISTINA DEPTULA NIZIE LOKMAN, FCIM

PHOTO CREDITS SUSANNA SCOT T @SUZ ANNASCOT TPHOTO DOUGLAS FRIEDMAN @DOUGLASFRIEDMAN J O N AT H A N R A C H M A N . C O M

Interior Designer Jonathan Rachman

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Rachman-Portrait-headshot - Judit ibañez ilundain

“Sometimes [you have to] expect the unexpected. I never expected to meet Marc Jacobs, but one thing led to another. Marc Jacobs and his company deserve credit for allowing me to break through into interior designing.”

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ndonesian-born interior designer Jonathan Rachman, founder of San Francisco-based Jonathan Rachman Design, has crafted a beautiful path in life. He ove rc a m e c h i l d h o o d s t r u g g l e s to b e c o m e a s u c c e s s o n h i s ow n te r m s . Na m e d o n e o f A m e r i c a’s To p D e s i g n e r s , h e s p e a k s o p e n l y a b o u t h i s c h i l d h o o d , h i s m i s s i o n to i n s p i re c o m p a s s i o n , h u m i l i t y, a n d l ove, a n d h i s b re a t h t a k i n g wo r k t h a t c o m b i n e s d e s i g n e l e m e n t s f ro m a l l c o r n e r s o f t h e g l o b e.

Love Prevails Rachman was born in the small town of Tanjung Karang in the province of Lampung on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. He had a difficult childhood, experiencing bullying and abuse. Fortunately, his late adopted sister Wewe’s love and support gave him the strength to heal. He decided to share his journey of growth and forgiveness through his first-ever memoir, The Garlic Peanut Story.

“Initially, I was planning to write a letter to my late sister’s children in loving memory of their mother from my perspective. However, I realized that this story is more than [just about] my family and me, so I decided to write a memoir instead, ” Rachman recalled. He hopes to inspire and help others who have gone through similar experiences, including children from remote parts of the world.

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“I remembered when I told my very religious parents about my sexuality and my relationship with my then-boyfriend, now husband. They simply told us: love prevails. Faith, hope, and love will always win.”

As he reflected on his experience, he admitted, “Yes, [the experiences] are a part of me and how I grew into the person that I am today.” He added, “I am a survivor, and if after all my adversities I can be where I am today, so can anyone. I want to pay it forward and share [my] blessings through the good, bad, and the ugly parts of my story.” He hopes to inspire others.

Professional and Cultural Influences

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Rachman originally studied fashion and hospitality management in Switzerland. Interior design was not the career he planned for, but as he says, opportunities landed in his lap and he chose to follow them.

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Rachman’s inspirations come from people he admires, including Jacobs, but also from the artwork of the many places he has lived and visited. In Sumatra he was exposed to sculptures, textiles, carvings, stonework, architecture, paintings and cultural ceremonies. European architecture and design also inform his work, particularly that of France and Switzerland.

These various aspects of Rachman’s past come through in two of his product lines, the Sisters and the Brothers Collections.

The Sisters Collection: Designed for Ellis Dunn. With both Eastern and Western design influences, these fabric patterns are inspired by women. “Throughout my life, a woman not only gave birth to me, but women helped raise, sustain, and lift me.” This collection is an homage to the women in Rachman’s life. They are feminine and soft, yet powerful and strong. The Brothers Collection: This line takes a progressive approach regarding what it means to be male. It is a tribute to all the male figures in Rachman’s life. They are kind-hearted males with softer masculinit y. The ideolog y translates into the textiles by using subdued colors that create a perfect balance.

Professional Recognition and Personal Happiness Jonathan’s most recent accolades include his much-lauded design installation for the living room of the 2019 San Francisco Decorator’s Showcase, inspired by Houghton Hall and Lady Rose. His work has been published in ELLE Decor, Vogue, The English Home, Travel + Leisure, Harper’s Bazaar, Dolce, House Beautiful, and Luxe, among others. Jonathan is also included in Maria Spassov’s book, Celebrity Designers: 50 Interviews on Design, Architecture, Life and the Louis Vuitton City Guide.

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He is working with a renowned light fixture company to design a lighting collection and developing his own fragrance and candle line. He is also creating a coffee table book with Dean Rhys Morgan that will be published in 2021 by Flammarion.

Having lived in San Francisco for more than 35 years, Jonathan is grateful to be happily married for close to 28 years now and to be blessed with an astonishing 15 godchildren. As he puts it , “My thirst has been quenched—both personally and professionally.”

Plant-based designs bringing the outside in & celebrating the natural world fableandbase.co.uk

Soul Trees to Custom Home Interiors B Y N I Z I E LOK MAN, FCI M

HOME DESIGN & DECOR

Jean-Claude Rochat, Owner - Jody Barhanovich

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PHOTO CREDIT D AV I D E N L O E @ T H E E N L O E C R E AT I V E

The only “tree-to-table” company in San Francisco, Arbor Upcycle has created an innovative new milling machine that moves another notch on its interior wood slabs offerings

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The rare local and historical wood material from the city ’s oldest residents was less appreciated in the past. “It was disappointing to see San Francisco’s urban lumber go to waste for years,” said Jean Claude Rochat , owner, and CEO of Arbor Upcycle. Rochat , who was always fascinated with trees, recalled he had an epiphany moment as he looked at the urban forest of San Francisco before he founded the arbor company.

MAKING A SOUL DIFFERENCE

Rochat is an arborist by profession. He attended an arborist school in Swit zerland and later gained a broad knowledge and deep experience in agriculture in America. He initially star ted a tree ser vice with his co-founder Gui. He built the parent Arborist Now Inc. together with Remy Hummer.

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He and his co-founders, Gui and Remy, realized that it ’s up to them to salvage and repurpose the urban forest , which has beautiful authentic woods. They made a meaningful action to change the status quo, and Arbor Upcycle was born with the mission to share their work back with the communit y. Currently, Arbor Upcycle is the only company in San Francisco dedicated to salvaging and milling downed trees in San Francisco.

-- ELISE BALLARD

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Believe in your epiphanies. Believe in yourself. Take action. And watch the world conspire to support you.”

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Established in 2010, they removed trees that were seen as unwanted wood to turn them into a natural treasure of beautiful ar tistic interior furnishings. They did this by upcycling and transforming unwanted industr y by-products into new and improved materials of equal or better quality. By har vesting and upcycling the local trees that have to come down, they have preser ved the histor y and soul essence of the tree here in San Francisco and the Bay Area for homes, office spaces, and showrooms.

D I S T I N C T I V E D E TA I L O F T H E SOUL TREES

From tree-to-table, Arbor Upcycle builds furniture exclusively from San Francisco trees that are destined for the landfill. The vivid contour, especially the live-edge wood, gives a sculptured quality. The beauty lies in the unique shape of the lumber slabs and in the grain of the wood which shows its character. If you appreciate natural wood designs, you may be drawn to these kinds of live-edge furnishings. No two pieces are alike, and not all live edge slabs are created equal. They also retain the wild spirit and character of the tree in each piece with a Tree ID History tracking system. This system makes Arbor Upcycle stand out as it identifies the true species and neighborhood in San Francisco where the tree once stood.

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CUSTOM-MADE FROM SAN FRANCISCO

Within the San Francisco area, there are a good number of DIY woodworkers who enjoy creating their own masterpieces for their homes. However, most don’ t have space or budget for the larger tools and machiner y needed to finish projects completely. Arbor Upcycle addresses this issue by providing planing and milling ser vices. They can custom mill to whatever size customers need, surfacing and planing pieces up to seven feet wide using their Woodpecker router sled. The Wood-Mizer LT40 can mill logs up to six feet in diameter and up to twent y-one feet in length, while the Alaskan Mill can mill logs up to five and a half inches wide and of infinite length.

OPTIMISING MORE WITH THE MILLING MACHINE

Arbor Upcycle has also made a massive breakthrough with the latest creation of Lucas Mill Super Slabber. It’s very exciting to know that bigger and better slabs are in the making. It also means an increased inventory for Rochat and his team. Previously, they could only mill logs up to six feet in diameter. But now, it allows Arbor Upcycle to mill logs up to nine feet in diameter. “ We are so for tunate to be a small but mighty and ever-growing company and are proud to be able to upcycle as many trees as we can around the San Francisco Bay Area,” Rochat explained.

Arbor Upcycle not only helps with world sustainability but also means carbon sequestration for our environment , historical salvage of San Francisco’s past , and a unique local lumber resource for the community. The only tree to-table in San Francisco has taken a new meaning from waste and created something unique and purposeful.

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What is interesting about Arbor Upcycle is the fact that it also ser ves DIY consumer markets. You can create your own unique item with ready-to-use slabs; even the most casual do-it-yourselfer can build stunning pieces for their home.

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Social and community connections night and day at the happy place—The Academy San Francisco

ental heal th has taken a toll on humank ind sinc e the pandemic invade d our world. F or to o long , we have b e en aske d to prac tic e so c ial distanc ing and limi t phy sic al interac tion, creating indi v idual isolation. S tay ing at home and c onf ining our se l ve s wi thin our four walls rat tle d our c age s to b e f re e.

Revitalizing our sense of belonging, The Academy San Francisco (academysf.com) is an LGBTQ+ social club that opens doors for community members searching for authentic human connections. Regardless of race, ethnic background, gender orientation, or any other factor, The Academy creates a happy place where ever yone feels included. It is a true landmark of inclusion and diversity in the Bay Area.

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The Academy. Showroom.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I think this beautiful quote by Mary Angelou is really consistent with our mission and purpose as a club. - - N AT E B O U R G , CO-FOUNDER OF THE ACADEMY-SF

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A New Beginning

Nate Bourg, the co-founder of The Academy, shared his insights and defined the narrative of who they are and what they stand for. Before star ting The Academy, Nate’s background was all music-related. At the time, he met his business par tner, Paul Miller, while working at the San Francisco Symphony. One day at lunch, Paul mentioned he was looking at a proper ty that had a fascinating histor y and potential. Once they walked inside and star ted thinking about it , the idea began to form, and about seven months later, the two founders opened The Academy.

The Academy. Main Room. 1920.

“My experience in the months following The Academy ’s opening was both exciting and challenging. Because we were building the business from nothing and had ver y little budget to work with, our effor ts to promote and shape the narrative of who we are were largely done by word of mouth. This can be an amazing way to amplif y, but it also can be difficult when people have their own slightly different interpretation,” Nate explained. Nate realized that some people looked at The Academy as elitist or exclusive rather than a welcoming communit y space. With any membership-based club, this might be a universal challenge, but it is one that they have faced head-on from the star t. It ’s from there, The Academy found its mission with clarity—Belongingness.

Human Connection

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Nate expressed, “ The Academy, to me, is a place to belong and feel par t of a close-knit community. It represents something that we felt was missing in San Francisco, par ticularly [for] the LGBTQ+ community.” The Academy ’s mission is to promote genuine social interaction, contributing to our society by uniting diverse people through shared experiences.

A social club offers an alternative to a traditional nightclub. Instead, it allows its members to meet people from various communities and cultures in a relaxed environment. The founders of The Academy always stay true to their mission and vision and look to their values to guide

them, no matter what they are working on.

Home Away From Home Since 2017, 2166 Market Street has been a sophisticated three-stor y club with beautiful design-forward interiors. You feel the ar tistr y as you enter the premises. The originality and authenticity of its histor y give an enriching experience to its members. Capitalizing on the histor y of the Castro building— once a clock shop, a leather bar, a sex club, and a restaurant , among other businesses—The Academy branded the premises as a happy place to be, a home away from home. And it ’s a place where a lot of their members have made life-long friends.

Academy Daylight With the bir th of their new day time program, Academy Daylight , more memories and friendships will be created. The social club stands by its mission by delivering inclusion and diversity not only in the evening but also in broad daylight. The day time program is currently only on soft launch right now. “It is definitely going to be exciting and cool to see how people use the space during the day. They might come in for a coffee or glass of wine, do a little bit of laptop work , or meet a friend to catch up. It ’s a nice, quiet , comfor table space to get away from the office; or home office, as the case may be these days,” said Nate. Other than making its members

feel they belong, The Academy values inclusion and diversity, both of which are embedded in its mission. When choosing their members, they actively seek out a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. They recognize your race, religion, ancestr y, national origin, age, disability status, medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity, occupation, income, and even marital status are all essential par ts of who you are. Still, it warms the hear t more to know there will never be factors standing in the way of your membership at The Academy.

Nate Bourg

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Paul Miller

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“Local

Food ”

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with a Hawaiian Twist

BY CARY WONG

Chef Ravi Kapur and Liholiho Yacht Club CH E F PH OTOS B Y MEDIA R AW IMAGE S

l ife stor y of Chef Ravi Kapur seems to revolve around Hawaii and San Francisco. His mother is Hawaiian Chinese and his father is from India. They met in the Bay Area but returned to Hawaii to get married and stayed there afterward. Chef Kapur was born and raised in Hawaii and grew up in a multi-ethnic community with relatives and friends from all over the world.

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His family really enjoyed eating but the practice of enjoying and sharing food together made the biggest impact on him. Ever y thing was shared and not meant to be kept to oneself. That individualistic idea was completely foreign to him. “ The trend of familystyle, it ’s pretty hilarious,” he says. “ To me, it 's not a trend. It 's just how it 's always been and honestly how it should be.”

Though he grew up watching cooking channels and Food Network he never imagined having a career as a chef. During his college years, he star ted cooking for friends for fun. Eventually, he made the move to eschew college and instead attended culinar y school in San Francisco. He worked

“The trend of family-style, it’s pretty hilarious,” he says. “To me, it’s not a trend. It’s just how it’s always been and honestly how it should be.”

at restaurants in New Mexico but eventually returned to the Bay Area and star ted working with Nancy Oakes. He progressed up the ranks, eventually ending up as the E xecutive Chef and the par tner of Prospect Restaurant , which received 4.5 stars from The San Francisco Chronicle. He is very proud of his Hawaiian heritage. As a result , you may be surprised to learn his real thoughts about the general renewed interest in Hawaiian food in the past few years. A lot of people scroll through Instagram to see streams of Tiki bar videos and poke bowl images because these are exciting. In Chef Kapur ’s mind, however, it is very hard to define what true Hawaiian culture is.

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For example, he explained that when tourists stay at a Waikiki resor t for vacation, their experience is limiting their idea of what Hawaii is. That impression is ver y different from that of the locals who work and live there. The realities between these two experiences are vastly different. To Chef Kapur, if someone visiting is truly interested in the local culture, they should take a moment to connect with those who live on the islands; attempt to understand their views and taste their day-to-day meals. Tr y not to take things at face value since so many traditions have been exploited by marketing to “get the clicks and (entice tourists to) do this and buy that.”

Moreover, the Hawaiian identit y was constantly being altered and shaped by those who influenced it throughout histor y. Star ting with Polynesians who discovered Hawaii, onwards to

the British missionaries, then the Americans, and finally the various ethnic groups that put down their roots on the island. There is a distinction between the traditional, historical Hawaiian food and what is called “local food.” The former refers to the original Polynesian traditions that were mostly passed down orally and are ver y difficult to recover. For traditional fare, the Hawaiian Taro is one of the main culinar y pillars. The leaves are used in stews, as well as for wrapping fish, chicken, and beef or pork Lau-laus that are cooked in an underground oven. The hear t of the root is pureed and fermented to make Poi, a Hawaiian dietar y staple. And fresh fish, of course, plays an impor tant par t as well.

“ That's kind of how my cooking is informed,” says Chef Kapur. “I've never said I cook Hawaiian food. I respect and honor what that means so much that I wouldn't just throw that around. But I am a Native

Hawaiian; so yes, that does inform my cooking.” He loves to create a great environment for people to have a good time through tasty food and beverage, but also with friendly ser vice. While his restaurants translate that energy and atmosphere perfectly, he got his star t in the industr y by running a pop-up. When he started his Liholiho Yacht Club pop-up in 2012, his approach was to express himself through cooking. It was a financial decision as well because pop-up restaurants were not common at the time. Instead of setting things up like a catering service or a private event, Chef Kapur wanted to feel the raw energy from service, so he took reservations and staggered them as a restaurant would do so.

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Meanwhile, local food—what a lot of people consider “Hawaiian food”—is comprised of a beautiful layering of immigrant cultures. In Hawaii, everyone from Japan, Korea, China, the Philippines, and beyond all exist together, honoring and recreating the foods from their homelands. So, these dishes were cooked with the ingredients available on this small Pacific Island with their own twists. As a result , things like chicken long rice, saimin, and poke bowl were created. The Hawaiian ingenuity shines through as they cook with whatever they have, blending in other cultures in a fluid but beautiful way.

Then in 2015, Chef Kapur opened the Liholiho Yacht Club brick-andmor tar location in San Francisco’s Lower Nob Hill neighborhood. “I already kind of had the experience of how to make sure all aspects (of a restaurant) would run… I have had a lot of work prior to the pop-up in the industr y executing at a high level,” he says. “So, the challenge wasn' t so much ‘Oh, how do I do this? How do I order ? How do I book the tables?’ (It) was to define what it was, or what it would be, but not getting so caught up in the future.”

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Coming out of the pandemic, he and his business par tners have made steps to provide equity to ever y member of their team. It means that the par tners will get less of the pie. The hope, however, is that it will help change the old industr y model that was not working for most. That way, the future will be sustainable for ever ybody involved.

One of his favorite Bay Area restaurants: Rintaro

In terms of the food, Chef Kapur really likes the new chicken wings. They are deboned, stuffed with sticky rice, then double-fried with butter along with a spice blend that is ver y tasty.

Another staple on the menu is the house-made Spam steak made from ninet y percent pork and ten percent ham. For Chef Kapur, it is a healthier way to tap into the nostalgia of Hawaiians who grew up eating it. And despite being a food item

that is looked down upon by the United States mainland, it is par t of the histor y; representing where things came from and where they will go. “It is a door that could be opened if people want to learn more about Hawaii,” he says. 93

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Staying Power The Story of Nopa and Chef Laurence Jossel

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Born in South Africa, Chef Jossel moved to the United States in 1978. Not an academically gifted person, he began cooking in San Francisco back in 1991 and has been a chef in town ever since. When he started Nopa in 2006, it was open seven nights a week until 1 AM in addition to serving two brunches. The initial target audience was those who worked in the restaurant business—servers, bartenders, cooks, and others—who finished

their shifts after 10 o’clock before visiting the establishment. At its peak, it served almost four thousand customers weekly. As time moved forward, however, San Francisco changed. It became a much more technology-driven town and is now too expensive for restaurant people to call home. A lot of food and beverage workers moved outside of the city limits. It seemed like cooks and other industry workers had disappeared from San Francisco. “When you have to get on a bridge and drive for a little bit, you're not going to come in and have a beer. You're going to get home,” he says. As a result, he saw a steady decline in the number of restaurant guests. So, he dialed back the hours five years ago to close at midnight during the weekend, and 1 AM for the weekends.

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restaurant is a notoriously difficult business. Places open and close at the drop of the hat due to various reasons. Those who manage to stay in business, remain successful, and eventually become icons are few and far between. Chef Laurence Jossel and Nopa have undoubtedly achieved that and more.

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The pandemic, however, gave Chef Jossel a chance to completely re-evaluate the business and make some necessary changes. To him, the past year has given him a chance to be brave. Instead of perfecting a particular recipe, he was able to look at his life and determine what he wanted to do. He was able to decide what makes him happy and use that as a catalyst for change.

neighborhood since Nopa never left but continued to serve the community with their to-go boxes and to-go bags.

As a result of the soul-searching, he formed a partnership with a charity called Food Runners, which picks up excess food. That, along with other initiatives like World Central Kitchen and SF New Deal, allowed Nopa to stay open by packing $10 boxes for various shelters.

From a macro perspective, Chef Jossel thinks that San Francisco was a great food city before, but it is now facing some headwinds. The cost of living is so high that a lot of talented people have moved out. Other American cities now have deeper talent pools because industry workers can afford to live in those places. For him, the key to getting San Francisco restaurants back to where they were lies in creativity and industriousness. Restaurants need to figure out how to do more with less labor and provide more inspiration for newcomers who are working their way up.

Seeing as many previous front of house staff returned to their homes outside of California or decided to leave the restaurant business, Chef Jossel was able to hire a completely new crew. He promoted people within the business and awarded those who stayed with better titles and salaries. He also earned and re-earned the support of the

In his mind, however, there are still advantages that made San Francisco an important place to cook. The first is the presence of a knowledgeable clientele. The people coming into restaurants really know the difference between good and bad products. For example, they understand what organics mean and they know they want healthy food.

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The second is the sheer number of choices available. As the number of restaurant options increases, so too does the quality rise. Every restaurant in town is held to a high standard. If an establishment fails that benchmark, it would not be able to survive for long.

In terms of food philosophy, Chef Jossel prefers simple recipes with just two, three, or four ingredients. A few of his He makes sure he does not favorite Bay Area overcook or restaurants: undercook, over-season his process with us. In his opinion, everything starts with Robin or underthe chicken itself. Get the highest quality poultry you can season the at a very fresh butcher. Brine it with a salt-sugar-water-herb Delfina dish. “Just solution for three or four hours after cutting into similarcook it sized pieces. After brining, soak it in buttermilk and toss with LoLo properly, make a mixture of flour, cornflour, salt, and cayenne pepper. it shiny on the menu and Deep fry them at 300 degrees Fahrenheit—it takes about 11 then celebrate minutes to cook the chicken all the way through but maintain (it),” he says. maximum juiciness and crispiness. To him, it is not impossible to make at home but it requires some technique and lots of attention to detail. Chef Jossel’s current obsession is the perfect It all goes back to his belief that if the base product is amazing, the chef only fried chicken and he was needs to facilitate and bring out its best. “Enlivening the ingredients… that's gracious enough to share my job,” Chef Jossel says.

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Finally, California is blessed with long growing seasons and great source ingredients. When Chef Jossel speaks to his friends in New York or Washington, they chat about the fact that there is great produce everywhere. However, the California seasons are just longer. For example, there are amazing peaches in New York—though they may only be available for three weeks. In San Francisco, fresh peaches are available for two months! That is something very exciting to him.

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Statebird Provisions’ Chefs Brioza and Krasinski BY CARY WONG

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g n i y l e F Fre @ S TAT E B I R D P R O V I S I O N S @ AT O M I C S T E W @ H A N D S T H AT K N O W Y O U

“We started to increase our love for cuisines in other (French) regions,” he says. “I wanted to decode cooking and I felt like that’s where the code or the philosophy lives, in French cooking. I felt like I cracked the code of food in the world and through that, I was able to kind of look through Italian, Spanish, and Asian cookery as well.”

t could be argued that open-mindedness is one of San Francisco’s hallmark characteristics. From the hippie movement to the gay rights movement and on, the city has welcomed countless new ideas. The Bay Area is also incredibly multiethnic and ver y diverse. As a result , it should surprise no one that the same acceptance also applies to the culinar y scene.

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That influence has been a crucial par t to the stor y of Chefs Brioza and Krasinski, and their restaurant Statebird Provisions.

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Both San Franciscan natives, Chefs Stuar t Brioza and Nicole Krasinski took winded paths to where they are. Chef Brioza graduated from Culinar y Institute of America in New York while Chef Krasinski was trained in pastr y and baking at the Red Hen Baker y in Chicago. They met as students, and in the year 2000 moved to nor thern Michigan to work together. As the couple finished their stints, they travelled the world to learn more about different food cultures and techniques. That path took them all over Europe and Asia. However, it was in France that something really awakened in Chef Brioza. They tried out all kinds of restaurants and stores

across the countr y – haute cuisine restaurants with Michelin Stars, neighborhood bistros, beloved bakeries, local charcuteries, acclaimed chocolateries and more – in Paris, in Lyon, as well those in different areas. “ We star ted to increase our love for cuisines in other (French) regions,” he says. “I wanted to decode cooking and I felt like that 's where the code or the philosophy lives - in French cooking… I felt like I cracked the code of food in the world and through that I was able to kind of look through Italian, Spanish and Asian cuisine as well.” After returning to San Francisco, they worked together again at Rubicon as the executive chef and pastr y chef respectively. During that time, the idea of opening their own restaurant star ted percolating. Finally, they took the step of doing just that in 2012 . Their ideal restaurant was one that presented the soul of cooking through the lens of ever yday people and a place where they can explore cooking around the world. And that led them to the great idea of using dim-sum car ts and trays to ser ve the food.

Dylan + Jeni Ice Cream Sandwich

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Dylan + Jeni red trout, mandarin, hazelnut-garum brown butter

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This format provided a number of advantages. The most impor tant was that it offered oppor tunities to cook with freedom and flexibility. They could afford to go wild and create food that is on the edge without worr ying about a pre-set menu or the por tion size. Whether the dish uses offal or mixes unique flavor profiles, guests can tr y them in small bites without being intimidated.

It also provides better scalability and efficiency. Imagine if a special was run in a traditional restaurant with por tions still remaining, those dishes had to be sold. When food is put out on trays and car ts, however, there is no food waste. Once they are put on the car t , the job is done. When they work together in the kitchen, Chefs Brioza and Krasinski collaborate often. Since the restaurant ’s wine program is so significant , they need to have menus that flow well throughout. As diners, they also found that a lot of restaurants have disjointed experiences going from savor y to sweet. By consciously

A few of their favorite Bay Area restaurants: Al’s place Liholiho Social Club Mr. Jiu’s Nopalito Rich Table Rintaro

focusing on these issues, they have created lots of great crossovers - like the much-talked about pancakes - where the pastr y kitchen is heavily involved with savor y projects. As their culinar y footprint grew to include three restaurants, they felt that their roles have evolved to one that help create chefs and inspire the younger generation. They strive to create a positive environment to help the incredible people grow in their career and personal lives. The events of the past year helped push that process along fur ther.

“(We had to decide) what 's our first step to rebuilding the business - doing some to-go, doing some packs of food,” says Chef Krasinski. “ We brought back some of those key managers who wanted to come back and we wanted to retain. That was sor t of the first wave. And then we worked through the summer and star ted doing some outdoor dining.”

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That was especially true in their early days when Chef Brioza would have “a bunch of stuff, with no real intentions as to what direction it was going,” he says. “And I would just make things up as I went… so some of it was just totally in-themoment cooking.”

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Freda Banksca state bird w provisions

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Ed Andersonpork belly salad

Speaking about favorite items from the restaurant , they each have their own preferences. Chef Krasinski loves a couple of the menu staples: ice cream sandwich and pork belly dish. Meanwhile, the newly created “Quail of the month” series created by Chef Gaby

Maeda and Chef Nancy Vo ranks high on Chef Brioza’s list. As the situation improved coming out of the pandemic, the couple tried more take-outs from various restaurants. However, at the end of the day, they realized how much they needed the dine-in experiences at restaurants. “ These are people whom we' ve solidified relationships with and built friendships over the years. We share cooking tips. We share ideas. We share meals together. I love eating in restaurants. I can' t wait to do it again,” says Chef Brioza. There is no doubt the entire world feels the same way.

Chefs Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski

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While all of that is going on, their homelife also needs some additional attention. When school star ted again, Chef Krasinski became a teacher for their four th-grade son, as well as a business owner. After helping her son study in the morning, she goes to work for a few hours while Chef Brioza stays in the restaurant. Using that divide-and-conquer approach, they managed to not only improve their work-life balance, but also created oppor tunities for the employees who are ready to take the nex t steps in their careers.

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The stories of Chef Suzette Gresham and Acquerello

Foie Gras Pasta Acquerello’s Chef De Cuisine Mr. Seth Turiansky

standard-bearer for Italian cuisine in San Francisco, Acquerello first opened its doors in 1989. And Chef Suzette Gresham has been running the kitchen since day one. When visiting the restaurant , guests not only enjoy great food but they also get a taste of the warmth of Italian hospitality. The sommeliers, wine service, food pairing, chefs, and servers are all knowledgeable and kind. The meal costs less than the flight to Italy but guests can still live “La Dolce Vita” for an hour or three. In 2007, the restaurant picked up a Michelin star, and in 2014, its second. This puts Chef Gresham in elite company as one of only three female chefs in the United States to hold two stars. As entrenched as she is within the world of Italian food, her background actually came from another European countr y—France.

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Suzette Gresham

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Acquerello Wine Cellar

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Chef Gresham’s grandmother came to the United States in 1906 (she went through Ellis Island, New York and travelled down to New Orleans), and Chef Gresham’s mother was born in San Francisco in 1919. Although staunchly proud to be Americans, they brought along the French tradition of treasuring great food. “(My mother) was growing vegetables, that 's where she came from. She grew great vegetables, and we ate really well and I was a recipient of all that ,” she says. “And I didn' t realize that not ever ybody else knew that or had that foundation. We always thought (getting) fresh herbs is just going outside the kitchen door and picking some. Or tomatoes were in the backyard. Or we canned some apricots in the summer time.” Even though that mentality and philosophy runs in the family, she did not originally plan on working in the kitchen. Being immigrants, Chef

Gresham’s family wanted a stable life for her. In school, she was interested in oceanography, social psychology, and the ar ts. However, when she star ted working in a cafeteria, she was as happy as a clam. Back then, women were not expected to work in professional kitchens. Her manager, however, insisted she should take this path. And that was the pivotal point that made her stop and think maybe she had a chance and maybe there was a glimmer of hope. She star ted at a restaurant with two chefs. One was a Jewish gentleman, who took her under his wing. The other was a German gentleman. Their fighting was hysterical to her. At the same time, they taught her how to be pragmatic and how to be intellectual. As a result , she was able to put both together to become a great chef. “ Today 's chef can' t just cook . Today 's chef really has to be aware of issues that are on the table

Wolfe Ranch Quail with sumac, chicory, tamarind and elderflower

To her, most people see the romantic and glamorous side of chefs’ lives. That, however, is not a true picture of what a dyed-in-the-wool chef does. Whatever you think about a certain celebrity chef or another T V personality, they have to have substance. Different people may be more sensational, others more charismatic, but they all have, at their core, a love of food, a love of a kitchen, and the grit to achieve their goals. For all those who come through her kitchen, she helps them grow and

learn. She tries to tailor her approach for each individual according to their strengths and weaknesses. Some may be quick intellectually but have not yet developed the physical techniques to complete the task . Others are not aware of the proper ways to communicate to their teammates. “I'm like your worst nightmare of your mom on steroids,” she says jokingly. “Because I will nag, then I will draw a line and say, here's where I stop nagging and here's the penalty phase and here's where you perform. And if you don' t , here's what 's going to happen. You're like a coach of a team. And you're really in there tr ying to pull the best out of absolutely ever ybody at the same time while you're making food,” she says.

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and be aware of different people, st yles, communication; (issues like) sustainability, advocacy, just a bazillion other things,” she says. “And you better hope you can make good food as well.”

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Strawberry STM dessert

Helping others grow is an obligation to her and is something she feels is necessar y for the industr y. Moreover, this is the missing piece when it comes to mental health and equality for all genders, races, age groups, and beyond. Ever ybody plays a key role. From the chef on down to the dishwasher, ever yone is treated with

respect and is integral to the success of this business.

(Opposite) Vitello Tonnato

San Francisco has nur tured its share of pioneers, including a generation of amazing female chefs and owners— people like herself, Alice Waters, Cecilia Chiang, Joyce Goldstein, Barbara Tropp, and countless others. The city has offered them openmindedness and oppor tunities. These ladies seized the moment with no pretense and were handsomely rewarded. Their collective success also gives a sense of camaraderie and possibility, especially when times are tough. She recalls when Acquerello first opened, it was going through a difficult patch. She cold-called Ms. Tropp for help and they ended up talking (and drinking wine) for a ver y long time. After that , Chef Gresham raised the courage to go back and figure out how to steer through those issues.

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One of the biggest challenges is to figure out what each individual needs to get better. In order to do that , she has to pay a great deal of attention—being present , listening and watching. She notices what situations they falter with so that she can offer up an alternative way, suggestions, advice, encouragement , or even admonishment. Sometimes, it was a matter of not quite seeing what Chef Gresham wanted. It became impor tant at that point to either reframe, re-explain, redesign, or shift the responsibilities.

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That level of suppor t is unique to the Bay Area communit y. And it ’s something that she ex tends to her past employees. A huge number of them call when they have run into a brick wall with no clue what to do. Or if they simply wanted to thank her for the great education she offered.

“ There's still a hear t here, there's still a soul here. There's still a beauty,” Chef Gresham says.

(Opposite) Acquerello Dining Room & Front Door

Her favorite Bay Area restaurants: The Anchovy Bar Nightbird / The Linden Room

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San Francisco, as a hotbed of creativity and innovation, is also a marketplace for people who are willing to do something different. There is a receptive audience to things that may not work anywhere else but here. And even though the city is going through a tough spot right now, she is confident that things will turn around.

Black cod, sunflower, zucchini, black garlic

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California

Dreaming

How Chef Alex Hong’s Sorrel Restaurant rose to prominence

BY CARY WONG

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an Franc isc o has an inno vati ve v ib e. Dreamer s , entrepreneur s , and amb i tious p e ople o f all t y p e s are drawn to i t . C he f Ale x Hong is de f ini te l y one o f tho se intrep id one s . He op ene d S orre l, his f ir st re staurant , in 2 01 8, and was awarde d a Miche lin S tar in 2 01 9. Though the real stor y star t s wi th his li fe in B oulder, C olorado.

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At 15 years old, he was looking for a summer job in town. Regardless of the industr y, no one called back . The only exception was a high-end restaurant at the top of Flagstaff Mountain called the Flagstaff House. They needed help so they hired him. He spent all his high school years working at the Flagstaff House restaurant and got the oppor tunity to move around in the kitchen, working the fish station and the meat station. It was there where he fell in love with cooking and creating food.

The true turning point , howe ver, came in 201 6. He star ted a tiny little supper club with a friend who was not involved with the industr y. And the y lucked into a great deal with a hotel located in Union Square. “( The management was) basically like , he y, this re staurant is hunting. If you want to do a little concept here just to tr y to get some trac tion, you guy s can have the place for free ,” he recalls . So, the y moved in withou t any fanfare. The y star ted handing ou t menus ou t side , like some tourist traps might do, to get busine s s . Within a month of constant e ffor t s , the y got some momentum. A small write -up here , positive word-of-mou th there —e ventually the supper club blew up.

The numerous pop-up-to-riches stories in San Francisco like Saison, Laz y Bear, Liholiho Yacht Club among others were cer tainly inspirations to Chef Hong. Though the path from the bottom where two people had to hustle to fill the popup, to being the owner of a one-star restaurant was arduous nonetheless. It took time, patience, motivation, and determination. He had to plan the restaurant , learn accounting, and do various things that were not related to kitchen work . He was even involved in renovating the front of the house. They put together a Pinterest mood board and got to work . “ Tiling, painting, chopping wood... we were doing all this stuff ourselves just to tr y to cut costs,” he says. Back in the kitchen, he took inspiration from the places that he worked at—from Jean George’s way of combining Asian influences and French techniques to putting handmade pastas together with Californian bounty at Quince—no stones were left unturned. The menu at Sorrel completely changes ever y six weeks. The process begins three weeks prior when the team star ts with a protein.

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After finishing high school, he got into the Culinar y Institute of America in New York and then star ted working at the three-Michelinstarred Jean Georges. He experienced a big culture shock as he moved to a buz zing metropolitan area after living in a smaller town his whole life. He then experienced the lows of moving back home and the highs of working at the iconic Quince Restaurant in San Francisco.

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They may choose any thing like squab, guinea hen, duck , beef, pork , bass, or beyond. That ingredient becomes the focus of the dish. Nex t , they will work around that star element with seasonal products. The details slowly get filled in thereafter : what technique would be used? What is it going to be mixed with? How does the wine pairing work ? And so on and so for th until the entire menu is finished. A great example of this process is their signature dr y-aged duck . The bird is aged for about two weeks, then roasted and lacquered with honey, fennel seed, and fennel pollen. It is then ser ved with seasonal ingredients that change with time. As a restaurant , Chef Hong still sees a lot of growth potential in Sorrel and he will soon remodel the kitchen to enable a better workflow

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for the chefs. In addition, he will focus on refining the ser vice and making the food a little bit more special. All these effor ts are ways to improve the restaurant and make it shine. That is his number one priority. For ambitious cooks who do not want to work under someone for the rest of their lives, his stor y is ver y inspiring. Using a small investment to find the space, work with a talented team, build connections, and cook great food is definitely a creative path. “ This industr y has so many outlets and ways that you can go. But for those who want to do their own business and concept , I think the pop-up model is a perfect place to star t ,” he says. Spoken like a true entrepreneur!

Bird song Rintaro House of Prime rib Nari

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A few of his favorite Bay Area restaurants:

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Gifting With Style FOOD. ART. DESIGN.

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Daniel Azarkman recreates Spain in the hard-to-define concept of El Lopo BY CARY WONG

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El Lopo PHOTO CREDIT ANDREW CURRY @A_CURRY

l L op o is a ne ighb orho o d jo int that de f ie s de scription ; though the all-knowing G o o gle clas si f ie s i t as a wine bar. Danie l A z arkman op ene d this plac e wi th a distinc t idea in mind—treating Cali fornia as a the ore tic al re gion o f Spain.

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To him, authentic Spanish food is not replicable without original ingredients. So, he explored the best ingredients around California and introduced Spanish flavors and formats to them. A few examples include adding smoked paprika and olive oil to gorgeous pluots or putting local protein together with a technique-heavy Spanish sauce. On the beverage side, El Lopo offers countless choices, including cider, wine, and beer. However, Daniel’s true passions lie in sherr y and vermouth.

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Contrar y to popular opinion, different sherries have different characteristics and the sweet variet y just represents a small par t of the spectrum. Manzanilla and Fino, for example, are bright , briny, and drier than almost any table wine. The Amontillado and Oloroso types are nutt y, woody, and can often stand in for whisky in a cocktail. The lower sugar content also allows sherr y to be paired with more complex , savor y flavors; a big advantage over unfor tified wines.

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Vermouth, his other love, is an amazingly versatile alcohol that works with desser ts, dim-sums, or even prime ribs. At El Lopo, it is ser ved to guests with a cute red car t. “ When we pivoted to being an all-outdoors bar (during Covid), one of our ser vers tracked his steps to a total of seven miles just by walking in and out to grab things on a regular Friday night. The Vermouth car t star ted as a cooler on wheels to cut down on the number of trips, and as it evolved, we found some oppor tunities to make it more pretty and fun,” he says.

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For as many good ideas as Mr. Azarkman has had, he thinks that there are a lot more oppor tunities that can still be explored. Unfor tunately, the pandemic struck a week before their one-year anniversar y which did not leave them with enough time to establish a groove. To him, it feels like they are still a youngster, going through puber ty. And though the Covid situation has improved, El Lopo has not yet morphed into an adult. His plan, therefore, is to keep growing, finding better ways to fulfill its potential.

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Delightful Surprises and Cultivating Gratitude PERSONALIZED GIFTING.

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Goldie Lox

Julie Podair Is Giving a Vegan Facelift to the Classic Lox and Bagel

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BY CARY WONG PHOTO CREDIT TESSA CHEEK & SOFI PENCHER

s. Julie Podair's favorite comfort food growing up was lox and bagel—the popular Jewish cured fish and baked good combo. As a scientist by training , she loves to experiment with new food combinations. So, when she got a job cooking for a vegan brunch, she knew it was her chance to experiment with a carrot lox and bagel bar. It turned out to be a huge hit and she has now built Goldie Lox , a business centered around various vegan, Jewish deli foods.

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Her love of lox means she knows the flavor really well. The challenge was to recreate it as best as possible while maintaining the plant look of the carrot. This unique product only uses carrots without any soy protein or glutinous seitan (products used by many of its competitors). The fluctuating qualities of carrots, such as their size and sweetness, mean constant recipe adjustments. She needed to account for all the variables so she tested different t ypes of carrots, smoking methods, and marinating time. After three years, Ms. Podair now has the experience to make the best final product despite variations in the incoming produce.

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She has also expanded her product line, which now includes a whitefish salad made from hearts of palm and pastrami made from beets. However, Goldie Lox is still the fan-favorite. Personally, she likes to put that on an ever ything bagel with vegan cream cheese, cucumbers, and capers. It is a classic and looks great on Instagram! Another way to eat them is to incorporate them in a vegan sushi roll with vegan cream cheese and cucumber to taste exactly like smoked salmon. Currently, the product is available at the Bay Area's Good Eggs stores but the plan is to make it available for deliver y across the US in the coming months. Ms. Podair is also working on launching the products at GTFO Vegan, the vegan grocer y deliver y ser vice. At the same time, a new partnership has been formed with Chisai Sushi Club, a San Francisco sushi restaurant in Bernal Heights, where they will feature Goldie Lox in one of their vegan sushi rolls as a part of the vegetarian Omakase menu this fall.

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"I'm also working on a few new flavors including pastrami lox and ever ything bagel spice lox . Keep a lookout for those coming soon!" she says.

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Pure, complete nutrition. Made with only the good stuff.

Allergen Free 100% Plant-Based Delicious & Tasty liveowyn.com

The

Vegan

Hood Chefs BY CARY WONG

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PHOTO CREDIT MICHELLE K MIN

ver yone has to eat. Yet the number of minorit y business owners in the food and beverage industr y is shockingly low. It drops even fur ther when focusing on vegan or gluten-free spots. But chefs and owners Ronnishia Johnson and Rheema Calloway intended to change that when they star ted their pop-up business in 2017.

Best friends since the ninth grade, they both have been interested in the vegan lifestyle for years. They star ted a vegan blog together and went into the catering business by accident , stepping in for a vendor that had fallen through. The business was ver y challenging to get off the ground as they both worked full-time jobs and care for their grandmothers. " We have had to overcome many obstacles and one is being underrepresented as black

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women in this industr y. We have had to work ten times as hard to get the recognition, payment , access, and respect because of who we are. The other obstacle is learning about the technicalities and operations of actually running a food business since we both have no professional schooling or training," they say.

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Despite a flurr y of online and reallife discussions about equalit y and social justice, minority communities still face considerable challenges in terms of food and nutrition. Chefs Johnson and Calloway realized that food choices and health issues of the community were directly linked to a lack of access and education. As such, they wanted to create a food business that would provide Black and Brown people with healthier alternatives while uplifting and reflecting their culture.

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Being a vegan/glutenfree pop-up, menu planning takes more effor t. They star ted off by choosing some of their favorite dishes their grandmothers made for them, like jambalaya, and macaroni & cheese, then vegan-ized them. As both families have roots in Louisiana, they incorporated some Cajun dishes into the menu as well. Last but not least , they added some African influences in the form of spices or ingredients they picked up while traveling there.

From their own menu, Chef Calloway prefers the Cajun Mac & Cheese. It ’s an easy dish to make but at the same time it ’s complex and has many intricate components. For Chef Johnson, she likes the Black Power Bowl and the Avocado Tacos. As for the future, they would like to add a brick-and-mor tar restaurant and juice bar. In addition, they hope to expand their ser vices outside of California. They are also in the process of building their own sauce line that will be sold nationally. Big things definitely seem to be coming for these two enterprising chefs!

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Their pop-up became increasingly popular, even more so after they expanded to offer a brunch menu with rave reviews. But the chefs’ star reviews increased substantially in 2020 after Bud Light offered them an adver tising spot for the San Francisco 49ers Thursday Night Football game. When the adver tisement aired, the chefs were hosting two trial food truck pop-ups. That night , it was business as usual. But the day after brought a rush of people drawn in from the commercial and that success has continued ever since.

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DISCOVER A COFFEE YOU WILL CRAVE No... seriously, you’ll drink it and crave it, but don’t worry... we can send it to your home or office monthly, so you’re good!

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Mochill Mochi Donut Mochill Mochi Donut Mochill Mochi Donut Mochill Mochi Donut Mochill Mochi Donut

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Disrupting the Donut Industry with MochiRelated Treats

BY CARY WONG

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The popularity of Asian snacks has definitely risen in the last few years. One of those items is the mochi donut. Unlike traditional, dense American donuts, Japanese-style mochi donuts are made with rice flour. They offer a lighter, fluffier, and chewier texture. Mochill Mochi Donut, a brand that originated from Honolulu, Hawaii, has expanded to the Bay Area and opened two popular locations in town.

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Taisuke Yamamoto, the director of the brand, says that he chose the name by putting “Mochi” and “Chill” together with the hope that people who enjoy their Mochi-related products will be able to chill and have a good time while doing so.

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“We have gotten a lot of feedback from our customers that they like our donuts over traditional American donuts because ours are less sweet and offer a delicate Japanese taste,” he says. They offer over twenty flavors in rotation. From typical cinnamon sugar to kinako (roasted soybean flour used in Japanese cuisine), there are a wide variety of choices.

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With their current success, they are planning for more mochi-related products that fuse together Japanese and American culture. One example currently on sale—mochi cupcakes. They offer a denser and chewier texture compared to mochi donuts and are more similar to real mochi.

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Introducing Japanese fast-food culture has always been the Yamamoto family’s mission since they started their business. In addition to Mochill Mochi Donut, they also own Takoyaki Yamachan, a brand that sells Takoyaki, another popular Japanese street food which is a type of grilled squid balls.

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It will certainly be very exciting to see what ideas come next from his creative mind!

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saltresorts.com

La Cocina A community space for chefs to learn and grow

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BY CARY WONG PHOTO CREDIT ERIC WOLFI NGER

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a Cocina is an organization born to suppor t a communit y of talented, natural entrepreneurs. They aim to provide hopeful chefs/owners an affordable commercial kitchen space , industr y-specific technical assistance , and access to market oppor tunities. It is both the space—a modern building and commercial kitchen—and the program—an innovative business incubator—that suppor ts a growing roster of small businesses.

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In par ticular, a lot of their focus is on helping immigrants and low-income women entrepreneurs achieve their culinar y goals. Even though many of them are skilled cooks for their families or have had exposure to professional kitchens, they still suffer from a lack of oppor tunities in the formal foodser vice industr y. La Cocina star ted in 2005 and has helped launch the careers of nationally-known chefs such as Reem Assil of Reem’s and Nite Yun of Nyum Bai. They also have multiple initiatives, including the publication of We Are La Cocina, a cookbook that features a collection of recipes from its par ticipants. Their new venture is La Cocina Municipal Marketplace food hall, which opened in the spring of 2021. Located in the Tenderloin neighborhood, it blends in with the other small informal businesses that ser ve the community.

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This 7,000 square-foot establishment houses seven par tners, ser ving Creole (Boug Cali),

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El Salvadorean (Estrellita’s Snacks), Algerian (Kayma), Mexican (Los Cilantros and Mi Morena), and Senegalese ( Teranga) cuisines, as well as an ar tisan coffee shop (Fluid Cooperative Cafe). “People are going to see this space and hope it ’s not another gentrif ying establishment ,” says its manager, Jay Foster. “ We are here to be par t of this community. This corner, more than most in this city, needs as much help as it can get from a community standpoint.” La Coc ina hope s the food hall can be a replicable model for other communit y-led de velopment s nationwide , with f lexible , one year lease s intended to help the che f s thrive. The c it y of San Franc isco is leasing the space at below-market rent through December 2025, when construc tion is supposed to star t for affordable housing on the site. Here is hoping that this project will be a smashing success and go far beyond that!

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Buy And Gift The Most Unique Items From Around The World

DLISH CURATIONS. BESPOKE GIFTING.

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and

Tiger This Japanese–Filipino pop-up is a true story of yin and yang BY CARY WONG

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P H O T O C R E D I T S H A N N A H WA G N E R , F E A S T I N @ F E A S T I N T O G E T H E R , M O G L I @ T H E M O G L I

It was ver y interesting to find out that initially, Chef Wada was not entirely confident on this concept. Japanese

and Filipino food does not mix well in general. They are almost opposite in taste. In addition, there are no existing cookbooks or guides on how to integrate them. Instead, they had to rely on themselves in three ways: mixing organically, experimenting, and learning about histories. There were times when it was as easy as putting another type of citrus like yuzu in for calamansi. More often than not , they have to think outside the box , such as marinating pork with patis (a Filipino fish sauce) for their tonkatsu (a Japanese breaded pork dish).

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he f/c ouple E J Mac ayan and Hi tomi Wada star te d the ir p op -up in 2 01 8 and change d i t to a take ou t sp ot during the pandemic . A great mi x o f C he f Mac ayan's Filip ino heri tage and C he f Wada's Japane se background, the y name d i t after the ir re sp e c ti ve zo diac animals .

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Eventually, the y have come to learn that Japane se and Filipino f lavors complement each other in delic ious way s! The idea to star t their own restaurant came about when they lived together for the first time in Chicago. "Our love language is food," Chef Wada says. " We cooked whatever we grew up eating and learned from each other. This was when EJ first planted the idea of a Filipino and Japanese pop-up."

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They held their ver y first pop-up in October 2018, after moving back to San Francisco. After that smashing success, they set a goal to hold a quar terly pop-up in 2019. On the first anniversar y of their pop-up, Chef Macayan decided to commit to Ox and Tiger full time.

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"It was a ner vewracking decision," she says. "But the best decision I made and [I haven’t] looked back since." After they made the decision, the pop-up frequency really accelerated. Unfor tunately, just when the momentum was picking up, Covid stopped ever y thing. As a result , they had no choice but to shift to special take-out options like ready-to-heat meals and a-la-car te deliveries. The suppor t from their friends and community, however, fueled the couple to work harder to sur vive and thrive.

One of their best par tnerships during the pandemic was working with the Filipinos Feed the Frontlines organization. FFF helped stabilize their business significantly because it was a boost financially and also kept them afloat emotionally through the pandemic.

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They also worked with the Kultivate Labs initiative to suppor t their colleagues and communit y. They were able to expand their reach to various communities in need such as health care professionals, families, and seniors. In terms of their favorite dishes, one of them is the bicol express. It is traditionally a chili-based coconut pork stew. The Ox and Tiger version uses tonkatsu and drowns it in their chili-coconut sauce, ser ved with rice and atchara (Filipino pickles).

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Another favorite is the mentaiko pancit. Mentaiko spaghetti is traditionally a Japanese homecooked dish with mentaiko (spicy cod roe), Japanese mayo, and spaghetti. They mixed that with the Filipino pancit palabok , which is a seafood-heavy noodle dish. They make the dish with pancit wheat noodles cooked in garlic oil, then mix with a mentaiko sauce and topped with charred mushrooms and onsen tamago (soft boiled egg).

They are currently mapping out the vision for their nex t milestone. Among the possibilities are a food truck , a brick-and-mor tar location, or something in between. They may also branch out to other par ts of the Bay Area. Regardless of the decision, their fans will hear it from their social media in the near future.

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Last but not least , the bistek gyoza is also a popular dish. Using the secret meatball recipe from Chef Macayan's grandmother, the dumpling features beef and pork filling with a citrusheavy flavor that pairs deliciously with onions and sweet soy sauce.

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ECO-LUXURY HOTEL & ALPINE EXPERIENCE

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Chef Chris Bleidorn’s Birdsong

Evolving Authenticity

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BY: DANIELL A SCHOEMAN

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an Franc isc o, a c i t y known for i t s f ine dining and increasingl y high c onc entration o f Miche lin S tar s , has just gaine d another gem—Birdsong R e staurant . Tak ing o ver the old AQ spac e in S oma in S an Franc isc o, Birdsong blends f lavor s o f the Pac i f ic Nor thwe st wi th the che f ’s E ast C oast childho o d upbringing. This highl y antic ipate d re staurant was so we ll re c e i ve d b y the lo c al c ommuni t y that i t quickl y gaine d international re c o gni tion. Wi th a remark abl y talente d team and e xc e llent cuisine , this high- end re staurant earne d i t s f ir st Miche lin S tar onl y se ven months after op ening i t s do or s to the public . This is qui te the ac c omplishment . E sp e c iall y in a f ine - dining marke t as f lo o de d as S an Franc isc o.

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Birdsong is Chef Chris Bleidorn’s first restaurant , but his impressive fine-dining background hails from a number of other superb establishments. He has sharpened his knives at famous institutions like Saison, Benu, Atelier Crenn, and Chicago’s Alinea. Of course, his handselected team boasts equally impressive credentials. Bleidorn’s par tner and wife Aar ti Shetty came from experiences with Benu, Monsieur Benjamin, and In Situ. She also played a large role in the creation of Birdsong Restaurant. This duo has finely-tuned their work , which is evident through their success.

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Former Chef de Cuisine Brian Limoges spent time at Quince and Atelier Crenn. Other team members include Pastr y Chef Harr y Flager, Head Sommelier Freddy Foot , and Ser vice Manager Bianca Ishikawa. With such a highly-esteem background, Bleidorn is a well-respected name in the Bay Area restaurant world. With a fantastic team behind him, Bleidorn has set his sights on using Birdsong as a way to revolutionize how people experience fine dining. Their ambitious attempt has been deemed an instant success by all who have visited this fine establishment.

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Bleidorn plays with elements of nature, focusing on heritage cooking. Rather than ser ving 13-course meals of all different flavors, Birdsong makes a statement by focusing on one ingredient and using it as much as possible. By honoring the wildlife and natural elements of the Pacific Nor thwest , Birdsong is an attempt to return to culinar y simplicit y. Many vital ingredients are sourced from the region, like elderberries, pine needles, oysters, and more. Fundamental cooking techniques, such as open fire cooking, fermentation, smoking, and dr y-aging, have been implemented with a finesse that can only be accomplished by an experienced chef.

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The notion of nature and heritage has also been projected onto the st ylish décor. Your experience begins as you reach the front doors and notice the windows stacked with fire logs. Upon entering, diners will obser ve dried fish hanging from the rafters and the coz y scent of wood smoke. By appealing to all the senses, the restaurant makes dining an all-encompassing experience that will instantly have guests feeling comfor table and relaxed. When you combine the loft y ceilings, contemporar y ambiance, and the peaceful color scheme, Birdsong Restaurant comes across as both rustic and elegant.

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Each piece of wood and ever y detail, from the lighting to the gorgeous ear thenware dishes, was handpicked by Bleidorn and Shett y. The polished interior includes a 12-seater chef ’s counter and velvet banquettes. Downstairs are two private dining rooms that seat 10 and 30 respectively. An open-plan kitchen gives diners a great view of the high-quality equipment and displays the skills of the talented kitchen team. Interestingly this refreshing design creates the laid-back vibe of dining at someone’s home instead of at a high-end restaurant. Stated as “a harmony of past and present ,” Birdsong is inspired by the natural habitat of the past and is looking to bring some of the

ingredients, styles, and techniques that were used then to the present day. The Birdsong name refers to the role of birds in helping to foster better ecosystems. As the word implies, there is a focus on nature and you can expect dishes to have the feel of the ear th. The sound of birds singing signifies a balance in that par ticular environment , and it is this perfect balance that Bleidorn has achieved in his restaurant. Birds are in tune with the changing seasons and Birdsong is geared towards change and evolution as the team strongly believes that “authenticity evolves.” Bleidorn has expressly stated that they are currently focusing on the Pacific Nor thwest , but the direction of their cuisine is subject to change over time. This eagerness to be flexible and adapt to change is what will set Birdsong Restaurant apar t from the rest and likely contribute to their success for many years.

(Some information changed as this story went to print.)

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delight in the details of cooking

Seven

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Stills Quality spirits inspired by craft beers BY CARY WONG PHOTO CREDIT TORIN NIELSEN

When owner/co-founder Tim Ober t and his team decided to bring all productions in-house in 2016, they had to decide on a location. Even though the cost of building a facility in San Francisco is a lot more than other cities, they knew that their roots were so strongly tied to the Bay Area it was necessar y to stay.

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ounde d in a 4 00sq ft storage uni t in the Do gpatch o f S an Franc isc o, S e ven S till is a unique distiller y. The goal f rom the star t was to create se ven unique whiske y s f rom se ven unique craft b e er s . E ach insp ire d b y a di fferent hill o f S an Franc isc o and each lab e l de signe d b y a lo c al stre e t ar tist to dep ic t that landmark .

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As the only combined brewer y and distiller y in San Francisco, their three core values are delivering quality, having fun, and providing a sense of community. They pride themselves on putting for th the best effor t with ever y thing they do. As a result , when they created the food program, quality was of utmost impor tance.

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They brought on multi-Michelin starred chef Joseph Humphrey to lead the kitchen. "Our food offerings are intended to be fine dining qualit y," he says. "But approachable and fun."

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Having both brewer y and distiller y at the same location created a set of distinct challenges. The biggest hurdle was to separate the two operations and the recordkeeping involved so that the ever y thing stayed divided. From a government regulation perspective, the brewer y and distiller y are two completely different businesses and must be treated separately.

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When asked about the best ways to enjoy the products, they strongly recommended first tr ying the spirits neat or on the rocks. That is because they are all made from craft beers, with different nuances and flavors that are often overshadowed in cocktails. However, once these nuances are understood, all of the spirits make incredible cocktails exactly because of that complexity and depth of flavor.

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Currently, their focus is on two core products, Slo Flo Czech Style Pilsner and Five Pounds Haz y IPA. They are making sure ever y batch they put out is consistent and, if possible, better than the last. As far as future developments, they will be adding a line of ready-to-drink cocktails in the near future, each featuring one of their core spirits—vodka, gin, Five Pounds whiskey, and Chocasmoke whiskey. These new products cer tainly should make customers and connoisseurs alike ver y happy.

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Stay Sharp Stay Sober Free Of Alcohol Full Of Spirit

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b Blue Bears and Burgers

From commercial artist to recognizable muralist to animator, Sirron Norris is an all-around artist who only continues to grow. BY GRACE HENDRICKS PHOTO CREDIT MICHEAL KEENEY @THEREALMICHAELKEENEY

a ybe you recognize his car toons from his murals around San Franc isco. Or maybe you recognize his st yle from the hit animated tele vision show, Bob’s Burger s. Where ver you recognize his work , Sirron Norris (sirronnorris .com) has e stablished himsel f as a prominent San Franc isco commerc ial ar tist whose ar t not only decorate s the c it y, bu t in many case s , tells it s stor y.

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Originally from Cleveland, Norris moved to San Francisco in 1994 after graduating from ar t school. He knew he wanted to become a commercial ar tist and he wanted to move to a place where he believed he could develop his ar tistic career without encountering the racism and limitations he had experienced in Ohio. “I didn’ t know much about the US,” Norris remembered, but from the little he had heard about San Francisco, it sounded like where he wanted to be— and he hasn’ t left since. When he first moved, Norris landed in the Mission District , in the hear t of one

of the most renowned areas for murals in San Francisco and in the hear t of one of the neighborhoods most severely struck by gentrification. Shor tly after he arrived, Norris began a job at a company that created children’s educational software. The company developed video games to teach children math and English through the use of familiar licensed characters, including those from Super Mario Bros . and Dr. Seuss. While working at this job, Norris practiced and witnessed the power of using familiar car toon characters to tell a stor y and convey a message.

August2k16 Sirron Norris

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[They] were autobiographical pieces of my life at that time. I would do one painting per month and [the painting] would show what happened to me in that month, speaking through these cartoon characters.”

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At this job, the deadlines were tight and the hours were long, often pushing 60 hours per week . After work , Norris would return home, where he would paint. These paintings became a form of release for him, like “a diar y,” he remarked. Norris fur ther explained, “[ They] were autobiographical pieces of my life at that time. I would do one painting per

month and [the painting] would show what happened to me in that month, speaking through these car toon characters.” His paintings, in addition to his job at the children’s educational software company, eventually inspired him to develop his own form of visual communication, which he defined as “Car toon Literalism.”

Car toon Literalism allowed Norris to create “a visual language based off of car toon characters that are familiar to ever yone.” For instance, ever yone has seen car toon bears, rabbits, and dogs, so Norris transformed each of these characters into a “distilled-down” visual metaphor that could be used to tell a stor y and communicate a truth.

One of his most iconic characters is his blue bear, which to Norris, represents love in its duality: “Bears can be cute teddy bears or tough grizzly bears.” Similar to the way love can be wonderful or painful. Eventually, he established a specific meaning for each of his cartoon characters, so that when the characters interacted with each other in a painting, “it [could] be read as a sentence” and a story.

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FullSizeRender Sirron Norris

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I Eat Kids Mural Sirron Norris

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Bears can be cute teddy bears or tough grizzly bears… it [could] be read as a sentence.”

The main theme Norris addressed in “ The Disruption” was gentrification, which has been per vasive in San Francisco over the last few decades. “ The Disruption” ver y satirically documented gentrification in specifically the Mission, so that all those who lived there and all those who would visit in the future could know the modern histor y of the neighborhood. For this project , Norris hired “kids from the neighborhood and paid each of them $250 to help me... there is nothing but hear t and neighborhood love in that mural.” The mural remains a recognizable staple in the Mission today.

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Many of his early murals utilized Car toon Literalism, including one of his most famous pieces, “ The Disruption,” which is painted near the intersection of 20th and Br yant streets in the Mission. In his early murals, Norris mainly used Car toon Literalism to “create something that has value for his community.” Norris believes that when creating murals, “ There’s a responsibility that comes with it. The traditional aspect of murals is that they tell stories and plights of indigenous people to inform [others] of what has happened in the past.”

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Private Commission Washington DC Sirron Norris

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Besides his blue bears, “ The Disruption” includes another one of Norris’ iconic car toon characters, which also happens to be a characteristic architectural component of San Francisco: Victorian homes. Unbeknownst to Norris, Loren Bouchard also lived in the Mission, a few blocks away from where “ The Disruption” was painted. Bouchard liked the st yle of Norris’ car toon Victorian buildings, so he contacted Norris because he wanted a distinct background st yle for an adult animation show that he was star ting to develop.

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“I can’t believe I’m a part of cartoon history as an artist...and my name is on a show that probably won’t end”

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After an inter view, Bouchard hired Norris to illustrate the full pilot of Bob’s Burgers. After a few years, the pilot was picked up and all of Norris’ original designs are still used to this day. “I can’t believe I’m a par t of car toon histor y as an ar tist... and my name is on a show that probably won’t end,” Norris remarked. Today, Norris is a well-respected commercial ar tist who has multiple upcoming commissioned pieces. He also teaches an animation summer camp, which he transformed into an online course during Covid-19. Whether it be through his murals, his designs on Bob’s Burgers, or his impact on his community, Norris has cer tainly etched himself into car toon and San Francisco histor y.

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The Disruption Sirron Norris

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P H OTO C R E D I T: M I C H A E L DA KS

Artist Dameon Priestly focuses on times and events of social and cultural change

dameon.co.uk

BY GRACE HENDRICKS

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a Concert

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If you’ve been missing going to concerts this past year, Sarah Arnold can take you to one from behind the lens of her camera.

PHOTO CREDIT SARAH ARNOLD

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lthough it’s been a minute since any of us have been to a concert, imagine the feel, the smells, the sounds, the ricocheting floor under a pounding bass...For Sarah Arnold, going to concerts is not only a passion, it’s her career. And capturing the feel, the sound, the moment is what she does best—all behind the lens of her camera.

Sarah Arnold (saraharnoldphotography.com) started photographing concerts at age fourteen. “I think I always had a fascination with watching an artist do their thing and really get lost in something they created,” she remarked. “It’s something really beautiful to watch.” Her fascination with concerts is no wonder. Arnold’s father was a retired touring musician, and growing up in Palmdale, California, she was raised in an environment saturated with the arts and creativity. A few years before she began photographing concerts, Arnold became intrigued with photography in part because of her father.

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“I remember going through old photographs in my parent’s house and coming across a stack of mounted portraits in black and white. My father... had taken photographs of people he had met on the road and they were absolutely striking…”

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“I remember going through old photographs in my parent’s house and coming across a stack of mounted portraits in black and white. My father...had taken photographs of people he had met on the road and they were absolutely striking,” she recalls.

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As Arnold began to explore photography and develop her own style, she remembers, “I grew up around a lot of music and musicians. When I picked up my camera as a teenager and started documenting everything around me, it was only a matter of time before I started documenting the musicians in my life.” Little did she know as a teenager how far that would take her. Throughout the following years, Arnold continued to explore her style and develop her career in photography. One of the major events that impacted her trajectory was her move to San Francisco. She remarked, “San Francisco changed everything for me. When I moved here, I was invited in with open arms to a community of truly talented musicians across

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the board and, even more specifically, the Hip Hop community really took me under their wing. There are so many different kinds of music that come out of this city. It’s truly an incredible place.”

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Over the last years, Arnold has photographed an incredible range of concerts, featuring artists such as Doja Cat, Casual, the Melvins, DJ Fresh, Dizzy Fae, and many others. Through these experiences, she has further developed her very distinct and bold style, about which she says, “I always lean towards a very bright and colorful ‘larger than life,’ documentary style.”

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Her documentary style remarkably captures the experiences of both the musician and the fans. Her pictures simultaneously showcase the power of performing a concert, while also capturing the intimacy of the artist. She describes, “I try to frame [the musicians] in the light of the stage or catch them doing something that shows their personality.” At the same time, her photography features pictures of the fans and captures the experience of being at a concert, of connecting with a musician and their music, of dissolving fully into the moment. Unsurprisingly, Arnold remarks, “When I am shooting, I tend to get lost in the moment with my subjects.” Her photography allows you to get lost with her at the concert.

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It’s no surprise that the vibrancy of the moments she captures on film also reflect the most fulfilling experiences for her as a photographer. She says,“There are moments when I am on stage lost in the music and my entanglement with my camera, just in my flow, and nothing else exists. Those moments make me feel the most utterly alive and grateful to be on this planet.”

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[Covid-19] gave me the opportunity to do that. I was shaken from my comfort zone and if I’m being honest, I’m so much better off for it. Not just in how I approach business, but how I approach my style and my overall mental health. I definitely won’t take any of these moments on stage for granted again.”

As a concert photographer, 2020 was devastating. She describes, “[Covid-19] put the entire events industry on hold. It was an extremely scary time for everyone involved.” But for Arnold, the year was also full of unexpected and, at many moments, challenging gifts. She remarks, “I would say personally I was forced to face myself. You don’t realize what you’re running from until you’ve taken a moment to sit with yourself.

As San Francisco continues to reopen with increased Covid-19 vaccination rates, concerts have started to return—and Sarah Arnold with them.

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FR AK Pro-Bay Area rapper Alex Fraknoi (Frak) is optimistic about younger generations BY CRISTINA DEPTULA

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FRAKMUSIC.COM

an Franc isc o rapp er Frak ( Ale x Frakno i) gre w up in the Inner Sunse t back in the day s o f AOL Instant Me s senger and b e fore the te ch b o om’s change s to the c i t y ’s cul tural landsc ap e.

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His current music harkens back to that past, notably a recent album entitled LimeWire 03, consisting of repurposed R&B samples he downloaded free from LimeWire. On the album, he’s arranged the music samples to be louder and in slow motion to highlight them and as a way to thematically link the beginning of digital music sharing with our more technologically based present culture.

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He began writing songs at fourteen while at LickW ilmerding High School, performing together with a diverse group of friends. At fifteen, he won the Bay Area’s MC Olympics, a testament to his ability to pump up a crowd as much as to his music. That inspired him to compete in freestyle rap battles, earn a following, and gain a reputation for energizing audiences.

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He mentions the stereotype that a capella rap battle competitors can’t also be good at crafting music, and he acknowledges that is true for some rap battle artists. To him, when he’s in rap battle mode, he just focuses on creating spontaneous words but then shifts to become more melodic when he’s actually writing songs. Also, some people critique the seeming negativity of rap battles as the competing artists can say insulting things about each other. Originally, Frak didn’t want to get into battles for that reason. However, now that he’s done over 20 rap battles, including events in Canada and England, he views the events as actually very positive. To him the audiences are very supportive and the negativity is often all in good fun.

Self-described as more of a cultur al than a religious Jew, he still remembers the songs from his childhood temple and they find their way into his music on occasion. He got into rap in his early teens when he heard rap and hip-hop at a bunch of his friends’ bar mitzvahs. In terms of older rappers who have influenced him, he counts Kanye West, MF Doom, Lupe Fiasco and Mos Def and Talib Kweli as inspirations. He fondly remembers an Internet forum for Kanye West fans from his teenage days, and several musician friends whom he met there have also gone on to make it big on their own.

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Frak earned a degree in creative writing and media studies from Pitzer College. While there, he released his first album, Bagels, which contains some references to his Jewish heritage. SF Weekly named it as one of the top local hip-hop albums.

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His music touches on themes of family, romantic love, social justice, modern American culture, spirituality, and celebration. A recent song, “Draymond,” dedicated to Draymond Green of the Warriors, got on the playlist during Warriors games.

Frak’s released a video called “S mall Talk” in collaboration with artist Watsky where he dresses as a giant emoji that wanders the streets as a metaphor for our ever-present technology, hipster culture, and the gentrification that’s driving many artists, writers, and musicians out of the Bay Ar ea. Although, as Frak admits, he’s not without his

own addiction to technology. “Small Talk” was originally about his personal obsession with it. Before its closure Frak had a steady hip-hop gig at the Elbo Room in San Francisco’s Mission District. He’s also performed many times at Oakland’s legendary show Tourettes Without Regrets, a variety show run by Jamie de Wolfe. He’s opened for large acts, including Earth, Wind and Fire, Anderson Paak, and Travis Scott. And his music has been streamed over 500,0 00 times online. Getting his start as a performer, in part, from Bay Area youth poetry organization Youth Speaks, he now teaches workshops with them and at the San Francisco Public Library. Frak expresses optimism about Generation Z, enjoying the chance to help them find their own artistic voices. As a relatively young rapper, Frak appears to have a long and bright future ahead.

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In a 2018 feature on Frak, Broke-Ass Stuart describes Frak’s lyrics as “very pro-Bay Area.” While he laments how he sees a culture of wealth and consumerism taking over in some areas, he celebrates the joy of simple pleasures such as barbecue s in Dolores Park.

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A true San Francisco flower child, Eryn Kimura is creating art from the pains of the past.

ryn Kimura is a fifth generation Japanese and Chinese American artist born and raised in San Francisco. She has also lived in Kyoto, Japan, and Paris, France. In the course of my interview I asked her many questions, but it was the eloquence of her responses that really set the tone. I will leave you to decide the questions. …

I come from the depths of Glen Park canyon where coyotes and pot-smoking pre-teens cohabitate and roam. My great-great-grandma’s laundromat on the horse-carriage-filled Valencia street of the late 1800s. The 1970 Lowell High School “Welcome Back” dance when a young Nikkei buck from the Richmond caught eyes with young queen from the

PH OTO C R E DI T: KAR I OR V I K - @ KAR IOR V I K TI N T YPE S

BY MICHAEL DAKS

Eryn Kimura Sunset amidst a sea of pioneering acidtrippers; within the concrete caverns of the Bayshore freeway underpass where a good friend told me he resided. This is my Mama, the topography of my ancestors, my home: Frisco.

These lived experiences are not just my own, but ours, a part of the collective narrative and culture of San Francisco. As a fifth generation settler on Ramaytush Ohlone land (San Franciscan) and fifth generation Chinese and Japanese-American, I was fortunate to be raised by a collaborative, polycultural community that nourished my radical imagination. I grew up valuing the various narratives of struggle that built this golden city. But today, more than ever, this culture of collective struggle and love is becoming less visible and respected in the face of the almighty dollar.

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“This is the San Francisco we are currently witnessing— again.”

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Seven dollar cups of coffee; the highest displacement rate of Black Americans second to post-Katrina New Orleans; chrome Aston Martins going 60 miles per hour in the now “up and coming” neighborhoods; flocks of metal cranes piercing the landscape; casual yet covert transphobic racism; and the uncompassionate cackles of the young, profit-driven, and privileged toward the older man on the corner admirably collecting aluminum cans to recycle. This is the San Francisco we are currently witnessing—again. As a culture bearer of our past and the author of the future, my thriving existence as an artist is in and of itself resistance—resistance to racial capitalism, imperialism, cis-hetero white supremacy. From the racist 1870 street ordinance that banned my great-greatgrand-aunties from carrying their belongings on bamboo poles to the Anti-Asian Exclusion act to the more

recent corporate takeover of America’s first Japantown. The Ramaytush Ohlone and Black ancestors. I owe them my voice, my struggle, my resistance, to upend the oppressive forces that be. They fought so that we all could be free. Not just me. Whether by blasting RBL Posse slaps through our subwoofers during the September sunshine or sharing our stories to the vibrant young authors, the youth, we are more than just witnesses. Like the brilliant artists that sculpted this beautifully intricate culture before us, the Ohlone Ramaytush stewards, the immigrants, the bold, the hopeful, the risk-takers, the misfits, the eclectic thinkers, the luminous lot of America’s upstream swimmers—we are the continuing, active architects of this dynamic city. I choose to embody the radically collaborative community I was born from.

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I truly am a Frisco flower child. But seriously, my parents were straight up products of 1960s San Francisco; truly wavy individuals and actually high school sweethearts from Lowell High School. My dad first saw my mom at a school dance, kickin’ it in a daisy chain. And here I am!

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My great, great, grandparents crossed the Pacific from China to find gold in San Francisco, and then to build the railroad. They were coolie laborers. It’s nothing short of miraculous that I am even here, because of the anti-Asian laws of the late 19th century, Chinatown was essentially a bachelor society. But my great great grandmothers and grand aunties held it down. To be woman in white supremacist America and in the very patriarchal Chinese-American community, was nothing short of trying.

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In so many ways, my art pieces are ARTifacts of not just my existence, but our existence. They are a testament to and celebration of generations; the unsung songs, the unsaid truths, the unheard screams, the unexpressed poetry of all the generations before me.

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Every single piece of print media I use, its original publication, and every placement of each element, is incredibly intentional. Similar to the shokunin or craftsman or masters I came across in Japan, nothing is done without mindfulness. In late-stage capitalism, it’s almost like our attention has been hijacked, to distract us from being present in each miraculous moment, in these incredible vessels, in this wild, unexplainably infinite existence. I learned so much from living in Japan. There were so many negative spaces. I learned about the beauty in the shadows, the silence, in the unnamed, in the space of nothingness where everything can be born. Collage is basically like mixing music. Sampling from an endless library of print media and ephemera. Synthesizing the sounds of each ancestor, in each decade, in each moment. Whether cutting tiny

fragments from a recipe my maternal grandma used in the 1940s that I found in her attic or using excerpts from the racist ads of the magazines my mom and dad certainly grew up looking at, I am merely remembering all the parts of me, of us, and remixing them on my terms, articulating how I truly see myself, see us. But more literally, I have boxes on boxes of just cut material, of print media that resonates with me, is absurd to me, pisses me off or makes me feel some type of way. I source my print media from everywhere; from the crusty boxes in my parents’ garage, from used book stores in the countryside of Japan, ads from the Sunday paper, discards that residents put outside their house, chopstick wrappers from the joint down the street. No thoughts or ego. I just go. This doesn’t mean I pull things out of my ass in a quickness, because typically every piece takes me over five hours. I like the patterns, fractals and scenes that go unseen. I like window reflections - they’re like portals into the infinite or parallel realities and selves. I’ve always thought of my vision as quiet, appreciative of all textures. They are all about San Francisco. Frisco is in every piece.

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Rapper

ARTISTIC JOURNEY Individual style raised in the Western Addition’s jazz and funk milieu BY CRISTINA DEPTULA

P H O T O C R E D I T V I O L E TA G O N Z A L E Z

San Franc isco native and current re sident K al y Jay (Javonte Holloway) pride s himsel f on his unique hip -hop st yle. (K aly is his middle name and friends call him Jay, hence the ar tist name.) When asked to describe his music, he says, “I would describe my music as uplifting, introspective, thought-provoking, and slappin'. What makes my work unique is how it makes listeners want to dance and get hyphy, but at the same time hold onto the message that the lyrics convey.”

Jay says being in San Francisco and growing up in the Western Addition has played a role in his music. “ Yes, I know for a fact that growing up in the Fillmore/ San Francisco has greatly influenced my ar tistr y. As a rapper, where you come from is a huge par t of your image because you act as a representative from your cit y or neighborhood. I feel like it 's been that way since the beginning of hip hop.”

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“Most people who give me feedback on my music tell me that they can't think of another artist that reminds them of me. I embrace that, and continue to make music that’s true to who I am.”

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Kaly Jay grew up aware of the rich multi-racial cultural histor y of music in that par t of the cit y. “Beyond rap, I was heavily influenced by the histor y of jaz z and funk in my neighborhood. When all of those influences are combined, you get my sound.” He began playing music seriously as a teenager in a band with his high school friends Frak and Sean. “ We laugh when we reflect on those days because we wanted to be really ‘woke’ with our raps and our image. While the intentions were pure and the potential was there, in all honesty, we just came off as young and naive to the ways of the world.”

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Now, he still expresses positive messages in his lyrics, but in a more sophisticated, subtle way. However, he appreciates what he learned from his early days as a musician and sees that time in his life as valuable.

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“I cherish that experience because it was a starting point. At the time, I didn't know how to record vocals well, count bars, or even put music out on the internet. Today, I'm a much better MC, singer, and performer with a clearer understanding of my craft. My growth came from consistent practice and failure until I started getting it right.”

One other way in which Kaly Jay shares positivity is by spreading the word about other musicians and ar tists. “I promote my friends' work on social media, mainly out of suppor t in order to increase the looks they may get. I can tell the amount of time and effor t that goes into a piece based on the quality. It 's the small details in the edits, the transitions, and even how they promote their work . Normally I'll share my homies' work regardless because even if it isn' t my cup of tea, it may be someone else's.”

tap into the local up and coming rap ar tists, you have to be in the know and tapped into the community.”

Jay thinks things are slowly improving, though, for local rappers in terms of publicity. “I believe these conditions are changing with the rise of organizations and labels like Project Level, 1015 Mgmt , Audio Vandals, and Empire. I think they 're at the forefront of bringing SF rap ar tists to a bigger audience.” Used to finding and creating his own place in the music world, Jay expects to keep blazing his own trail. “ Through it all, as an independent multimedia ar tist , I continue to create and get in where I fit in. That 's the name of the game.”

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To Jay, this is especially impor tant because it can be harder for a rap or hip hop ar tist to get known in San Francisco, although the city is overall a good place to find music. “I think SF is musicianfriendly, but not necessarily for hip hop ar tists. If you're R&B, alternative, or pretty much any thing else, you' ve got a good chance of booking shows at most major venues. But to

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La Doña How multiculturalism has influenced one singer-songwriter’s debut album BY MICHAEL DAK S P H O T O C R E D I T @ T H A L I A G O C H E Z & @ _ N ATA L I E A L E M A N

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e c ilia Cas s andra PeñaG o vea is a singer, songwri ter, and mul tiinstrumentalist who wri te s and re c ords music under the name L a Doña. Her unique mi x o f L atin rhy thms and hip -hop b eat s re f le c t s her li fe on the S an Franc isc o Mis sion D istric t stre e t s . Her EP is c alle d A l go Nuev o, or “S ome thing Ne w.” The first time I listened to a song by La Doña it really stood out to me as something different and exciting. I went to Mexico on my honeymoon (many moons ago), and I still have a soft spot for Mariachi bands. La Doña’s music lusciously combines that positive energy

with a modern hip-hop sensibility. Latino/Salsa beats mingle provocatively with her lyrics, inspired by her life and loves, feminism, sexuality, and the sounds and rhy thms of the street. Her videos are also so much fun to watch. Her song “Quién Me La Paga?” (who pays me?) was filmed in her family home in Bernal Heights. I knew it was too authentic to be a set , and she confirmed my suspicions. She was born upstairs! For our video inter view, La Doña was sitting in the back of a minivan on the way to a gig in Palo Alto. Having seen her video for Algo Nuevo, I was expecting to see her lounging in a ’64 Chevy Impala lowrider, but she assured me it was on her list once the dollars roll in.

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La Doña’s parents met through music. Her mother was at Berkeley Law School and her father ’s salsa band was playing for one of the law school parties. She took him to her car and played him a Polka song on her fiddle and they have been together ever since, almost 40 years. “Music was the culture of our house,” La Doña says. She star ted playing percussion and guitar from when she was about five followed by trumpet , which was one of her dad’s main instruments, from the age of seven. He also taught her sister the accordion and they were soon gigging at this ver y early age.

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Music was the culture of our house.

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La Doña grew up listening to Mariachi, traditional Columbian music, Salsa, and also American Folk music. Her mom was into the Folk revival, The Carter Family, Bluegrass and blues, country blues and jazz, and also African music. It was very diverse. “ We didn’t really listen to contemporary music; it was more like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Lightnin’ Hopkins,” La Doña recalls.

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Although she played mostly blues during her college years, she began writing her own songs about three years ago when she was around twenty-five. I asked her about her favourite lyric, something that best reflected the message of her music. Her answer—“ To my mother I leave my broken hear t , to my father I leave my empt y hands, and to my sister I leave my song.”

We talked at length about her love of San Francisco and Muralismo, the culture of the street ar t murals which star ted popping up in the late 1970s in the alleyways of the Mission District. They were created initially by political refugees from Central and South America after coups and government takeovers.

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This led me onto Cecilia’s own personal style, which, as a fashion photographer, I had picked up straight away. I love to see someone express their personality in the way they dress. “I grew up being really interested in fashion and style, but it wasn’t really the culture of the house to be materialistic, so I star ted making my own clothes,” La Doña explains. “I love ever y thing to be custom; it ’s a way to adorn the body, but also to put ar t onto ever y thing! Make ever y thing beautiful and you’re the canvas.” La Doña has a few people she works with who create custom pieces for her like Oscar Olima out of L A and Lauren D’Amato who is a painter and muralist out of San Francisco. “She does pinstriping on classic cars, and lowrider ar t like that , but she has designed a bunch of outfits for me.” The latest is a white outfit with airbrushed flames like you would see on a hot-rod. Just as La Doña was about to break it big time with the release of her EP and features in The New York Times and Billboard, the pandemic struck . “I put out my album on the day that shelter in place

I love everything to be custom; it’s a way to adorn the body, but also to put art onto everything! Make everything beautiful and you’re the canvas.

was announced in California, so I had to cancel the release show. Ever y thing kind of stood still. It was a pretty big shock to go from being so busy to doing nothing.” La Doña is currently on a mini tour with shows in Palo Alto, New York , and Chicago over the summer and then to the Austin City Limits Music Festival (aclfestival.com) at the beginning of October. I think that with the times we have just lived through, we could all do with a big outdoor par ty, and for me, La Doña’s music would be the perfect soundtrack .

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Public ar t is so impor tant , because often there is no ar t at home and ver y little in the classroom. La Doña agrees, saying, “E xposure to the ar ts is crucial to a child’s confidence and creativity.”

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sculpture and site-specific installations elevating vernacular forms of knots inspiring awe and understanding

the journey of the line

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James Bacchi captures the energy of San Francisco through his mobile photography PHOTOGRAPHED BY: JAMES BACCHI WRITTEN BY: MICHAEL DAKS

ames Bacchi is a San Francisco based iPhoneographer and Curator. He is a recipient of a 2021 Urban Photo Award and a 2020 Independent Ar ts and Media Grant. He has also co-owned and codirected Ar tHaus Galler y+Consulting in San Francisco with his Business Par tner, Annette Schut z , for the past 25 years.

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Bacchi was primarily an East Coast guy. He grew up in Medford, MA , a few miles nor th of Boston, before spending three years in London and fifteen years in New York City. He arrived in San Francisco on St. Patrick ’s Day, 1993. He now lives with his husband in Western SOMA , aka The Hood. “I believe it took living here for twenty years before I thought of San Francisco as home.”

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#InTheSky is all about capturing the tension of the moment. The moments I attempt to capture can often be fleeting.

For Bacchi, San Francisco is a magical city. “ That magic in itself is inspiring! Aside from its ex traordinar y light and unpredictable weather, this cit y seems to be in a constant state of change and regeneration. Photographing San Francisco allows me to capture, create and mark time and place. I find that exhilarating.” If Bacchi were to choose one word to describe his photography it would be “spontaneous.” Unlike old school photography, Mobile Photography offers him immediacy. “I can’ t imagine waiting for inspiration or hours passing by in hope of a perfect shot. #InTheSky is all about capturing the tension of the moment. The moments I attempt to capture can often be fleeting.”

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San Francisco has changed drastically over the past twenty years he has lived and worked there. “Unfor tunately, economic growth seems to have homogenized the city that once felt like a safe, beautiful Bohemian scape of people and cultures. Buildings are taller, traffic is heavier, and the former, more laid back feel of the cit y, in comparison to what I experienced living in New York , has become increasingly tense. The upside to developers pouring money into the city is that over time, it allowed San Francisco to become a world-class ar t center.” Bacchi believes San Franciscans will need time to “heal, move forward and contribute to bringing our city back .”

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For sales and exhibitions, he offers 22”x17” archival pigment prints and varied sized works printed on aluminum and mounted on bass or birch panels. His work will be featured in the upcoming, 4-SQUARED ALUMNI E xhibition, curated by Michael Yochum at Arc Galler y and printed at Hanson Digital, both in San Francisco. All Bacchi’s photographs are limited to an edition of seven. “Most often, a composition seems to find me. I can look across the street , turn a corner, or simply look up to the sky and it ’s there—screaming, in fact.”

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#inthesky is a mobile photo essay spanning six years to date. Sometime soon, he’d love to ‘snap through’ Hong Kong and Shanghai. “I imagine both these cities to be quite intense and ex tremely loud. Aside from capturing the tension in these two cities, my goal would be to tr y and illustrate the noise level in my photographs. And then of course, there’s the food!”

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He would like to see his series, “#InTheSky San Francisco—Shelteredin-Place” as a coffee table book to accompany an exhibition of the same title. “I was so grateful that Kar yn Mannix Contemporar y curated a Vir tual E xhibition of this work during the height of Covid-19, but I really want viewers to experience these photographs in person.”

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This series began when San Francisco first entered lockdown. Bacchi took daily walks and took lots of photographs to deal with all the stress brought on by the uncer tainty of the pandemic. “It was such a surreal time. Our political world had gone insane, and I felt the residents of planet Ear th had become united in the name of vulnerability and fear.”

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Earlier this year Bacchi submitted a photograph to the URBAN 2021 PHOTO AWARDS and the distinguished jur y selected this photo for exhibition at TRIESTE PHOTO DAYS. “ This par ticular photograph is ver y special to me. I believe this spontaneous shot captures the essence of San Francisco during the Pandemic.”

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This same photograph was featured in a vir tual exhibition of the same title by Kar yn Mannix Contemporar y, and Ar tist ’s Respond to Covid-19 at Curator ’s Voice in Miami. The same image was also chosen by the Jur y for Ar t For AIDS, 2021 Benefit Auction upcoming in October in San Francisco.

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n k e R hec ec C h t C n ent Ren R eck k h c C R Che he t C n t e Ren ck e h C A story about navigating a quarter life crisis with universal truths, Bay Area up-and-coming artists, and a ton of laughs

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BY GRACE HENDRICKS

ent Check is a threepar t stor y created by writer and comedian Mike Evans Jr. The series follows the protagonist , Mike the Comedian, as he navigates through a quar terlife crisis to find his purpose. The series wonder fully captures the Bay Area and features many up-andcoming Bay Area ar tists. Honest and hear tfelt , yet hella hilarious, Rent Check is a must-see.

Evans’ star t in comedy was unexpec ted. A s a child, he de scribe s “I alway s thought it was fun to make people laugh... A lot of my friends were clas s clowns growing up, bu t I wanted to be the clas s clown that could also make the teacher laugh.

When I f irst star ted telling joke s at nineteen, the majorit y of comedians and audience [members] were ten to f i fteen years older than me. I was alway s curious [abou t ] how to make someone with more li fe experience relate to me.”

Bu t he ne ver antic ipated that his love of making people laugh would transform into his career. “Public speaking was something that I alway s enjoyed, so I thought abou t becoming a politic ian to help people with my voice. During my f irst year at San Franc isco State Universit y, one of my communications profe s sors told me that ‘people trust the comedian, more than the y trust the politic ian.’ After hearing that , it clicked for me that comed y was the path I wanted to take.”

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Shor tly after, Evans began to establish himself as a comedian. His work eventually led him to reconnect with some friends from high school: actor, Jimmie Fails, and director, Joe Talbot , who have both since become renowned filmmakers. Evans explains, “For five years I worked with Jimmie Fails and Joe Talbot as a creative consultant for the films American Paradise and The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Watching Joe and Jimmie do what it takes to bring their film to life, inspired me to write stories of my own.”

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Cut to Rent Check. Evans explains that his inspiration to write Rent Check came from “ the identit y struggles I faced growing up...I grew up around so many different types of Black people, but [I] was only seeing stereot ypes represented in the media. I wrote this show because whether it be in politics, commercials, or in movies, the assumption is that all Black people think and act the same. This assumption has hur t me and many others like me, so I wrote something that I wish [I] could’ve seen growing up.”

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Evans summarizes the stor y as “Rent Check is about a young Black man struggling to find his purpose in life in a countr y that constantly tries to define it for him. The show follows my character ’s hilarious but political journey as he’s guided by his friends, family, and guardian angels played by up and coming Bay Area ar tists and comedians.” Although the stor y draws from Evans’ personal experiences, the writer (Mike Evans Jr.) and the protagonist (Mike the Comedian) are not the same. Evans commented, “My

character in Rent Check is a younger, more naive, and lost version of myself. The series is a magical realism dramacomedy stor y of how I became comfor table in my own skin.” The differentiation Evans intentionally makes between his own experiences and beliefs and those of his character allows for the stor y to tell a broader experience. “At times, I don’t share the same beliefs as my character,” Evans explains. “As much as I relate to my past self, I want this character to ser ve as a reflection of all human beings struggling to find their life’s meaning. Many of the stories aren’t things that I’ve directly experienced, but rather perspectives I want to illustrate through my character.” One of the ver y unique aspects of Rent Check is the way in which it is told—in three distinct par ts. The first is a Rent Check Preview. Evan’s goal for the Preview was to create a shor t segment of the overall series to showcase his abilities as a filmmaker in order to aid his fundraising campaign and promote the project. He also wanted to test-run his idea with audiences, which has resulted positively. The second component is the actual Rent Check Series, which Evans plans to release once he reaches his fundraising goal. You can still contribute to his GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme. com/f/get-rent-check-seriesfilmed) to help Evans and his team reach their goal. The third and final component is a live comedy show, Rent Check: A Comedy Special by Mike Evans Jr, which “will be

a half-hour comedy special featuring the up and coming music ar tists and comedians featured in the series.” The reason for releasing it in three par ts? Evans answered, “ The overall theme of Rent Check is me going through a quar ter-life crisis. In Preview: my brother and I have a hard discussion that sends me into crisis. In Series: I navigate through that identity crisis and find my purpose. And in the comedy special, I explain that purpose to a live audience.” You can currently watch the Rent Check Preview (https:// youtu.be/8zOO8f QHsic) on the Youtube Channel of Old Soul Kollective, a collective of young ar tists which Evans helped co-create in 2015. Old Soul Kollective promotes emerging ar tists, their ar t , and their expression. In line with suppor ting upcoming ar tists, Rent Check promotes many up-andcoming Bay Area ar tists. Evans explains, “I set Rent Check in San Francisco because I was born and raised here and there’s so much undiscovered talent here.” Among the ar tists featured are Jimmie Fails IV, Amani Jadé, StunnaMan02 , Kaly Jay, Ozer, Equipto, Cyph4, Xiomara, Professa Gabel, Adeyemi, Smooveez , BagHead, Dregs One, Frak , Jada Imani, Larr y Dorsey, and others. Rent Check exists not only as an important story to hear but also as a representation of emerging talent in the Bay Area. It’s a San Francisco story that tells a universal truth, and it is no doubt only one of many impacts that Evans will make in his comedy career.

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Singer & Songwriter Luke David

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BY CRISTINA DEPTULA PHOTO CREDIT @SOUL SBAL ANCED

For musician Luke David, San Francisco is the “perfect” place for live music

He would be “skating down endless wellpaved hills around the city, hopping on Muni and Bart to take me everywhere in minutes, walking from bar to restaurant effortlessly, journeying into the Tactile Dome in the Exploratorium, adventuring day or night through Golden Gate Park, posting up at Dolores Park for one of the best views, marching for rights in political protests, attending free concerts at Stern Grove, and wishing the wind would die down at the beach and the waters were a bit more friendly.” David appreciates the cultural diversity, progressive attitudes, and rich history of the City by the Bay. The relatively small size of his home city—just seven by seven square miles— puts people of all different backgrounds and cultures close to each other so they can have the opportunity to learn to understand and get along with each other.

“One Love, as Bob Marley wrote. Is that so hard?” David says. And, of course, David loves the storied music festivals and venues such as Outside Lands and the Great American Music Hall. “San Francisco is the perfect city to catch new live music,” he says. “Whether at a festival or just your best friend’s garage band.” To him, it’s sad that high housing costs have pushed many artists out of the city. However, while he thinks this has “affected the artistic spirit within the city, nothing will stop a true artist from commuting to [San Francisco] to share their work.” One non-local venue where David recently performed was NPR’s Tiny Desk concert series. He says that it takes effort and talent to sound good at a Tiny Desk show because you’re performing without the electronic backup and technology that has become prevalent in modern music. “If you can blow away a crowd without any extra electronic crutches and frills, then in my opinion you're a true rockstar.” David entered and won a competition to play in the Tiny Desk series, where he sang a song he wrote in memory of a cousin who passed away. According to David, much of his music is like a heartbeat, rising and falling, telling a personal and a world story.

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razilian-American musician Luke David has fond memories of growing up in San Francisco and still thinks the city is a wonderful place to find new artists. Originally from San Diego, he moved to San Fran as a young child, which he describes as a wonderful experience.

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“I compose music by feeling. Without my deep connection to my own soul and its ability to feel the Earth's energy I could not come up with the songs I write. I listen carefully to how a chord may sound, and as I stitch notes together, the lyrics tend to simply flash into my mind and roll off my tongue. Certain tones and moods in music can be very powerful and I seek to emulate that power.” He claims many artistic inspirations. “‘My history with musical theater and [my] adoration of specific artists in a myriad of genres is what lends to my unique artistic style.” Right now, David invests much of his time working on getting better at playing the piano and the guitar. “The better I can play, the better chance I have of being able to write the tunes that come into my mind.”

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He’s also creating his first fulllength album, which is presently untitled and will share a cohesive story. He tends to come up with ideas as he goes rather than planning projects entirely in advance, but does say that he’s going to sing about “love, pain, duress, joy, politics, humanity, change, and environmentalism.”

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In the meantime he has some singles on the way and his music streams on all platforms, including several songs on YouTube. As he says, “At this point in our existence, music is infinite, so the only way I can truly attest to the uniqueness of my work is for you to please go and listen.” And he expresses nothing but gratitude for San Francisco’s influence on his creative work. “Ultimately the vibe, style and aesthetic that I adopted from my time in ‘The City’ are all fused together to become the freedom to present myself as I please whilst joining the movement toward a better world for humanity as a whole.”

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Rap Rapper and businessman Stunnaman says SF’s rap scene is under-rated BY CRISTINA DEPTULA

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PHOTO CREDIT @K.BAARDE & @ACESINCE1990

an Francisco hip-hop artist Stunnaman (Jordan Gomes) credits his success to growing up in the city. “Just being from the city, in general, taught me a sense of urgency most people ignore. But that same sense of urgency is the difference between a successful individual and somebody who never secured their opportunities.” He reflects on how different neighborhoods he lived in as a child and as a teen shaped his personality. “The Fillmore taught me how to use my words and articulate myself, how to formulate what I wanted to say and do. Hunters’ Point showed me confidence. I used to be reserved, but the Point took that out of me. I learned to be aggressive and go after what I wanted.”

That confidence has helped Stunnaman throughout his career. He began writing songs in 2006 while he was in a high school that he said was “cool but had somewhat of a cookie cutter mentality.” Being able to express himself as an individual is very important to Stunnaman, and he became even more serious about his music while in college. He remembers one night when he’d promised himself that he’d play video games for only one hour, then do homework for an hour and then write songs for one more hour. However, he ended up playing video games for the whole three hours—and sold his Xbox the next week. One year after that night, he dropped his first song and video. A year after that, he graduated from college with three songs on local radio station KMEL.

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Stunnaman says he could never work a regular corporate desk job because of the value he puts on individuality. Rather, he’s gone into business for himself, creating and selling a soft drink that doesn’t contain the ingredients in most sodas that give him eczema. He originally made the drink just so he could have a beverage that he could enjoy, but a friend gave him the idea to sell it. He ended up quitting his job and selling the drink, which he says he makes in the same way he used to make KoolAid, while also making hip-hop full-time. A public figure, businessman, and self-made musician, Stunnaman got the opportunity to play a version of himself in The Last Black Man in San Francisco. To him, acting in film is a natural outgrowth of his musical persona. “All the great rappers act,” he says.

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While Stunnaman has nothing against social media, he naturally prefers to connect with people in person. He says he prefers to share his music or sell products face to face as it feels like a more authentic connection. However, his ‘Big Steppin’ dance challenge took off on Instagram this summer and he completely embraced the attention.

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As the California News-Times explains in an article on Stunnaman, “Stretch your fists back and forth as if you were on a bench press, and slowly rotate your toes. Now you are a big-stepping star!” The dance has caught on with some big-name folks, including the 49ers and Mayor London Breed, who have performed the steps during sporting and civic events. The Warriors have now commissioned a special version of the song and dance for them to perform before games. Stunnaman

hopes that ‘Big Steppin’ will bring his hip-hop music into mainstream culture and put San Francisco on the map for its sound. He says that musicians in the Bay should not be afraid to embrace the musical trends that have been invented or taken root here. Some music critics say San Francisco hip-hop artists have been too obsessed with hyphy as a genre and that has held back their creativity. However, Stunnaman points out that in other major cities, such as Detroit, hip-hop also tends to have a certain sound and style and the local musicians can create good music using that as a starting point. Stunnaman certainly sees talented musicians and a solid, but underpromoted and under-recognized, rap and hip-hop scene within San Francisco. The city’s rap scene is “undervalued and underrated,” he says. “I definitely give kudos to the East Bay and Oakland for holding their own, but I feel like the rap scene in San Francisco, not only has it always been prominent, but right now it’s on fire.” He hopes to help bring music to the forefront of SF with his new album I Gotta Feel It, released in January 2021. Songs on the album address cultural appropriation, gentrification and Black displacement from San Francisco, and social injustice. There are also plenty of tunes about women and partying, and a song titled simply ‘Fun.’ SF Weekly says the record is full of “exuberance and yelling” which is a welcome relief after the solitude of 2020.

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Kontent for Change Kontent Films is a top-notch production company who uses their skills, talent, and passion for advocacy and activism

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BY GRACE HENDRICKS

PHOTOS COURTES Y OF KONTENT FI LMS

ontent Films (kontentf ilms .c om) is a pro duc tion c ompany base d in S an Franc isc o that o ffer s high- quali t y c ontent creation ser v ic e s , all the way f rom ideation through e di torial, and c ollab oration wi th an award-winning team. Unlike other pro duc tion c ompanie s though, K ontent Films pushe s the ir e xp er tise and pas sion to e ven higher le ve ls as the c ompany priori ti ze s storie s that promote ac ti v ism and p o si ti ve change.

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Mark Decena

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Founder and filmmaker Mark Decena has always been a stor y teller and when he found filmmaking, it just clicked. He explains, “My first exposure to film production was on sets shooting commercials. When a low budget job came up that couldn’ t afford a director, my creative par tner and I stepped in to co-direct , and the rest is histor y.”

“Doctor David’s work as an infectious disease epidemiologist regularly brought him to Uganda, and he wanted to bring attention to a program he had begun that provided unattainable generic AIDS medication to his patients. In all, the film helped raise a million dollars, and saved many lives until the generic medications were widely available to the masses.”

This eventually resulted in Decena’s first “ feature film, Dopamine, that went through all phases of the Sundance system: the Filmmaker/ Screenwriter Labs, the Film Festival, and [it was] bought by the Sundance Channel [which] included a theatrical release. It was mind blowingly heady stuff for a former Army brat , raised by a single mom since the age of six , in the East Bay town of Fremont.”

The experience solidified Decena’s path towards documentar y filmmaking. Since then, Decena has worked on many documentaries, which have included “bringing awareness to the inadequacies of the United Nations’ nonbinding pledges and political promises” of the 2015 Paris Climate Accords in Not Without Us or “shedding light on the precious resource of water along the Colorado River basin in Watershed, helping to raise $10M to reconnect the river to its delta, or using stand up comedy to bring awareness to global development issues in Stand Up Planet.”

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His film, Dopamine, was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Prize in 2003. The film follows the romance between a San Franciscan computer programmer and a schoolteacher in the immediate post-dot. com boom days.

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“bringing awareness to the inadequacies of the United Nations’ non-binding pledges and political promises”

Unexpec tedly, it was his narrative feature f ilm that would lead him to documentarie s . Decena recalls , “[D opamine was] the closing night f ilm at the San Franc isco International Film Fe stival. The line was around the block at the Castro Theater, making our home -town premier a raucous , full house...I was , needle s s to say, on cloud nine. Bu t within the swirl of greetings from family and friends after wards , my good friend David Bangsberg came up to me and said, ‘Congratulations , Mark , That was wonder ful. Bu t now are you ready to do a really impor tant f ilm? ’” Although a jarring remark after the hometown premiere of his first feature, it directly led Decena to film his first documentar y shor t.

Decena has alway s been an environmentalist . Howe ver, “it wasn’ t until attending the 2011 World Soc ial Forum in Dak ar, Sene gal, that I was introduced to the soc ial movement s of the Global Sou th. I became more and more cognizant of the soc ial injustice s of rac ism, xenophobia, and capitalism that the Climate Justice movement s were f ighting, including environmental rac ism. A s a f ilmmaker of color and seeing those mo st affec ted were BI POC folk s , I committed to making f ilms that suppor ted a variet y of soc ial movement s that ex amined the root cause s of climate change , ex treme income inequalit y, and patriarchy. It became clear that all of the dot s connec t , bringing us to our current state of s y stemic crise s .”

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“But a growing number, disillusioned by lack of oppor tunit y, environmental racism, and dietrelated chronic illnesses, are seeing that reconnecting to land and the rich agricultural histor y of African descendancy is a source of dignity and power. They are called the Returning Generation—to land, justice and independence. Our main character, Leah Penniman, who wrote the book Farming While Black, is at the perfect intersection of racial justice, food sovereignty and solutions to the climate crisis.” The documentar y is par ticularly poignant to make now as it coincides with the introduction of a new congressional bill called The Justice for Black Farmers Act , which if successful, will be incorporated into the upcoming revisions to the United States Farm Bill in 2023. The Farm Bill regulates the agricultural industr y and receives policy updates only twice per decade. The Act was co-created by Senator Cor y Booker and Senator Elizabeth Warren and it aims to “enact

policies to end discrimination within the USDA , protect remaining Black farmers from losing their land, provide land grants to create a new generation of Black farmers, and restore the land base that has been lost , and implement systemic reforms to help family farmers across the United States.” Decena is currently in New York filming the documentar y, even after their main funder dropped out just before the threeweek shoot. While they were able to raise funds for that par t of production, they are still relying on donations to complete the film. “It will be a combination of foundation suppor t , possible production par tnerships, and well-resourced individuals who believe the stor y of a returning generation of Black farmers needs to be seen by a wide audience.” You can donate to the documentar y ’s production fund on their website. No matter the project , Decena and Kontent Films continue to inspire positive change through the stories they tell. At the end of the day, “since my first film was a narrative love stor y, I now realize all of my documentar y films are love stories too. [For The Returning] my challenge will be, as always, to have you fall in love with Leah, her family and Soul Fire Farm, so her bad-ass self can blow you over with her presence, mad knowledge, and love for the land. I believe it is through love that we can uncover truths, create empathy, and inspire action.”

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Many of his films have addressed the systemic issues in our world, and his current film is no exception. His most recent feature film, “The Returning looks at [the] burgeoning movement of Black Farmers returning to the land. Young African Americans, many with direct lineages to slaver y, have been traumatized and culturally brainwashed to believe that farming is an undignified return to the scene of the original crime—slaver y.”

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Windy Chien Queen of Knots BY MICHAEL DAK S P H O T O C R E D I T M O L LY D E C O U D R E A U X

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ind y C hien is a C hine se Americ an ar tist who se c are er has include d owning Aquarius R e c ords for four te en y ear s , p o s sibl y the c o ole st re c ord shop in S an Franc isc o, then e ight y ear s at Apple as i Tune s pro duc t manager, b e fore publishing her b o ok The Year o f K not s in 2 01 6, and embark ing on her current c are er as a f ine ar tist .

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As a child of Chinese immigrants, Chien always felt like an outsider. During high school she finally realized that this could be a form of liberation. “ When you’re an outsider, people don’t know what to expect from you, so you are free to self-define. My identity has always been driven by being active in the worlds I’m most excited by, whether that be underground music, ground-breaking tech, and the world of knotting.”

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Pattern, repetition, and scale are three of several strategies she employs when seeking to find a singular knot ’s ultimate expressive potential. “My favorite knot to tie is the Five-Strand Star Knot. During The Year of Knots, in which I taught myself one new knot ever y day for one year, the Star Knot was hands down the most difficult to learn. It brought me to tears; it was so difficult.” These days, she can do it with her eyes closed. She makes good use of any scraps and shor t ends by gifting Star Knots to studio visitors. Several months into The Year of Knots, She nailed each daily knot to the wall of what was then her studio (i.e. her living room), she realized they were holding together beautifully, like a growing amoeba. “I realized that by the end of the year I’d have a massive installation of 366 knots (2016 was a leap year); this was amazing because I hadn’t set out to make ar t ; I had under taken the project as a journey of self-education, not ar t.” Five years later, she has a 1500 square foot studio, she makes fine ar t for a living, and all of that star ted with the exercise of daily practice. Not only are her ar t works more than the sum of their par ts, but the steps she took to get here have resulted in an entirely new life.

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With the Circuit Boards in par ticular, the meaning of incorporating the stor y of “women’s work ” alongside the Circuit Board abstraction did not occur to her until the body of work had been developed for a few years. “Some ar tist ’s star t with [a] concept , but I do not. I star t a fine ar t work with the approach of a craftsperson who is fluent in the language of the materials themselves—in my case, rope, knots, and line.”

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As a former record shop owner I asked Chien what music she liked to listen to when she knots. “My tastes are wide and omnivorous. I’m reasonably exper t in many genres, including 1960s Jamaican Rocksteady, 1970s Ethiopian jaz z , ‘90s indie rock , Japanese noise, and more.” If readers are interested in hearing exactly what she listens to in the studio, her Spotif y playlist WINDY STARS contains 90 hours of excellent tuneage.

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My favourite installation by Windy is The Viamonte Circuit Board. It ’s at a residential building in Walnut Creek , California. It ’s huge! “I am also always looking to make work that is monumental in scale, larger than I am. My niece, who is also an ar tist , quite rightly pointed out that when an ar tist makes a work , they are inherently bigger than the work , because they made it. And I like taking up space.”

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Generally, with each new work that she creates, her goal is to push her work forward, so it is continually evolving. Having read an ar ticle about the significance and symbolism of Chinese knots, macramé seems to date back to 13th centur y Arabia, but knots in Chinese culture date as far back as the 3rd Centur y. I asked Windy if there was any symbolism in the work that she makes. “ While most knots are functional workhorses, China, Korea, and Japan have a vast , rich, and storied histor y of decorative knotting. Asian knots often symbolize concepts such as happiness, longevit y, and luck . Others are figurative, such as those depicting the dragonfly, butterfly, and fish. While the viewer ’s interpretation is the one that matters most , my own desire is to depict the knots as aesthetic objects in their own right , which intersects with the functional uses and symbolic interpretations originating cultures have attached to them. It ’s the intersection that fascinates me.” As this ar ticle is for the San Francisco issue, it seemed like a good idea to ask Chien what she loves most about living there. “ This is the most open-minded, freethinking place in America. The Bay Area is filled with glorious freaks, ar tists, musicians, and out-there tech people. Yes, tech people. I mean, at one point Steve Jobs walked around barefoot and was a fruitarian! I felt this more strongly in decades past , of course, but some of us are still here and thriving.”

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Chien is currently preparing for a solo show at Sarah Shepard Galler y in San Francisco. Then she is traveling to the world’s premier studio craft biennial in Cheongju, South Korea. “ This will involve two weeks of quarantine before I can even install the work . Should be quite an adventure.”

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PHOTOGRAPH ED B Y CHARLES SCHOENBERGER. MODEL XUE XUE ZHA & DE X TER SIMMONS. HAI R ROBERT DOUGL A S. MAK E UP ERNESTO R O B L E D O . M A K E U P C E L E S T I N E P E A R L U R B A N O . WA R D R O B E J A D R A C H A C O L L E C T I O N . A C C E S S O R I E S L A N C E V I C T O R M O O R E . T R O O R A .

“

TrooRa would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire team of people that made this shoot and issue possible and successful. D AY O N E S H O O T C R E W

Special Thanks to Johnathan Rachman Design. We would like to thank Judith Ibanez, Jonathan Rachman and a very special thank you to JRD’s Clients. We are grateful for your generosity and thankful to you for opening your home to us! D AY T W O S H O O T C R E W

A special Thank You to Fashion Designer Jad Racha, and The Academy SF’s Nate Bourg & Paul Miller, we are grateful for your hospitality and guidance.

TROORA MAGAZINE SAN FRANCISCO ISSUE ’21 PHOTO SHOOT

P R O D U C E R | C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R

Trystanne Cunningham - IG @trystanne C O / C R E AT I V E D I R E C T O R

Brian Esterle - IG @acoolglassofmilk PHOTOGRAPHER

Charles Schoenberger - IG @charlesschoenberger C I N E M AT O G R A P H E R

Bro Jackson - IG @brojackson 2ND CAMERA

Drazen Grujic - IG - @zengru V I D E O A S S I S TA N T

Day 1 - Jose Figueroa - IG @endzwitdalenz Day 2 - Dontae Blinks - IG @lastnameblinks C A M E R A A S S I S TA N T

Nicole Schlaeppi - IG @nschlaeppi.photo CAMERA AND LIGHTING

Charles Schoenberger - IG @charlesschoenberger Westbound Entertainment Bro Jackson Visuals Drazen Grujic HAIR ST YLING

Robert Douglas - IG @itsmerobd MAKE-UP ARTIST

Ernesto Robledo - IG @graffitima MAKE-UP ARTIST

Celestine Pearl Urbano - IG @cel.pea MODEL

Dexter Simmons - IG @dexterflawk MODEL

Xue Xue Zha - @xue7 WA R D R O B E D E S I G N S

Jad Racha - IG @jadrachacollection Masks And Jewelry Lance Victor Moore - IG @lance.v.moore ST YLING

Jad Racha, Lance Victor Moore & Trystanne Cunningham S E T C O O R D I N AT O R

Grace Hendricks - IG @gg.hendricks P R O D U C T I O N A S S I S TA N T

Kyle Khemmanivong - IG @dead.kyle PHOTO RETOUCHING

Natalya Belaya L O C AT I O N P R O V I D E D B Y

Day 1 - Johnathan Rachman Design Johnathan Rachman - IG @johnathanrachmandesign Day 2 - The Academy SF Social Club - IG @the_academy_sf Nate Bourg and Paul Miller

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ACCESSORIES DESIGNER

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zero-waste, fair fashion

tonle.com

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We unmask the man behind the great bespoke mask creations worn by A-list celebrities BY MICHAEL DAKS

SELF-PORTRAIT PHOTO CREDIT JAIME ESTRADA

FASHIO

ance Victor Moore

When I first spoke to Lance Victor Moore, he was at the airport in LA having just finished a music video with a (non-disclosed) major A-List star and was waiting for his flight home to San Francisco. Much has changed for him since Lady Gaga first wore two of his masks at the VMA’s in August 2020. “As a new artist it comes in waves. There are times when I can’t keep up and other times when I think, ‘Oh, was that it?’”

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As a child he attended Jimmy Swaggart’s church and also Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s, where his father often spoke about his gift from God. “It was hard to be around that as a young queer kid. I was very out. I don’t remember a time when I officially came out to my family, I was just never really in.”

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Nobody ever tried to ‘shake the devil out of him,’ but it must have been a difficult time growing up in an evangelical Christian family and within that fervent religious framework. Moore ran away from home at age sixteen and moved to New York where he eventually studied restorative painting at Cooper Union. But, essentially, he became one of the club kids. That whole scene fell apart when Michael Alig and Robert “Freeze” Riggs were convicted of killing fellow club kid Andre “Angel” Melendez over a drug debt. After this, Moore decided it was probably time to change his lifestyle.

PHOTOGRAPH ED B Y CHARLES SCHOENBERGER. MODEL DE X TER. HAI R ROBERT DOUGL A S. MAK E UP ERNESTO ROBLEDO. M A K E U P C E L E S T I N E P E A R L U R B A N O . WA R D R O B E J A D R A C H A C O L L E C T I O N . A C C E S S O R I E S L A N C E V I C T O R M O O R E . T R O O R A .

Moore was born in Central Islip on Long Island, New York. His father is the Christian artist Danny Hahlbohm, best known for his religious painting Footprints in the Sand, an interpretation of the poem by Mary Stevenson written in 1939. Moore’s mother Danise also wrote many poems that went with her husband’s paintings, the most famous being “Welcome Home”.

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PHOTO CREDIT BEN DECASTRO MODEL RAYMOND PORTER

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In 1999, just before the millennium, he moved to San Francisco. “This was the time for me to get clean and sober, so I thought ‘where is the best place to not be influenced by drugs and alcohol? San Francisco!’” His first foray into the world of masks had happened very early on in his life, inspired by the Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman costume in Batman Returns (1992). He went around collecting materials and made himself his own version of the Catwoman suit. It came out so well that a photographer asked if he could photograph him in it.

His parents however, saw the resulting images and freaked out! “That was technically the first mask I ever made. I had got myself a copy of Madonna’s book SEX, which had a metal cover and I chopped it up and made metal claws and the inserts to the ears of my costume.”

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PHOTO CREDIT: CHARLES SCHOENBERGER MODEL: DEXTER

“She was having a fashion show in New York in 2016 and she knew that I had been making wearable art pieces for some of my friends here in the city, drag queens and creative types. She was doing a gender neutral collection and wanted a way to fashionably obscure everyone’s faces.”

PHOTO CREDIT ANA CARRILLO MODEL CHRISTOPHER LUQUIS

However, he did not begin making masks professionally until about five years ago. He was working in San Francisco at a fabric store called BRITEX with his friend Emily Payne, who was asked to be on Project Runway and later Project Runway All Stars.

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He began making masks out of silk and wool, called ‘dusters’ back then, which was a Burning Man terminology, but then attaching antlers and porcupine quills and metal spikes. He created fourteen masks for the show and they were a huge success. Emily showed in New York and again in San Francisco and by the close of both shows, he had sold all the masks.

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Moore’s big break finally came when stylists Nicola Formichetti and Marta Del Rio, who work with Lady Gaga, first began to notice his work. He spent about ten days finishing up some pieces that they had liked and made some new pieces under very specific colour schemes. Then Jaime Estrada, Moore’s partner and love of his life, then drove him to Los Angeles while he slept in the car, exhausted by all the work he had just finished. About a month after his fitting with Lady Gaga, he received a text from Marta saying he should watch the VMA’s the following evening.

PHOTO CREDIT: CHARLES SCHOENBERGER MODEL: XUE XUE ZHA

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“I had created something that people liked that I was happy to make and create.” Because he was working at Britex he met a couple of the ladies who lunch, and it became word of mouth that if you wanted something a bit unusual to wear for the Opera or the Symphony Gala, then he was the guy to ask. Soon, others, such as the San Francisco Chronicle Arts and Culture writer Tony Bravo and the perennially best-dressed entrepreneur, and philanthropist, Vanessa Getty, began to take notice.

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“She wore my red horn mask, I had a heart attack and fell on the floor…my phone lit up like a Christmas tree…and then about twenty minutes later she came back on with my jellyfish mask, which she wore as a crown.”

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PHOTO CREDIT: CHARLES SCHOENBERGER MODEL: DEXTER

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The next day Billboard Magazine featured Lady Gaga on the cover wearing some of Moore’s jewellery and also one of his corset belts. And two weeks later, her music video 911 dropped with Gaga and other talent wearing pieces from his collection. Vogue then called to borrow pieces for Milla Jovovich to wear. “People refer to my work as couture masks by Lance Victor Moore, but I don’t really describe my work as couture, because I value and appreciate couture so much. I would describe it as bespoke. I am not in Paris and I don’t work for a couture house, but it is handmade and one of a kind!” Finally, I asked Lance whom he would most like to design a mask for. “If I could work for any one person then Iris Van Herpen, who I absolutely adore, an unparalleled genius and if I could have coffee one day with jewellery designer Shaun Leane…”

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Collection “Forest” dedicated for the women – who has a desire to pamper herself. For the women – who want to feel silk touches not only on special occasions, but on everyday life. Photo Credit - Darius Tarela - focusstudio.lt apotecafashion.com

Fashion Designer

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Inspiration

BY CRISTINA DEPTULA

ashion de signer Jad Racha fe ll in lo ve wi th S an Franc isc o f rom the moment he mo ve d here. A s he pu t s i t , “S an Franc isc o ’s charm he lp e d nur se and shap e [my] take on fashion.”

Another major inspiration for him is his mother. Racha is her first name and he’s taken that as his ar tist name in her honor. She’s always been encouraging to him and as a child he grew up admiring the elegant clothes she wore to par ties and events in their native Lebanon. She now wears his new couture creations! I wondered if he considered his work

vintage or modern, and he answered, “ timeless and classic.” When asked for more detail on how he described his style, Racha explained, “Clean, modern, and timeless. My work reflects classic elegance and detailed craftsmanship.” He names Huber t de Givenchy and Christian Dior as influences on his ar t. And he says his own inspirations come from a variety of sources. “My ideas come from all over my surroundings, fabric, draping , sketching, music , vintage shops etc...I usually allow myself to not think about what I’m designing instead I just let it happen and see what comes out.”

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Racha earned a degree from the Academy of Ar t in San Francisco and then, during and after his studies, worked for luxur y fashion houses in NYC, L A and SF. This allowed him to refine the ar t of bridal and evening gown wear before opening his own atelier in San Francisco and building up fans and followers and appearing at charity and ar ts events. His website regales visitors with sketches of the outlines of his designs, as does the work he has up on Saatchi Ar t. His Instagram account shows off actual evening gowns and wedding dresses. Jad shares some of the highlights of his career, times that have been memorable for him. “Having my illustration published in a fashion book for the first time was a ver y exciting time for me, as was taking the leap and star ting my own business. Another exciting moment was being featured in Town and Countr y and in Women’s Wear Daily.”

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I let him know that I saw a lot of movement and energy in his drawings and his designs, and he agreed.

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San Francisco’s charm helped nurse and shape [my] take on fashion.

Fur ther describing his work , he points out , “Freedom of expression is key in my brand and designs. My illustrations are more expressive and fluid in movement. My garments are clean and modern with a strong emphasis on construction and fit.”

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PHOTOGRAPH ED B Y CHARLES SCHOENBERGER. MODEL XUE XUE ZHA. HAI R ROBERT DOUGL A S. MAK E UP ERNESTO ROBLEDO. M A K E U P C E L E S T I N E P E A R L U R B A N O . WA R D R O B E J A D R A C H A C O L L E C T I O N . A C C E S S O R I E S L A N C E V I C T O R M O O R E . T R O O R A .

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“I was fortunate enough to work with so many talented designers and companies that allowed the building block for my personal aesthetic. It is natural for my aesthetic to grow and change with our times, but the Jad Racha DNA is set in stone.” He’s also optimistic about the future of the world’s design industr y and the new creative directions modern designers are taking.

“It all depends what par t of the industr y you are in. With my focus as a designer I see it moving

in a glamorous and classic direction. Overall I see the industr y in a hopeful way.” Racha also loves seeing how fashion has taken strides to welcome and include a wider variety of body types, ethnicities, and gender identities.

“And I am very happy for so many designers to be open to working with so many different types of models and backgrounds. It is joyful to see the old fashion mold has shifted to be more empowering for all types of women and men and those of other genders.” Thought and elegance characterize each one of Jad Racha’s pieces and he’s proud to be part of San Francisco’s artistic milieu.

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Although his design sense has developed over time, and he considers himself privileged to have learned from many skilled designers, he’s always had a solid sense of his personal style.

Clean, modern, and timeless. My work reflects classic elegance and detailed craftsmanship.

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Instagram: @mabelchongjewelry Facebook: mabelchongjewelry Twitter: @mabelSF Pinterest: @mabelchongsf mabelchong.com

The Expressionist For Designer Colleen Quen, each piece is an art, an inspiration, and an expression of herself

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B Y N E H A SU R A D K A R | P H OTO S C O U R T E S Y O F C O L L E E N Q U E N C O U T U R E

mul ti-fac e te d p er sonali t y, an amalgamation o f thre e cul ture s , a c ou turier, an ar tist , a danc er, a music ian, a healer—the se are j ust some words to de scrib e one o f Cali fornia’s mo st remark able women, C olle en Quen, the founder o f C olle en Quen C ou ture.

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Born on the quiet and peaceful island of Alameda, California, Quen is a third or four th generation American-born Chinese. She feels proud to be born in the US and is equally proud of her eastern roots. Fashion was a par t of Quen’s life from a ver y young age. She considers her mother to be her first ar t and fashion teacher. Her mother used to create outfits for her special occasions, and Quen would love selecting the fabrics and colours, hence developing an eye for style from a ver y young age. She would sneak into her mother ’s fabric room and be mesmerized by all the tex tures, colours, and patterns. As a child, she would spend time drawing, painting, embroider y, and playing piano and flute.

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She graduated in Computer Science and business while excelling in dance forms like ballet and modern dances. She trained in ice skating and was a freest yle ice skater for almost a decade. While into ice skating, she star ted designing costumes for the same and decided to pursue a degree in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Management (FIDM), San Francisco.

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Born and brought up in the States, having a beautiful eastern legacy and having mastered French Couture, Quen’s for te lies in bringing all the three cultures into her designs. With her study of French couture, she learned to be a true ar tist. She studied the human body with perfection and loved to create ou tf it s for this ar tform. To her, French cou ture is all abou t per fec tion, ele gance , and prec ision. Mixing all three make s the ae sthetic s spiritual.

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Quen enjoys this intermixing in her designs, whether evening wear, paintings, sculpture, or Chinese watercolor painting. One of her favorite designs, “ The Butterfly Dream”, has an elegant vintage look , French couture cut , and precise ancient butterfly pattern exhibited in Shanghai Museum of Contemporar y Ar t (MOCA).

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Nature is her main inspiration, be it for her couture or paintings. Elements of nature, such as butterflies and flowers, are omnipresent in her designs. She is especially fascinated with butterflies, their colours, and the idea of metamorphosis, which also appears in her logo. She also derives her inspiration from paintings and architectural designs, being inspired by colours, silhouettes, shapes, and patterns.

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Quen has a wide range of clientele who trust her and her intuitive design instincts. She likes to understand her clients, their personality, their aura, the occasion they are going to, and then envisions them in outfits, one of which she creates for them. She designs for women in philanthropic leadership, suppor ting ar t and music for their openings and red carpet events. In addition, she makes costumes for films and celebrities, designs dance and ballet costumes, bridal gowns, daywear wardrobe, and cocktail dresses. Calling herself a chameleon designer, Quen can create any thing for anyone.

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The pieces Quen produces are timeless, elegant , long-lasting, and perfection in terms of sewing and fit. Her designs look like a piece of ar t both inside and outside and are often handed down to the nex t generation as a keepsake. Silk is her go-to fabric, and she works only with silk . She uses various proper ties of the fabric to bring out the best in her designs. For example, she would use a fine fabric for structured designs, which gives clean and crisp lines, but while working on draped designs, she would work with silks that give a waterfall effect and have movement and body like chiffons, gauze, and organdy. For Quen, fabrics are characters of speech that bring out the emotions of a design.

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Quen does not believe in mass production. Each of her designs is unique, hand made, and bespoke. There is no fabric wastage, as the fabric is ordered for only one design, and scraps are used to make accessories. With her proficiency in pattern making, Quen works on creating easy-to-sew, seamless patterns. She works on an AvantGarde collection once a year for Fashion Shows, through which she loves to express herself, her ar t , and her inspiration. She loves to bring for th a message through all her collections, be it Compassion, The Treasures Within, or any other. Each of her designs is like a painting and has its own stor y. Each design is unique and pushes her to grow and evolve in her life. Her collections are like her life journal that unfolds before us.

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Her first collection from almost two decades ago was inspired by five elements of life—water, fire, ear th, metal, and wood. It was created with silk , and according to Quen, it was the purest of all her collections as there was no one to be pleased but herself.

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Apar t from designing, Quen has made documentaries on her life, Ancient Chinese fashion, and Madame Butterfly. She has been a judge on America’s Top Model. She has been mastering Chinese watercolor painting for nine years now, and has created around 900 paintings. She plays Guzheng and Erhu, is learning Flamingo, and practices qigong and tai chi.

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Quen has been recognized as one of the ten most iconic ar tists from San Francisco and was showcased at San Francisco MOMA for their 75th Anniversar y. Talking about her life, Quen feels that there is never a dull moment. Ever y day is intense and may be challenging, but is never boring. Some days she is teaching and mentoring upcoming ar tists and designers or working on her collection or for fashion shows; while on other days, she would be meditating and channeling her inner energy.

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She is now looking forward to her show at Audubon, Richardson Bay, where there will be live performances along with a ramp walk of her couture designs. For her, each piece is an inspiration and each person is unique. She feels honoured to be a par t of people’s design journey and make a connection with them. She competes with herself and tries to attain perfection. Working on special designs for people, working collaborations, or commissions is what keeps Quen going.

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The World’s Finest, Consciously Made Handbags

behno.com

BY NEHA SURADKAR

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Accessories Designer Tiersa Nureyev’ Stella Fluorescent

Stella Fluorescent: a fashion-forward entity using innovative elements and production techniques to create stunning treasures.

tella Fluorescent is a San Francisco-based design studio co-founded by Tiersa Nureyev and Erik Hilburn. Named after their daughter Stella, the studio’s focus is on making fashion-forward, thoughtful objects that take the form of accessories, jewelr y, and tex tiles. Nureyev, the creative head behind Stella Fluorescent , star ted her career as a dressmaker and seamstress before training as a fashion designer. After becoming a mother, she transitioned into working as a jewelr y and accessor y designer as well as an ar t teacher ser ving children and youth. This was all to gain flexibility for managing her work and home lives.

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While in design school, she spent a great deal of time in the tex tile depar tment , which fostered her love for materials and a material-driven creative production process. Her academic training helped her define and ar ticulate the conceptual framework that updates her current professional practice. For Nureyev, the decision to make accessories and jewelr y rather than clothing was a practical one, as the financial and physical requirements were more attainable for a recent graduate and new mother. In addition, her fascination with tex tile materials and techniques offered her a rich pathway to innovation by making objects that utilize and experiment with tex tile construction techniques. Nureyev is focused on manipulating linear fiber and other materials and in creating intimacy between objects, infused with meaning and tradition, and the body of whoever wears it.

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Nureyev and Hilburn launched the brand, Stella Fluorescent , a name inspired by their daughter ’s name Stella, which means ‘a star ’, and Fluorescent is something that is ‘lit from within’—in other words, a radiant entity. The bir th of their daughter was a significant perspective shift that gave them a new way to understand their ideas, how they wanted to show up, and how they would contribute to the world.

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“ What more encapsulates the spirit of creation than having a child? The feeling of boundless potential, and emotional resonance, a muse that symbolizes empowerment , amplified energy, a sense of glowing magic,” says Nureyev.

Being inspired by nature, especially sea life and lunar cycles, Nureyev adds elements of nature, using natural fibers and sustainable processes. Infusing a piece with these intentions can affect the wearer. Perhaps a necklace can beautif y and act as a talisman that allows for a deeper connection to and reverence for the natural world.

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Nureyev gets inspired by looking at new ways to approach a material, which is evident in Stella Fluorescent ’s use of tex tiles. She loves to experiment with various tex tile construction techniques and natural hand dyeing, hand painting, and sewing. They transform fabric yardage into skeins of strands (not unlike yarn) and then weave, braid, knot , form, dye, and embellish this material to achieve a collection of pieces that are unique and unexpected.

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Ecological sustainabilit y guides ever y aspect of the business, especially material choices such as natural dyes, organically grown natural fibers, vintage tex tiles, and recycled, sustainably sourced metals. Their practice produces nearly zero waste, and they tr y to utilize all of the byproducts of production that might otherwise be considered trash. All manufacturing happens in-house, and they source all par tners and ser vices locally in the California Bay Area.

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With the desire to innovate and grow in the creative space, Stella Fluorescence comes up with two main collections a year and two smaller capsules or special limited runs. Though the collections do have a few minimal, delicate styles, the majorit y are statement pieces. Stella Fluorescent caters to customers who make bold fashion choices, are more open-minded and experimental in their approach to accessorizing and dressing; who are whimsical, ar tful, and appreciate an audacious use of scale, color, and tex ture. In addition, they like their customers to appreciate the craft and define value not only by the presence of precious metals and gems but also by the innovative use of non-traditional materials.

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When asked about her favorite design, Nureyev mentions their ‘Doma Luna’ collection, which features hammered and oil-painted domes. The collection captures the spirit of Stella Fluorescent , which is creating objects infused with meaning and stor y. With each step in creating a product , the more hands touch an object and the more craftspeople who apply their exper tise to an object , the cultural value increases.

To expand their global base of consumers and make people aware of their ideas and concepts, Stella Fluorescent is looking at par ticipating in International Wholesale shows and building a solid social media presence. The magazine was for tunate to receive some of the products of this unique conceptual brand for one of our photoshoots. Both the founders of Stella Fluorescent , Nureyev and Hilburn are passionate about culture, art , music, literature, and design. Both are curious, inspired, and compassionate. While Nureyev takes care of the artistic side of the business, Hilburn contributes with his sales knowledge, business logistics, and marketing strategies. Their shared passion for ethical and sustainable design makes for a great pairing. Through being together for 20 years, raising a family, and starting a business, they have supported each other ’s creative drive and passion through tireless encouragement and emotional support. For Nureyev, art is and has always been the lens that she can look through to understand the world, humanity, and herself. All this is what keeps Stella Fluorescent thriving!

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Renewing glasses into sunglasses lunelvintage.com

Skincare is self-care

Created in California, our all natural, sustainably sourced skincare is formulated with the recognition that we are all part of the earth.

What is good for the Earth is good for us.

earthtuface.com

Warmth from the edge of the world

inismeain.ie

Double Cuff Tunic 20% Cashmere 80% Merino Wool Crafted from a blend of super geelong merino wool and cashmere made to the highest European environmental standards using only organic and premium quality dyes. Made and hand-finished in Aran Islands workshop.

Return of THE

Couture In a world increasingly geared towards commodity and convenience, Couture reestablishes style through craftsmanship and individual client care.

BY GRACE HENDRICKS PHOTO CREDIT COUTURE UOMO

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outure (coutureuomo. com) is a high-quality European menswear store based in Union Square, San Francisco, whose history began at the side of Owner David Yahid’s grandmother. Yahid’s grandmother was a wedding dress couturier in Iran, who paid young David 25 cents a day to help her create her masterpieces. “She kept the money in a drawer,” Yahid remembered. But it wasn’t the money that intrigued young David. It was the “the touch, the smell, the texture” of the clothing that provoked an unwavering passion within him which he would pursue for the rest of his life and through which he would gift so many. After the revolution of 1979, Yahid left Iran to find a home in Europe. In his first few months, he moved between many different countries. All of his moves introduced him to new roommates, one of whom would later become his first menswear client. Yahid recalls, “My roommates would borrow clothes from me to go out on the

weekends and to go on dates. I eventually bought a leather jacket and one of my roommates liked it so much that he asked if he could buy it from me, and I said yes.” Eventually, Yahid landed in France, where his cousin had started a clothing company. Between his passion for clothes and his recent success in selling his leather jacket, Yahid immediately began working for his cousin. Shortly thereafter, however, it became clear that the market wasn’t fruitful for them in France. This realization ultimately gave Yahid the opportunity he had wanted for a while: to sell clothing in the United States. Yahid first moved to Los Angeles, where he initially operated a clothing business out of the trunk of his car. A few months later, on July 4th, he visited San Francisco for the first time and that was it. He instantly fell in love with the Bay Area. He went to lunch in Sausalito with his girlfriend at the time and during their meal, he told her that he wanted to buy a home in the Bay. Two years later, he bought his first condo in Sausalito and he’s lived in Marin County ever since.

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Shortly after arriving in San Francisco, he started a job working as a salesman in a clothing store. Over the next few years, he worked his way up the ladder, until he became manager of a clothing store that expanded greatly from one store to seven stores during his time. It was this fateful expansion that unknowingly solidified Yahid’s values for his own store, all of which remain core pillars of Couture to this day.

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As manager, Yahid had become consumed with managing people, bills, production, and the like. His position and responsibilities were causing him to lose connection with one of the primary reasons he fell in love with clothing—the people who wear them. And that was it for Yahid. Soon after, Yahid left his management position to begin his own European menswear store, which from the beginning, he established would be grounded in quality, in style, and very prominently, in fostering relationships with his clients. As Yahid said, “I wanted one store, but a good store. I

would refuse ten clients to fully serve one.” And so, Couture began. Since Couture opened its doors in 1989, Yahid has helped all of his clients find the right piece for them and their occasion. Yahid travels across Europe, to countries such as Italy, France, and Germany, to personally find all of the top-quality European menswear pieces offered at Couture, which include suits, sport coats, travel coats, shirts, pants, jeans, and much more. The collection at Couture also features a few of Yahid’s own designs, including a reversible raincoat. At Couture, “We don’t cover you; we fit you.” Couture offers made-to-measure, bespoke pieces, custom suits made in Italy, and high-quality tailoring. As a top-quality tailor himself, Yahid specializes in fitting men who find it challenging to purchase clothes off the rack in department stores. He makes sure that everyone, regardless of height, build, or disability, can look and feel good.

In January 2019, Yahid received a place on the San Francisco Legacy Business Registry. A fitting recognition from the city in which he has created a long-lasting legacy of style and quality and a new standard for client relationships. It is also a particularly fitting recognition for a man who transformed a childhood passion, cultivated at the side of his grandmother, into a staple of San Francisco fashion.

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His priority is to work with his clients to create the pieces they desire. He has become renowned among his local community, which even includes working with local sports heroes the Golden State Warriors basketball team. It goes without saying that his work continues to impact every client he encounters.

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BIG SPUR 2.0 Mens Bow Tie Made with black and white guinea, iridescent charcoal grey rooster, and deep red pheasant feathers. Center wrap is black grosgrain. Band collar wrap with an adjustable strap and hook closure - fits neck sizes 11” to 20”. Bow tie dimensions are 2.5” tall and 4.5” wide. Each feather used in production is all-natural and sustainably sourced. Feathers for bow ties are hand-selected, giving each finished piece unique coloring. Each bow tie is hand-crafted in Charleston, South Carolina and takes approximately five hours to make, start to finish.

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Fashion Is Back BY GRACE HENDRICKS

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Daniel George leads the pack in this returning age of fashion

ounder and designer, Daniel George , owns successful brick and mor tar stores in both San Francisco and Chicago (danielgeorge.com). His designs and his tailoring are renowned, both of which—in addition to his innate abilit y to foster authentic relationships with clients—have earned him a loyal clientele. George takes pleasure in “ wearing a unique suit to a black tie event , listening to the music you want...Don’ t fall into any par ticular categor y.” Wonder fully and unsurprisingly, his clothes and the experience of wearing one of his pieces are equally as bespoke as him. “I think it ’s my parents’ fault really,” George remarked when reflecting on how his interest in fashion began. This wasn’ t hard to believe as George went on to describe his parents, who were both independent style-icons in their own rights and who both

cultivated in George a pride and passion for fashion at an early age. George described his mother—“She’s 90 and still wears couture Oscar.” Over the past few years, the two have rarely ventured out anymore due to his mother ’s health, but “I visited her recently and she had laid out a twopiece sequin Prada suit with heels, jewelr y, and a handbag. I asked her, ‘Do you want to get dressed up?” And she replied, ‘Darling, I always want to get dressed up.’” George’s father was his mother ’s equal in style: “He smoked a pipe, but never in public; he wore London tailored clothing and silk pajamas... with monogrammed clothing slippers.” His father was “a rare read that doesn’t exist anymore...He taught me how to be a gentleman,” George remarked. Although always stylish, it wasn’t until his early twenties that George would star t to establish his own place in fashion.

PHOTO CREDIT: NICOLE WILSON - @NICOLEWILSONPHOTO

PHOTO CREDIT: @QWHARTON

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PHOTO CREDIT: OREN AMZALEG

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After graduating from universit y, George moved to San Francisco on a whim. In those early days, George star ted working odd jobs at retail stores. Eventually, he star ted working at The Custom Shop, owned by Mor timer Levitt. George recalls, “I was a stupid kid, but I was really good at making seasoned gentlemen look good and feel good in garments.” Eventually, his skillset led George at a young age to think “ Why am I doing this for someone else? Why am I not doing this for me?”

and mor tar in San Francisco. George agreed to the sale, which included a two year non-compete agreement.

That idea inspired George to star t his own fashion busine s s , which became succe s sful ver y quickly because of George ’s attention to detail and his abilit y to build relationships with his client s . A s George say s , “If I wouldn’ t wear it , you can’ t have it .” Another charac teristic inherited from his fashionable parent s , he approache s each of his piece s with an acu te per fec tionism and he ’s not satisf ied unle s s the clothe s he make s are top qualit y.

When the two years had passed, he returned to San Francisco with his Chicago business (and his reputation) developing successfully. George opened a brick and mor tar on the secondstor y of a building in the renowned fashion district of Jackson Square. George remarked that when clients visit , “some of them think it ’s going to be snott y or up-tight ,” but the experience they encounter couldn’ t be more opposite. George is incredibly conversational, welcoming, and funny. Sometimes his clients are having such a good time , they don’ t want to leave!

This eventually led George to sell his fashion business’ name and clientele list to an investor from Sacramento, who wanted to star t a brick

PHOTO CREDIT: NICOLE WILSON - @NICOLEWILSONPHOTO

Whether his clients have a specific design in mind or whether they ’re a blank canvas, George has been told by many, “I never knew what a suit should have felt like.” It is his passion and his dedication to qualit y that sets George apar t. George remarked, “I think the reason [Daniel George is] so busy and fashion is back is that it ’s the one really safe place to express yourself without getting into trouble.” In this age of returning fashion, Daniel George is where you want to be.

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In the early day s , George mostly met client s at their home s and off ice s . He quickly built a repu table and loyal clientele in San Franc isco, which included Denise Hale , Larr y Ellison, the Gett y family, and former Governor of Cali fornia, Jerr y Brown, among many others . In his early day s , howe ver, George re f lec t s that he was “irre sponsible. I was drinking too much, par t ying too much.” His fashion busine s s was more of “a hobby that I enjoyed, bu t I didn’ t do it seriously.”

After a shor t while, George moved to Chicago as he was unable to work in clothing in San Francisco until the non-compete agreement expired. In Chicago, George not only began his first showroom, but he also stopped drinking and par tying, and he became ver y serious about his growing label, Daniel George.

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Uncivilized

Elegance

Jewelry Designer Mabel Chong Molds Beauty from Imperfection

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BY CRISTINA DEPTULA

She credits her early inspiration to her mother, who sold her most precious possession, a golden pair of hoop earrings she wore at her wedding, so the family could move from a rural Chinese village to Hong Kong for a better life. As she explains on her site, ‘By the time I was 13, a single piece of jewelry had not only changed the course of my life, but also captivated my heart.’

Making beautiful objects of jewelry accessible to many people is still important to Mabel, and she sells many items for $150 or less. Art, travel and the natural world are also major inspirations for Chong. Many of her pieces are for sale but some others are in museums around the world, including San Francisco’s own Asian Art Museum. She’s also been invited to a jewelry festival in Miami and people at the Golden Globes have worn her creations, and she’s exhibited jewelry at a special pop-up event at San Francisco’s Civic Center, attended by then-mayor Ed Lee. Her creations include soft metal and gem-embedded leather bracelets, re-imagined pearls in various forms, and sparkling diamond-encrusted gemstones. She also loves working with pyrite and creating floral-inspired earrings.

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abel Chong began making handcrafted jewelry in 2003 at her family’s kitchen table. Since then, the San Francisco-based designer has opened several stores, two of which are in SF, and brought her designs to Europe and Asia.

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Her signature collection is called ‘Uncivilized Elegance’ and reflects the duality of nature by combining intricately crafted precious metals with earth-based materials. She says this collection aims to accentuate the raw inner beauty within each woman who wears her pieces. Chong hand-selects all of her gemstones, intentionally seeking slightly ‘imperfect’ materials with the character she admires for her aesthetic creations. Her pieces are made to last. She educates customers on jewelry care and cleaning on her website and happily services jewelry for a lifetime of wear, offering a complimentary ‘ring checkup’ for engagement and bridal pieces.

People comment on Mabel’s creativity and resourcefulness with jewelry design. Once she re-formed a woman’s treasured bracelet into a convertible piece that could also be worn as a necklace right in the store while the two talked and shared ideas. Another customer praised her work turning a stone into a pendant necklace, and yet another person described how she brought his girlfriend’s individual design idea for an engagement ring to life. Her work has inspired a following over the years and her employees and fans have built a thriving community online, celebrating each new piece as she showcases it.

She also has developed a stackable and colorful bracelet collection and is donating 20 percent of the proceeds from sales of that to international Covid-19 relief. As jewelry trade magazine JCK says in a feature on Mabel’s work, ‘her line is so easy to sell, the mix of textures, colors and materials feels unexpected and refreshing.’

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To celebrate San Francisco’s reopening after Covid-19, Mabel has created a new golden aria necklace, which looks like a waterfall. Other new offerings include pearl bridal jewelry and colorful gemstone rings and earrings.

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Fashion Pharmacy Apoteca is like a pharmacy in your closet, creating designs to treat your body and soul BY NEHA SURADKAR P H OTO C R E D I T D A R I U S TA R E L A

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p ote c a was founde d b y Inga Tare lai te , who thought o f star ting a unique fashion brand while v isi ting silk fac torie s in C hina. Fir st , she worke d in the fashion industr y as Edi tor and Creati ve Manager for fashion magazine s , c o ordinating the ir sho ot s and inter v ie wing de signer s . Then, she worke d wi th so me o f the b igge st fashion re tail chains like B er shk a and Apranga (Bigge st Fashion R e tailer in Bal tic c ountrie s) as a buy er and store manager.

endless possibilities that are there in the fashion industr y. This is when she star ted working on her own designs and quit her job.

During her tenure with these chains, she attended many fashion shows and trade shows and visited a lot of factories and manufacturing units in China, which helped her gain knowledge about garments, fabrics, construction, and the

Apoteca is based in San Francisco, handcrafted by a team of local women in Lithuania, and sold in America, Italy, and England. The brand designs for mature and elegant women who love great fabrics, intricate design details, and are not afraid to get noticed in a crowd.

Both her parents were pharmacists. Since childhood, pharmacy had always been a par t of Tarelaite’s life, and even her husband is a pharmacist. With all this connection, she came up with the idea of the name Apoteca—a pharmacy in your closet that can treat your body with luxurious natural fabrics and your soul with beautiful prints and colours at any moment in your life.

Tarelaite shares that Apoteca originated from the love for fashion; from the yearning to move forward; from passion and devotion; from a sense of style and the countless number of existing colors; from an endless desire to progress, to grow, to move ahead together ; and from the changing power of ar t , which is the expression of the world.

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According to Tarelaite, there are three main pillars of Apoteca—color, design, and fabric. The team at Apoteca loves to experiment with the variet y of available colours to make ever y outfit exciting and play ful. In addition, their designs use ar tisan stitching techniques to get a flawless finish, resulting in outfits that withstand wear and tear.

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Fabrics are one of the most significant inspirations for Apoteca designs. Tarelaite visits silk factories and brings some beautiful printed silks from there. They are then matched with solid colours and design samples are created, out of which few are selected for production. The brand works with three fabrics—silk , silk with spandex ,

and cashmere—which are natural and rich. Silk with spandex works as their primar y fabric in all designs for its richness, opacity, and the movement and body that it adds to the outfit. Silk adds the luxur y and softness that is unmatchable by any other fabric. Cashmere is the finest wool available, which adds softness and warmth and will last for years to come. The fabrics used in the Apoteca collection scream luxur y and timelessness in all their pieces. Apoteca came out with two collections ever y year before the pandemic, but now they keep adding new pieces ever y month to stay afloat. Nature is the major inspiring factor behind quite a few of Apoteca’s collections. Their first collection was Forest , which was deep, exotic, and had prints full of unexpected animals with a browngreen palette. It was designed for women who love to dress themselves with luxurious fabrics not only for special occasions but for ever y day. Being the first collection, this was ver y special for

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Tarelaite. She spent a significant amount of time working on it and made ever y piece unique. She still spots people on the streets of Lithuania wearing this collection. Also, since this collection was made more out of passion than for commercial reasons, that makes it even more special for her.

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Another nature-inspired collection was Tropics, composed of simple, effor tless summer pieces. They were designed with silks and cashmere with prints that included tropical gardens, flowers, birds, and Chinese paintings, with small decorative details that make them unique. The outfits are suitable for special occasions and ever yday wear. Some of the other collections have been inspired by Colours, Dreams, Elements of Life, Cupcakes, etc. Tarelaite feels that the Cupcake collection represents her personalit y, which is cute and colourful. Making clothes from all-natural fabrics and using all the scraps to make new pieces is how Apoteca contributes to the environment. Also, Getting all their pieces handsewn by local women of Lithuania

helps the community by providing employment oppor tunities. For Tarelaite, designing is a way to express herself. It brings her joy and happiness. She feels that , while making commercial pieces, you tend to lose yourself and focus only on the monetar y aspect. Real fashion is creating what you like and what makes you happy. Apar t from designing, Tarelaite enjoys styling for editorials, and her work has been photographed and published in some well-known fashion magazines. When not engaged with the day to day operations of Apoteca, Tarelaite enjoys travelling. She is a culture and food enthusiast. She loves to know about different cultures or meet people and attend events. Ever y thing, she believes, is a source of inspiration. Tarelaite believes in dressing up in a colourful way and getting noticed in the crowd. She is going really strong with Apoteca. Reaching happiness is what drives her. She feels that star ting is easy, but staying on and sur viving is an ar t—and she is tr ying to master the ar t.

Our mission is to remake, re-use, recycle and repurpose for a prolonged life cycle.

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A Collaborative Journey of Resplendent Design Designer Yuka Uehara’s new gallery showcasing traditional Japanese artistic crafts BY CRISTINA DEPTULA

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PHOTO CREDIT RICHARD VAN

“San Francisco is an intimate, artistic, and liberal city. Every time I meet a new person I feel like I uncover a new subculture. Because of the city’s friendliness and diversity, I feel encouraged to explore and challenge myself creatively.” — Yuka Uehara, quoted in Haute Couture’s 2017 feature on new San Francisco designers.

Designer and ar tist Yuka Uehara launched Tokyo Gamine in 2015 so that she could work together with her clients to create individualized couture. Her client list includes San Francisco’s symphony, opera, and ballet as well as the Girls Chorus, and she outfitted the symphony for a production of Candide. Her designs take inspiration from nature, my thology, and psychology and are often influenced by the wearer ’s personal histor y. “I found inspiration in nature and its subtle relations within my use of color and shape. I tr y to translate its growth and decay and the soundscape of its interactions into my works. Like the natural world, I’ve been tr ying to have a more holistic approach to my ar t practice. It ’s not just about the garments; it ’s the environment , the wearer, and how all these elements interact to create a unified sensorial approach.”

Haute Couture Magazine has described Uehara as par t of ‘San Francisco’s Fashionocracy.’ She’s self-taught , crafting kimonos with traditional techniques and all of her clothing with fabrics from all around the world. A signature Uehara gown includes antique kimono panels and raw silk that she paints herself with flowers or abstract designs.

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She’s selftaught, crafting kimonos with traditional techniques and all of her clothing with fabrics from all around the world

A former medical student , who completed her studies and worked in a laborator y in Japan, she switched to a career in fashion design after her father, filmmaker Ryuji Fukuyama, hired her to work with the costume depar tment for his films. Her cinematic experience still informs how she thinks about fashion, as she views clothes as a way to enhance and communicate a person’s character and personality. Resplendent with color, her gowns, coats, and rompers often include a bit of bright gold. A few years back the Nob Hill Gazette referred to Uehara’s collection as ‘painterly ’ and one of a kind, recognizable on the street. She’s no stranger to ar tistic experimentation. Currently, she’s embarked on a project known as Hagoromo, named for a my thical robe that allowed celestial beings to travel between the physical and spiritual realm. This will involve taking twelve traditionally crafted kimonos from different par ts of Japan and modif ying and painting them with the intent to comment on the ephemeral nature of the moment as well as form new ar t. Uehara educates us on traditional kimono-making techniques. “ The vintage kimonos I am working with include those made with Kyo Yuzen, Yuki Tsumugi, Ushikubi Tsumugi, and Oshima tsumugi techniques. Yuzen is created with a resistance dyeing technique using rice paper. Yuki tsumugi uses Jibata or floor weaving. It is a technique that involves a tedious process of manually tying thousands of resists before the yarn is dyed based on the desired pattern or design.”

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”...it is not about the projects, but rather, the people and the community that come about from that experience.”

She points out that each of these techniques involved local ar tisans developing intricate methods of working with nearby natural materials. “Ushikubi tsumugi [water-resistant cloth from the Ushikubi region] uses rare silk threads from double cocoons that are made together by two silkworms. It gives the tex tile a special t ype of sheen and durability, able to withstand a metal nail. Oshima Tsumugi's unique dying method uses the Amami Oshima's iron-rich natural mud as a dye.” She’s also collaborating with ar tists from Creativity E xplored, a San Francisco galler y for ar tists with developmental disabilities, to design ten one-size, genderless outfits inspired by each ar tist ’s background, interests, and style. These pieces will comment on themes including “ freedom and limitations, chaos and harmony, and the unity found in nature.” These will be on display this winter as par t of the Museum of Craft and Design’s Mode Brut collection. The upcoming clothing exhibition line, Kizuna, or ‘bonds of connection’ in Japanese, will challenge concepts and redefine what and who can be fashionable. It will explore how fashion intersects with gender, accessibility, and identity. “Collaborating with ar tists has always been [ Tokyo Gamine’s] priority in all of our previous works and this is no different.” Just last year Uehara began working together with Japanese potter y ar tisans and star ted the Tokyo Gamine Galler y. This will showcase work crafted through traditional techniques and comment on our society ’s consumption and how we value artifacts. Its goal is to foster a collaborative community of ar tists and advocates that broaden our collective vision on equity, sustainability, and quality of life.

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She’s also ventured into ready-to-wear clothing, unveiling two lines of capsule clothes in 2018 at San Francisco’s Dir ty Habit restaurant and lounge. Haute Living inter viewed Uehara there and praised her clothing’s ‘signature ripples.’

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Asked about her favorite creative project , Uehara answered, “All of my current and past projects are meaningful to me. For us, it is not about the projects, but rather, the people and the community that come about from that experience—what we learn and how we grow from it.”

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“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” — Warren Buffett

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BY CRISTINA DEPTULA

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Off the beaten track San Francisco Neighborhood Gems Eclectic and Sincere SF: Neighborhood Shops, Eateries, Attractions, and Cafes BY CRISTINA DEPTULA PHOTO CREDIT ISTOCK

G L E N PA R K : Tr y Cafe Bello, a local spot in a sunny neighborhood that plays classical music where you can rest or catch up on work while enjoying coffee. Drinks available include vanilla rose lattes, lavender white mochas, and sweet chai, with a full selection of milks and milk alternatives. Plus, the baristas revel in creating floral foam ar t on top of your coffee. Or get over to Bird and Beckett , a neighborhood bookstore offering free used books to all passersby in boxes outside on the sidewalk and many ar t , music and cultural titles for sale inside. Named for musician Charlie Bird and philosopher Samuel Beckett , the store hosts regular jaz z shows and literar y readings and has the atmosphere of a French book market stall along the Seine.

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ow that the Bay Area is op ening back up again, p e ople are venturing back into S an Franc isc o for f un and ad venturous day-trip s . Here are sugge stions o f some plac e s that may b e le s s crowde d and di fferent f rom the b ig-name tourist de st inations .

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Oasis Cafe on Divisadero St is sure to delight. It ’s a fabulous place run by a chill and friendly couple that has welcomed social and literar y groups I’ve hosted over the years and gone out of their way to provide ser vice. They ser ve injera and other Eritrean and Ethiopian foods and the walls are painted with colorful and evocative murals that make the place seem vast although it ’s quite coz y.

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Madrone Ar t Bar, also on Divisadero, is dedicated to featuring all sor ts of visual and performing ar t , ever y thing from paintings to photography to sculpture to dance and film. There’s a huge blue mural on the inside wall and they host well-attended jaz z nights and Motown Monday evenings where you can order ar tisanal cocktails to go with the music. The owner says he’s dedicated to showcasing ar tists’ work and welcoming them within a city that ’s “interested in showing off ar twork while at the same time pricing ar tists out of living in the city.”

INNER RICHMOND: The Internet Archive is a nonprofit digital librar y archiving the Internet—past and present—since its inception, on giant ser vers. They put on free lunch Fridays at noon (for invited guests only, you need to email them a few days in advance and request an invitation) and offer a tour of their building and its histor y. The place used to be a Christian Science church before Bitcoin millionaire Brewster Kahle bought it , saying it resembled the Archive’s logo. Numbers on the wall that formerly indicated which hymn would be sung on Sundays now spell out the digits of Pi and codes related to Internet operation (i.e. 404 Page Not Found) and small clay statues of Archive employees stand where the choir would have been. Toy Boat, an ice cream parlor with a cute 1950s colorful children’s play ambiance, offers sundaes, sugar cones and banana splits within walking distance of the Archive. The place just received a grant from the city to be able to stay open after Covid as a “legacy business,” operating in the area for over 50 years.

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Blue Danube, a non-pretentious coffee shop also serving sandwiches, avocado toast, beer and wine, is conveniently located across the street from upscale and quirky but often-crowded restaurant Burma Superstar. You can enjoy a drink and appetizer at Blue Danube while waiting for a table. The place is decorated with books and writing journals where visitors can leave thoughts and writing prompts for each other.

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Cafe Enchante on 25th Ave is a French-inspired location ser ving pastries and snacks as well as gourmet coffees of various styles and flavors. The mirrors and murals give the small spot a large Parisian vibe. My ver y suburban, non-coffee snob mother visited the place after par ticipating in a breast cancer walk in Golden Gate Park and said she had one of the most wonderful lattes of her life!

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MISSION:

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Cafe La Boheme is the perfect space for coffee, wine, beer, pastries, deli sandwiches, studying, remote working, writing groups and workshops, and the occasional musical and cultural event. The family who owns this place is especially proud of their strong and authentic Turkish coffee. A lunchtime writing group meets here ever y Friday at noon where all are welcome to drop in and out and write for 15 minutes on an assigned prompt.

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Bookshop West Por tal has been a neighborhood go-to place for over 14 years for adult and children’s books, games, and puz zles. They ’re one of the sponsors for the major San Francisco Writers’ Conference, a large industr y event held at the Embarcadero Hyatt , but their physical presence is relatively unassuming and friendly. The owners regularly donate children’s books to schools and local nonprofits and the place is known for being organized and full of curated staff recommendations from people who have actually read the books. They host fairly big-name authors for a neighborhood shop, including Lin Manuel-Miranda and Lisa See.

These places won’t necessarily be in tourist guides for San Francisco but are all wor th a visit for day-trippers near the neighborhoods. Enjoy the local vibes of each of the city ’s local areas and cultures!

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W E S T P O R TA L :

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Redefining Hospitality San Francisco’s Viceroy Hotels Give Homage to Art, Serenity, Beat Poetry, and Rock and Roll BY CRISTINA DEPTULA

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enowne d hote l chain Vic ero y enhanc e s S an Franc isc o ’s urban tourist e xp erienc e wi th four unique ar tistic and cul turall y theme d hote ls : the Emblem, the Ze t ta, the Zepp e lin, and the Ze lo s . E ach plac e o ffer s a sp e c ial and di fferent v ib e , buil t to re f le c t a c er tain asp e c t o f S an Franc isc o and i t s ar tistic heri tage.

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PHOTOS COURTES Y OF TH E VICEROY HOTEL GROUP

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Zelos

“A fashion-forward hotel...whose restaurant is [its] sultr y hear t.” The Zelos Hotel is within the historic Pacific Building, with an elegant ex terior and modern guest rooms and workspaces painted in inviting shades of grey. Just steps from Union Square, it ’s designed for both work and play. The hotel’s bedrooms and workspaces come with natural light and 400-thread count

sheets, intending to create a meditative atmosphere. Decor and modern ar t-style paintings adorn the walls to spark creativity. Zelos’ signature restaurant , Dir ty Habit , has a cocktail-focused menu developed by Frenchtrained chef Thomas Weibull, composed of New American eats influenced by European and Asian cultures.

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Zelos Lobby

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Zelos Room Renovation

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Zetta welcomes its audience: “ We’re here for savvy travelers, culture seekers, colorful dreamers, and anyone seeking an inspiring retreat.” Ar twork

with bold, contrasting vibes greets guests and a British brasserie, the Cavalier, offers pub fare adapted for fun urbanites. Pool and shuffleboard are also options in a large guest playroom and visitors can enjoy cocktails in the laid-back Salvage and Rescue Lounge. A reser vations-only cafe provides a more upscale dining experience.

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Zetta

The Hotel Zetta, in trendy SoMa, prides itself on creating a “spirit of play.” A giant Plinko game in the lobby and a Hotel Zetta Playlist on the website encourages fun and adventure.

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Zetta Lobby

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(Counter-clockwise from top left) Zetta Demo Room, Lumen Room, Lobby Bar, Playroom, & Hallway

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Zetta Game Room

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Zeppelin

The Zeppelin in Union Square pays homage to San Francisco’s past Beat poets, songwriters, and musicians with a record player in the lobby and a giant set of turntables in the lounge where guests can tr y their hands at amateur DJing. The place honors the city ’s rock and roll histor y through its decor and its name. A pool table and more modern ar t adds to the fun and colorful vibe, and the Zeppelin describes the look as “mind-blowing.” Meeting

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and gathering rooms are named Peace, Love, and Soul, and the hotel bar ’s decor compliments the psychedelic vibe and pays tribute to cafes and bars of the Beatnik era. A photo of guests enjoying a raucous pillow fight livens Zeppelin’s website, and the hotel recollects the rule-breaking spirit of San Francisco’s histor y. The place also spor ts a “dog heaven” where pets can enjoy special food, water bowls, and beds.

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(Counter-clockwise from top left) Zepplin Front Desk, Thornill Bathroom, Thornhill Basement, Zepplin Lobby, and Thornill Mantel Bar. (Opposite) Exterior entrance.

(Counter-clockwise from top left) Rambler bar and dining room, Zepplin downstairs event space, Rambler, Zepplin cocktails, The Mantel Bar, and The Mantel Bar Seating

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(Counter-clockwise from top left) Zepplin bathroom, Zepplin Suite guestroom, Zepplin Suite kitchenette, Gypsy Suite living room, Zepplin Suite couch, and Zepplin Suite living room

Viceroy’s Ethics and Corporate Responsibility All of the Viceroy proper ties share a commitment to Covid safety, which includes frequently disinfecting ever y item that guests touch and requiring that their staff wear hospital-grade PPE. They are constantly checking and following all CDC guidelines and offering to-go options in restaurants and cafes. Viceroy also values ecological sustainability, which they practice through installing low-flow water fixtures and energy-efficient lighting, recycling and composting, and implementing green purchasing policies. In their words, “It ’s all to make being eco-friendly an ever yday lifestyle, not simply an aspiration.” To them, being located in such historic cities and beautiful natural environments inspires them to care for the ecologies and human society around them. They also par tner with social media influencers who come to stay at their hotels and write about the experience, and they ask those people to also visit and showcase the hotels’ charity par tners, which work on causes including hunger and animal rescue. Fur thermore, they are committed to equal access to all of their hotels for anyone with disabilities.

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(Top photo) Entrance Thornill. (Opposite) Thornill Basement.

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Transform To Transcend

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Splash

Archimedes Banya: Combining healthy spa traditions from ancient world cultures

Archimedes Banya brings the best of Turkish, German, Roman, and Russian historical spa bathing culture to San Francisco. Thermal bathing and saunas were traditional health practices around the world. The Greek physician Hippocrates, considered the father of modern medicine, said that he could cure vir tually any disease if he could create a fever in the human body. Currently, researchers at the University of Texas in Houston are looking into heat treatments for cancer. Bathing in hot , steamy water can induce sweating which helps to remove impurities from the body. It re-hydrates your skin and makes it glow and can help sore muscles and joints. It can also stimulate your cardiovascular and

immune systems, helping your blood circulation and bringing about some of the same benefits as exercising. Bathing, of course, is also a great way to relax . Many people say Archimedes Banya helps them deal with stress and emerge refreshed, ready to face life, and sleep better at night. Known as the “cathedral of steam and heat ,” the Banya creates a social atmosphere with large coed communal bathing rooms, steam rooms, and massage centers. There’s also a cafe where patrons can eat , drink , and talk . Inspired by the traditional cuisines of cultures with a public bathing tradition, the food and beverages have been adapted to include local organic ingredients, vegetarian options, and treats such as kombucha. The food is intended to nourish body and soul, and patrons are encouraged to arrive on an empty stomach, bathe, and then replenish themselves.

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tep in, the water ’s warm and the people are friendly!

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There is an old Slavic saying, “If there are few banyas, we live in unit y; if there are too many, we are lonely because one does not visit the other.” Public spas ser ved as par t of many cultural traditions, from Japan to Greece to several Native American tribes. They were gathering spaces integral to social and cultural life, where friendships, business deals, and political decisions were sealed.

Archimedes Banya aims to enhance the creative and diverse cultural life that already exists in San Francisco. Its namesake, Archimedes, was a Greek mathematician whom the king had tasked with determining whether his crown was made of pure gold or whether the craftsman had stolen some of the gold for himself. An idea hit Archimedes as he jumped into the bathtub. He could weigh the crown by dunking it in water

the venik plat za massage. This is a Russian massage with bundles of birch and oak tree branches tied together and hit against your body by a trained masseuse. A video of the venik plat za is up on Banya’s website for curious or apprehensive patrons. The Banya only uses natural, plantbased materials in its spa treatments. The venik plat za, along with many of Archimedes Banya’s other offerings, involves aromatherapy. This practice, along with helping visitors relax , can help open congested airways so people can breathe better. Swedish massages, body washes and scrubs, steam rooms, yoga, meditation, and sound healing are also available. Patrons can also reser ve par ts of Banya’s facilities for private par ties and events. Media outlets from around the state, including the L .A. Times, Sunset Magazine, the San Jose Mercur y News, and Urban Daddy, have written about the superlative experience of a visit to Archimedes Banya.

and finding out how much water got displaced. Legend says that Archimedes’ discover y so excited him that he leaped out of the tub and ran naked through Athens shouting “Eureka!” until he reached the king’s palace. Archimedes Banya can’ t promise to send you on a naked sprint through San Francisco, but it does offer several signature ser vices, including

Balcioglu, originally from Turkey, has spent the past several years “literally immersed in the great bathing cultures of the world.” This historical research highlighted how public bathing and spas, now seen as luxuries, were much more inclusive and affordable for the general public in past days. Archimedes Banya seeks to welcome and include and invigorate San Francisco’s populace and create a first-class experience.

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The Banya has its own publication, written by Ekin Balcioglu, a plat za master and MFA of Fine Ar ts from the California College of the Ar ts. It ’s intended to celebrate the “physical, mental, spiritual and social aspects of bathing culture” and will feature inter views with Banya’s founders and skilled bodywork practitioners.

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SHOP CONSCIOUSLY

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Posh Cannabis In the few years since starting Posh Green Collective, owner Reese Benton has already made cannabis history

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osh Green, also known as the “Nordstrom of Cannabis,” is not only one of San Francisco’s fastest-growing cannabis dispensaries, it is the cit y ’s first Equity Retail Cannabis Dispensar y to be independently-owned by a woman of color. Owner and San Francisconative Reese Benton star ted Posh Green Collective in 2016 (poshgreencollective.com).

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BY G.G. BARRON

During the few years since then, she has already curated one of the most renowned, high-quality cannabis menus in the Bay Area. She has contributed greatly to the creation of San Francisco’s Cannabis Equity

Program. And she has endured legal battles, an attempted robber y, and a worldwide pandemic—all before she could even open the doors of her dispensar y. But let ’s take it back to the beginning. The stor y of Posh Green star ts with a breakup. Benton’s former-par tner owned a cannabis dispensar y in the Bay Area, and when they ended their relationship, Benton lost access to his store and products. She tried visiting a few other dispensaries, but she wasn’t satisfied with the available options because none of them sold the high-quality products she wanted and none of them provided the client relationships she sought. So, she decided to star t her own.

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Not long into her journey, Benton was contacted by the office of former District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen to assist with creating the legislation that would later become the Cannabis Equity Program of San Francisco (officeofcannabis.sfgov.org/equity).

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The Equity Program was developed to suppor t cannabis entrepreneurs like Benton, whose background had been severely affected by the failed War on Drugs in the United States. During her childhood, Benton’s father had been incarcerated and her mother and other family members had used hard drugs. The program aimed to act as a restorative economic justice program that would provide ownership oppor tunities within the cannabis industr y to those who had been hardest impacted by the War on Drugs. Through ownership oppor tunities and consequent businesses, money generated from the billion-dollar cannabis industr y would be

returned to the communities that have suffered most. Since star ting Posh Green, Benton has been dedicated to advocating for racial equality and justice within the cannabis industr y. Her par ticipation in creating the Equity Program stands as testament to the impact she has already made. Shor tly after Benton agreed to help, Cohen’s office term ended and Nicole Elliott , who was the first director of San Francisco’s Office of Cannabis and who now ser ves as the Director of the California Depar tment of Cannabis Control, took over the development of the Equity Program. Under Elliott , the program continued to develop with the assistance and advice of cannabis entrepreneurs, including Benton. In 2018, the Equity Program was officially launched and Benton became one of its recipients.

Over the nex t few years, Benton not only established herself as a prominent figure in the San Francisco cannabis industr y, renowned for the quality and range of her cannabis products, but she also faced a series of unexpected challenges that prevented her from opening a storefront. The first came in the form of an injunction. Residents near the building where Benton originally intended to open Posh Green petitioned against the dispensar y ’s opening and, eventually, rallied together to file an injunction against Benton that prevented her from opening her storefront and cost her thousands of dollars in legal fees.

underrepresented business-owners in the cannabis industr y who want to expand their company. While the program provided Benton with $50,000, which covered a chunk of the legal fees, she has remarked in many inter views that the program’s legal guidance and education were priceless for her during this time and throughout her legal battles, which she eventually won. Shor tly after this, there was a series of thefts during the height of the protests following the murder of George Floyd. Posh Green was among the cannabis businesses that were robbed, but thankfully, Benton did not experience a severe loss. The final major hurdle for Benton on her way to opening the doors of Posh Green was Covid-19, which needs no fur ther explanation.

Never theless, after multiple hurdles and setbacks, Benton opened the doors of Posh Green in the neighborhood of Bayview. Posh Green offers a vast range of top-quality cannabis products, an ex tremely welcoming and educational staff, and a safe environment to explore, enjoy, and learn about the frequently misunderstood health and wellness benefits of cannabis. Posh Green was even one of the 17 dispensaries in California selected to carr y Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s insanely popular weed brand, Houseplant. In the few years since star ting Posh Green, Benton has already made a life-long, positive impact on the cannabis industr y and has paved the way for many to follow.

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Thankfully, around this same time, Benton was one of ten cannabis entrepreneurs from around the countr y selected to par ticipate in the Eaze Momentum program. The Momentum program provides legal and business advice to

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he Vapor Room (vaporroom. com) is undeniably a par t of San Francisco’s cannabis histor y. In its original location on Haight Street , it fostered a loyal communit y, many of whom have returned over the years. It was one of the many dispensaries in San Francisco shut down amidst escalating legal restrictions for medical marijuana stores in 2012 . Now, in 2021, it stands as one of the longestrunning cannabis dispensaries in San Francisco, one of the few where you can sample and smoke in-store because of their onsite cannabis consumption permit , and one of the most dedicated dispensaries to selling cannabis that is grown sustainably. Known as

“San Francisco’s Favorite Mom & Pop Pot Shop,” the Vapor Room is here to stay.

Back in 2004, the Vapor Room opened in the Haight as one of San Francisco’s first medical marijuana dispensaries. The space was reminiscent of “ That 70’s Show ” and it attracted a community from all around the city. The Vapor Room focused on curating a top-notch menu and on educating its visitors about the range of applications and the advantages of medical cannabis. The Vapor Room has also alway s prioritized caring for it s communit y. In it s original day s , it offered a medical compas sion program, through which cooperative members could receive a small amount of cannabis , free of charge , i f the y couldn’ t afford it that day. This original prac tice has carried over into their Compas sion Program today.

Sustaining Pot BY G.G. BARRON

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One of San Francisco’s longest-running cannabis dispensaries has undeniably left its mark on the city’s history and it continues to pave the path for its future

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After closing in 2012 , the Vapor Room applied for a new medical marijuana permit in 2016, which was eventually approved. This led the owners, Mar tin Olive and Tina Gordon, to open a new store with an entirely different decor at a new location at 9th and Mission. When the new Vapor Room opened, it attracted both new faces and original clients. From its original days to now, the Vapor Room has always sought to cultivate a safe space where clients can learn about and experiment with different types of cannabis, peruse various cannabis options, and ask as many questions as possible to the knowledgeable staff. One of the primar y subjects that the Vapor Room addresses is how their cannabis products were grown. The Vapor Room promotes sustainable farming practices, including co-owner Gordan, who owns her own farm called Moon Made Farms (moonmadefarms.com). Gordon comes from a background in music, producing, event promoting, and documentar y filmmaking. In 2007, she wanted to pursue a life away from the city. According to her website, “ through a serendipitous twist ,” she acquired what would become Moon Made Farms in Humboldt Count y from her friend and renowned pioneering musician, Joani Hannan.

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When Gordan arrived at her new farm, “she arrived with a keen sense of fostering community and the goal of a diverse, inclusive network committed to healthy living,” her website explains. Shor tly afterwards, she began to experiment with and implement sustainable farming techniques, which remain core values and practices of Moon Made Farms today.

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As its name indicates, one of the sustainable techniques Moon Made Farms utilizes is lunar farming. Lunar farming tracks the cycles of the moon to predict the best times to plant seeds and har vest flowers. As explained on her website, “As gravitational forces from the moon pull on ever y molecule on ear th, it results in the swelling and creation of two tidal bulges on opposite sides of the ear th...This same force generates greater water content in the soil, leading to enhanced seed sprouting and growth.”

The overall effects of lunar farming are greatly beneficial as the website explains it “lead[s] to more efficient use of soil and related hydrological processes. Being mindful of the effects of lunar farming can help to achieve a more efficient timing of farming practices, and can thus help to maximize yield and minimize impact.”

In addition to using lunar farming to guide her farming schedule, Gordon cultivates what is known as “sun-grown” cannabis. As its name implies, sun-grown cannabis utilizes a natural resource that is par ticularly plentiful in California: sunlight. According to her website, “Currently, a large por tion of cannabis cultivation occurs indoors. This trend is largely due to the prohibition of cannabis forcing cultivators to become clandestine in their operations.”

Whether it be because of their love for their community, their promotion of sustainable farming techniques, or their knowledge of cannabis, the Mom & Pop Pot Shop of San Francisco is a staple in the city ’s cannabis histor y and continues to be a leading figure in its future.

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Gordon is one of the farmers advocating to break that trend. She is among the sustainable farmers who continue to educate about the electrical energyreduction benefits of sun-grown techniques and she’s among those who continue to prove that sun-grown cannabis often tastes better and often possesses equal, if not higher, potency levels. Products and flowers from Moon Made Farms are among the many types of sustainablyfarmed cannabis sold at the Vapor Room.

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The Dutchman’s Amsterdam In the heart of Dogpatch sits Dutchman’s Flat, an ode to Amsterdam coffee shops and a local favorite for great cannabis

BY G.G. BARRON

ocated in the heart of its namesake neighborhood, Dutchman’s Flat (dutchmansflat.com) is a San Francisco cannabis dispensary that provides its community with high-quality, lab-tested cannabis products and a welcoming staff whose knowledge and passion can help any visitor find their ideal experience with cannabis.

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Let’s start with the name, because could there be a better name for a cannabis dispensary? When Founder Robert Watson learned from a friend that “Dutchman’s Flat” was a lesser-known historical name for the San Francisco neighborhood of Dogpatch, where he intended to open his dispensary, he couldn’t believe it. Amsterdam coffee shops had been a huge source of inspiration and education for him throughout his cannabis journey. This name was the perfect way to blend his Dutch influences with San Francisco. He raced to check if the name was still available, only to find that another person had begun to register it without finishing the process. The two decided to meet to determine who would get the name—by flipping a coin for it. By sheer luck, Watson won, with tails, three times in a row. The rest is history. (The winning coin can still be found in the bathroom, tails-up in the center, surrounded by a floor tiled in pennies.) Nowadays, if you visit, many of the design elements harken back to Watson’s Dutch inspirations. For example, the

logo of Dutchman’s Flat is a boat. Orange, the color of the Dutch royal family, is incorporated on much of their packaging and throughout the dispensary’s decor. And the main door has three vertical crosses stacked on top of one another, which references the Coat of Arms of Amsterdam. But let’s go back to the beginning. Watson’s interest in cannabis began long before winning that fateful coin toss and officially opening Dutchman’s Flat. One of the branches that led Watson to cannabis was his background in farming. Watson was raised in Modesto, a farming mecca located inland of San Francisco in the middle of California. Many of his family members, including his grandparents and a cousin, owned farms and much of his childhood was spent hands-deep in soil. When Watson left Modesto to attend UC San Diego, he decided to study visual arts, which was a choice his parents questioned. As a child, Watson had helped his father with his contracting work and through that, he had sustained back injuries, which had begun to bother him during college. These back injuries eventually led him to take full advantage of California Proposition 215, also known as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. Prop 215 allowed

Cut to post-graduation, when Watson’s passion for cultivating and breeding new strains of cannabis for various medical purposes only grew. Even though he experienced a few hiccups, including in the immediate year after graduation when his mother caught him growing in a crawl

space in his parents’ house, Watson continued to cultivate cannabis. During those years, Watson also transitioned between a few jobs, including working as a building engineer and a project engineer before eventually landing a fulfilling job with one of San Francisco’s first sustainable engineering firms. But on the side of each position, he maintained his garden and he continuously developed his cultivation techniques and new strains of cannabis. Eventually, Watson decided to open his dispensary. Watson and his partner, Sean Devlin, who focused on the front-of-house because of his background in hospitality, spent months

consulting with the local neighborhood in Dogpatch and working through community concerns around opening a cannabis dispensary there. From the beginning, Watson and Devlin have been focused on their community. Their current loyal clientele stands as a testament to the quality of their cannabis products and the quality of their customer care. Today, Dutchman’s Flat is a local favorite. Whatever your cannabis needs or desires, Dutchman’s Flat can guide you in the right direction, and maybe the right direction for you will even lead to a strain that Watson himself created.

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Californians with specific medical permits to grow their own marijuana for personal medical use and for the medical use of those in their collective. Between the inadequacy of multiple prescribed painkillers and Watson’s background in farming, one path forward seemed clear. And so, Watson built his first hydroponic cannabis garden.

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Sustainable jewellery made out of recycled and eco-friendly materials ayrtan.com

Beauty

Balanced

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Ayla is a boutique beauty store driven by thoughtfulness, relationships, sustainability, and passion BY NEHA SURADKAR PHOTO CREDIT JUSTI N BUELL

y la is a b ou tique b eau t y store hidden in S an Franc isc o that thri ve s on clean b eau t y and e xc eptional ser v ic e. F ounde d b y Dara K enne d y, Ay la pride s on b e ing run b y an all-women team, bringing di fferent p er sp e c ti ve s and intere st s to the table.

Kennedy grew up in an ethnically homogeneous small town in New Hampshire. As a biracial kid, not fitting neatly into a box made her free to define herself in her own terms, focusing less on what she is and more on what she could be. Kennedy worked at Goodby, Silverstein and Par tners in the early 2000s, with Elizabeth Arden as one of the clients. Then, with her passion for beauty and skincare, she moved to New York to develop a skincare product and new brands for them.

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With academic parents and an engineer brother, Kennedy was raised to appreciate ar t and science, and she feels that beauty combines ar t and science in the best possible ways. “ There’s the objective—’do these ingredients go well together, and what do they do?’—and the subjective—’how does it make me feel?’—that combination of ar t and science, wrapped in stor y telling and culture. And the fact that beauty is such a complicated subject makes it endlessly fascinating to me,” says Kennedy. Ayla is a beauty business that pairs healthy beauty products for skin, hair, body, and spirit with personal guidance that deeply cares about you. They have a curated range of products at the store, developed by the brands with passion. To help you get the most out of those products, they offer ser vices like facials, skin and hair consultations, Bach Flower consultations, makeup lessons, and group events to deepen your experience, both at their San Francisco studio and via phone or video. The produc t s at the store are care fully selec ted to make sure the y are e ffec tive and safe to use. A s Ayla is more abou t connec ting with people , the y have a great relationship with the brands and their founders . All this helps to tell the stor y and as sure the customers abou t the genuinene s s of the people behind the produc t s the y are buying. Sustainability or Clean Beauty is the highlight of Ayla. For Kennedy, sustainability is all about balance: a recognition that ever y thing and ever yone is connected. To ensure the health of people and the planet on an ongoing basis, there is a need to work ever y day to maintain environmental, social, and economic balance. She emphasises beauty as being thoughtful and authentic. At Ayla, beauty is not just about self-care, but it also inspires connection with others. Kennedy believes that a great product or experience can change how you feel and how you think about yourself for the better, while a remarkable one can change how you feel about the world.

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With their products, the company wants you to think about the pure ingredients, their sourcing and cultivation; how does it affect the health of the planet ? They make sure the packaging is plastic-free and compostable if possible, and the same goes for the shipping materials. To reduce the waste due to the return of products, they have introduced mini sizes and sample kits, custom sample ser vices, and guides who love helping out with product recommendations to make sure you find something that you’ll be delighted with. This approach is better for you, better for Ayla, better for the small companies whose products they sell, and better for the planet.

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Ideas for new products come organically out of conversations with their brands and communit y. Last summer, Ayla leaned into the emotional suppor t that can come from Bach flowers and worked with their par tners in France at Les Fleurs de Bach – Elixirs & Co to create custom remedies for customers. In July 2021, they introduced a product that Kennedy has been looking for over ten years—cleansing water that ’s genuinely kind to the skin. There’s nothing like Dara’s Water in the market ; which removes all the makeup and sunscreen that we are putting on our face while being gentle on the skin.

At Ayla, you feel like you matter.

A multi-faceted person, Kennedy loves yoga and hiking. She is a passionate classical music fan who loves to play violin and piano, and has passed on the same talent to her kids, too. In addition, she enjoys cooking and traveling with her family.

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With their diversified product por tfolio sourced from across the world and their inhouse brands, Ayla Beauty caters to consumers from varied age groups, ethnicities, and genders. The customers appreciate shopping with a small, minority-woman-owned, fully woman-run business that they can trust and a brand that pays attention to each customer. At Ayla, you feel like you matter.

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As the owner of a business, where you meet many people, be it your customers, your suppliers or the founders of the brands you work with, Kennedy loves to connect with people, and it ’s the relationship with these people that helps her keep going. She meets people with curiosity rather than judgement. She admires curiosity in others and believes that curiosity indicates openness and gratitude. Thinking of life as a gift , she wants to make the most of it and wants to experience and learn more about ever y thing. Ayla Beauty is all about connections—with other people, with the products that are part of our daily lives, and with the planet that supports us all. Ayla means ‘bearer of light ’, and that is what Kennedy wants to achieve for the community with her thinking, ideas, and her business. Do visit the Ayla store in the San Francisco Bay Area and experience the passion, thoughtfulness, and clean energy that Kennedy and her team bring into the space.

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Sustainability is all about balance: a recognition that everything and everyone is connected.

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LAVISH EVERGREEN SKINCARE

Herbalist Sarah Buscho creates a plant-based skincare brand connecting us to the planet

BY NEHA SURADKAR

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arth Tu Face is a skincare brand created in San Rafael, California, founded by herbalist Sarah Buscho. It is an all-natural, sustainably sourced skincare line formulated to recognize that we are all part of the Earth.

Buscho grew up amidst nature, running barefoot and wild in a California garden, weeding vegetables, climbing trees, and making things from the plants. Her father believed it was essential to grow their food organically as much as possible. So, Buscho spent her childhood playing in the garden and learning to plant and grow alongside her father. With her discerning skin, she tried many products that were available in the 1990s and early 2000s and was not completely satisfied with any of those.

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P H OTOS C O U R T E SY O F EA R T H TU FAC E

So, she started making her potions and studied Western herbalism and various other nurturing modalities that eventually made it into her formulation process. She was inspired by nature, where nothing is wasted and every step leads into something else. Buscho believes that ecosystems are circular. Every “waste” component is picked up and used by something.

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She was keen to learn about the healing power of plants on the skin and about the products that are good for the Earth. She feels that things with the most goodness return seamlessly back to the Earth. Earth Tu Face was started with the same design approach—that simpler was better, and excess ingredients or packaging were unnecessary. Sustainability was not a trending word in 2010 when Earth Tu Face was born. However, the brand uses sustainable ingredients and packaging. When they started Earth Tu Face, luxury and sustainability were hardly used in the same sentence, and they wanted to break that mold. They wanted to make products that were sustainable yet luxurious. Earth Tu Face is plantbased skincare, where the things produced are returned to the Earth eventually. They grow organic roses, lavender buds, and calendula for their two face masks and for another product in the pipeline due to launch this fall.

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Most of the products in the Earth Tu Face line are hand-made in their apothecary each week. The products work for all skin types. The brand is known for the potency and concentration of its formulations. Earth Tu face is soy-free, gluten-free, argan-free, shea-free, and palm-free. The products are made from natural and organic ingredients and promise results without toxins or fillers. They use no nut oils whatsoever and only one

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nonreactive seed oil (sesame) in their Face Balm, which has been a bestseller since 2012 and has a cult following. It helps with redness, irritation, eczema, psoriasis, and clear allergic reactions from other products. Earth Tu Face has one of the leanest and green complete skincare lines in terms of what they source, what they use, and what they avoid. They avoid all endangered plant populations. The products are almost plastic-free except for the pump and misting tops. They were the first company to use a biodegradable paperboard tube for Balm. They use packaging made in the U.S. and hand-make their products in California. “Being environmentally friendly also means committing to fostering a workplace that’s diverse and safe for all because environmental justice is social justice. It means paying a living wage, and it means giving a portion of sales back to organizations focused on justice. We run campaigns several times a year. It also means creating regenerative and nourishing products for people and the planet, rather than extractive and depleting. These are lofty ideals, but so far, it is working,” says Buscho. To make the brand available to a larger population at a reasonable cost, almost all products are made with zero water. Hence, the products are highly concentrated and long-lasting. So, although the products have a relatively high price tag, they last much longer than many others. No water also means a longer shelf-life and a longer, less disposable lifecycle for the product from a sustainability standpoint.

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An all-women team runs Earth Tu Face. Ideas for new formulations happen every day. However, newness is not launched frequently. Forethought about potential alternative effects that new products would ignite preclude new launches because of concerns about packaging, shelf life, or other factors. That said, they are about to launch five new products later this summer and fall.

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Buscho, a mother to a three-year-old, is an empathetic and irreverent, tenacious yet thoughtful person. She believes in creating win-win solutions to live in more harmonious interdependency with each other and the Earth and to survive and evolve as a species. Making good decisions for the planet and yourself with green beauty is one of the best things you can do for yourself and everyone—and this is what Sarah Buscho and her team want to achieve with Earth Tu Face.

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Good for the planet Floramye is a skincare brand incorporating the benefits of CBD BY NEHA SURADKAR P H OTO S C O U R T E S Y O F F LO R A M Y E

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loramye—the reincarnated name of a French perfume brand from the 1920s—is now a thoughtfully sourced product line created using ethically grown, certified-organic hemp and essential oils. Allison Tryke lived in Tokyo for a couple of years as a teenager and was inspired by Japanese minimalist design and the rigid recycling practices of the country. She started a reusable water bottle company back in the US in 2008 to reduce single-use plastic. Tryke, the founder of Floramye, first experienced Cannabidiol (CBD) benefits while nursing a neck injury. She had a painful pinched nerve in her neck, and the pharmaceuticals made her feel drowsy. At this time, she experimented with CBD, which treated the pain directly without having to medicate the whole body. She became an instant fan!

Floramye was inspired by Tryke’s great grandmother. Hemp was stigmatized when she was a movie star (in the 1920s and 30s.) She was glamorous, so Tryke wanted a brand with enduring style like hers and wasn’t just trendy. Each product under Floramye serves a unique purpose. Tryke believes in making only those products that she has experienced first-hand from. For example, she loves the bath bliss set. Each of the seven bath balls contains a different natural Chakra stone and a description of what each stone represents and how to use it within your bathing ritual. With 200mg of CBD in each ball that is dusted with natural mica, they are as potent as they are beautiful. She hopes that it makes a difference in people’s lives physically as well as spiritually.

Floramye’s customers have been a part of their journey from the beginning. People use the products consistently to manage pain, discomfort, and skin conditions. Repeat customers and positive customer feedback encourage Tryke and her team to move further. With the opening of their brick and mortar store, Tryke enjoys being around their products and customers during the day. Sustainability forms the core of Tryke’s personality and Floramye’s values. Tryke believes that something cannot be good for you if it’s not good for the planet. To her, sustainability is about seeing the bigger picture in each action one takes. Every action has an impact, so ensuring that it is positive (or neutral) is essential. They grow hemp CBD outside in naturally managed soil seeing as greenhouses use a tremendous amount of resources. They work with only a few vendors they can trust and try to be mindful of everything from packaging through delivery. Tryke is constantly assessing what is best for the planet and customers, not just for the bottom line of Floramye. New products are launched after a lot of thought and deliberation. They operate with a modest budget and bring out high-quality products that speak for themselves, making them available to a wide range of consumers.

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Her husband, a former NFL player, used the creme Tryke made and experienced the same instant results. They gave samples to friends and family, and after receiving positive feedback, they decided to produce a larger batch of USDA certified organic products. They started incorporating CBD oil for skincare and general stress support. Tryke started blending CBD with essential oils for added aromatherapy benefits and healing properties. She gifted them to everyone she knew and got great feedback. She felt that launching a brand could help even more people, so she developed the concept for Floramye and brought it to the world.

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Building a CBD brand right after it became newly legal in the United States was difficult. Resources were not readily available, and everything from insurance to banking was a challenge. However, Tryke and Floramye received good support from The Cannabis Community and groups like Arcview Woman Inclusion’s Network (WIN). There are still legal barriers to the international expansion of CBD, so their approach has been to start domestically and follow the changing regulations.

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Floramye is USDA certified organic and tripletested. A tremendous amount of intention and research goes into each of their formulas. Tryke believes as a small company, they are answerable to their local partners, community, and the environment. So, from their inception, they have been donating five percent of profits to mental health organizations to normalize conversations around well being.

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Tryke works with her small yet mighty team to innovate concepts for products that align

with the brand and its values. They are coming up with a new product in September, which utilizes the mind-body connection and is made of natural ingredients. The whole team is quite excited about this. For Tryke, being a good person is at the core of who she is. Along with her husband, they are doing their best to raise caring and thoughtful children, which she feels is essential for the world.

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Tryke loves creating tangible items that are concrete and real. For her, creating products is a labour of love. With the new store, she derives pleasure from being able to witness people interact and appreciate her products in person. They are working with healers in different modalities and are partnering with like-minded brands to build out the experiential nature of the shop.

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Healing with Needles Fountyn Acupuncture, a San Francisco based clinic providing Traditional Chinese treatments

PHOTOS COURTES Y OF FOUNT Y N ACUPUNCT URE

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Dr. Rachele Lam cures people using these needles (acupuncture) and other techniques of Chinese medicine—herbal medicine, gua sha, cupping, holistic facial— at her San Francisco-based clinic, Fountyn Acupuncture. Named after Margot Fonteyn, one of Dr. Lam's favorite ballet dancers, the fountain also represents an enclosed flowing water system reminiscent of the human body and the qi (energy) and life that flows within us. BEAUT Y

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etting pricked by a needle is not a pleasant feeling. Now, imagine being pricked by close to a hundred needles. That is not something anyone would want to go through. But what if these needles could cure you of some major illness or condition? Wouldn' t you want to tr y for yourself ? I definitely would.

Acupuncture works on both physiological and energetic levels. Thin acupuncture needles are placed along energy pathways in the body to promote the unobstructed,

smooth flow of qi. When qi is flowing smoothly, the body is at an optimal functioning level. Acupuncture helps to relieve pain, reduce inflammation, improve circulation, regulate the ner vous system, and restore homeostasis. While the intricacies of acupuncture have not yet been completely broken down into biomedical explanations, modern research and imaging have visually shown some of the physiological changes to the body from acupuncture and its effects on the ner vous, endocrine, immune, cardiovascular, and digestive systems. For example, Doppler ultrasounds (which measure the amount of blood flow through your ar teries and veins) show that acupuncture increases blood flow and circulation. Also, MRI readings show how needling cer tain acupuncture points can affect specific areas of the brain. Thermal imaging before and after treatments also show noticeably reduced levels of inflammation in the body.

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Dr. Lam specializes in fer tilit y and skin-related issues. She was introduced to Chinese medicine because of her own skin issues, and she remains fascinated with the subject. She believes that the female body is so incredible, and it is a blessing to be able to suppor t women and couples tr ying to grow their families. Fer tility can be a rollercoaster of highs and lows, but her experience in working with these women has taught her so much about resilience and strength. For Dr Lam, it has always been a humbling yet rewarding experience treating fer tilityrelated issues. Using TCM to return life, hope, and inspiration to patients makes the whole process satisf ying for her. Dr Lam believes in the impor tance of having “yuan or fate fen” when working with a Traditional Chinese Medicine ( TCM) practitioner

because healing is a ver y personal experience. Being able to relate to patients is impor tant , and it is a significant par t of the healing experience. Many of her patients are Asian American women looking for holistic care that bridges their two cultural backgrounds. As a form of alternative medicine, Chinese medicine is often the last resor t for patients when they have exhausted all other forms of pills, surgeries, or injections.

This medicine never ceases to amaze me as to what it can do to return our bodies to a state of balance and healing. When we heal our bodies, we heal our minds. And it is so clear that when we have good health, our potential is limitless. Dr. Lam’s patients always inspire her through their resilience through suffering and dedication to healing. There is nothing more potent than the willingness to get better.

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Dr. Lam, a Stanford graduate, was brought up in New York and Hong Kong. She star ted going to a Chinese doctor at the age of eleven for psoriasis and was intrigued by how holistic and lifestylefocused Chinese medicine is. From a young age, the principles of Chinese medicine were instilled in her.

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Dr. Lam studied entrepreneurship at Stanford and has worked in marketing and design. This experience is now helping her grow the business. She can apply all that she has learned to build something she is so passionate about. There have been many learnings, trials, and errors, but she enjoys all aspects of running her business single-handedly. She dreams of opening an integrative wellness centre that incorporates multiple types of treatments and ser vices. She will make it a space to build a community around health and wellness, a place to socialize with other like-minded people, and a place to learn how to take better care of ourselves.

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Dr. Lam feels the most powerful thing she can do for her patients is to teach them how to listen to their bodies more intently. "Our bodies are amazing and intelligent , but in the chaos and stress of modern-day life, it is so easy to get out of sync with our bodies and the natural cycles of the universe. Our bodies have an innate ability to heal, and my work is helping my patients realign with that power."

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SCIENCE & INNOVATION

Big Picture T H E

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BY STEVEN BEDARD PHOTOS COURTESY OF CAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

From the beautiful to the bizarre, this photographic showcase of life on Earth shines a light on some of our planet’s most amazing species and places.

Hope Amidst the Ashes by Jo-Anne McArthur Grand Prize Winner

ach year, the California Academy of Sciences’ renowned BigPicture Photography Competition celebrates some of the world ’s best photographers and the year ’s most striking images. Judged by an esteemed panel of nature and conser vation photography exper ts, including Suzi Esz terhas, Morgan Heim, and bioGraphic contributing photo editor Sophie Stafford, the competition’s winning images and finalists highlight Ear th’s biodiversit y and illustrate the many threats that our planet faces. Each photo, in its own way, inspires viewers to protect and conser ve the remarkable diversit y of life on Ear th. Below, we present the winners and some of our personal favorites from this year ’s competition.

Bushfires have ravaged the Australian landscape in recent years, burning some 17 million hectares (42 million acres) in 2019 and 2020 alone. Driven by record-setting droughts and temperatures, wildfires have devastated habitats and wildlife populations alike, and scientists are worried that these events will only grow more common with climate change. Despite the sobering trend, conser vationists remain committed to protecting the places and species that make this island nation unique. In January of last year, shortly after a devastating bushfire near Australia’s southeast coast , photographer Jo-Anne McArthur accompanied one such effort , as a team from an organization called Vets for Compassion searched a eucalyptus plantation for injured and starving koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). There she encountered this female eastern grey kangaroo (Macropus giganteus), a joey in her pouch, that had somehow survived the cataclysm. For McArthur, it was a powerful moment : two of Australia’s most iconic species—the kangaroo and the eucalyptus tree—standing at a worrisome crossroads in their history. But the individuals in her frame were also symbols of hope, that life can persist against all odds. 481

Sign of the Tides By Ralph Pace Human/Nature Winner

Beak to Beak by Shane Kalyn Winged Life Winner

Though a post-pandemic world is finally in sight , the scars of COVID-19 will live on for years to come— including those on our environment. Since the start of the pandemic, the production of single-use plastics has skyrocketed, largely driven by the surge in epidemiologically necessary but ecologically devastating personal protective equipment. According to one study, 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves were used globally each month during the pandemic, as much as 75 percent of which are likely to end up in landfills or the ocean. Much of that equipment— including this mask being investigated by a curious California sea lion (Zalophus californianus)—is made from durable plastics that take hundreds of years to break down. However, if the past year has shown us anything, it is that all can be accomplished through resources and resolve. Perhaps a new picture of our approach to single-use goods will soon emerge.

Rain Dance by Sarang Naik Art of Nature Winner

Dancing in the glow of photographer Sarang Naik ’s flashlight , a golden plume of spores rises from the gills of a mushroom cap outside of Toplepada, India. In due time, this magical pixie dust will create more mushrooms—and not only in the way that you might think . While a small number of these mighty motes will land on soil suitable enough for producing the branching underground filaments that beget new mushrooms, many more spores will find their way into the atmosphere to ser ve an equally impor tant purpose. Each year, millions of tons of fungal spores are aerosolized into the atmosphere where they provide the solid core for the condensation of water into clouds and rainfall, breathing life into forests around the world and sustaining future generations of fungi. This cycle can go both ways, however. As droughts worsen with climate change, fewer mushrooms will spring up, which in turn lessens spore-spurred rains, which may then lead to more intense droughts in the future.

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Common ravens (Corvus corax) usually mate for life, and this intimate, openbeaked moment captured by photographer Shane Kalyn is likely an example of allopreening—reciprocal grooming that serves both to solidif y social bonds and to keep plumage clean. Tender as this behavior is, it sometimes puts the birds at risk of an aggressive intervention from other members of their species. A 2014 study by scientists at the University of Vienna revealed that ravens will often interrupt grooming sessions between other paired individuals, especially those with more tenuously established bonds. These interventions are an apparent attempt to prevent neighboring couples from developing the kinds of strong pair bonds that lead to greater reproductive success. As scientist Kaeli Swift notes, “embracing the results of this study requires accepting the idea that an animal, especially a bird, is capable of putting future rewards ahead of current risk or losses. As humans, this kind of future planning is an ability we take for granted, but it ’s quite a cognitive feat.” For birds with a documented ability to use tools and solve puzzles, it ’s just one more impressive feat to add to the list.

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Boss by Michelle Valberg Terrestrial Life Winner

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On a remote island in northern British Columbia, photographer Michelle Valberg crouched low to the ground, trying to remember to breathe. Several meters in front of her, a Kermode bear (Ursus americanus kermodei)—a subspecies of the American black bear—had plunged its head into a river in search of salmon roe, and she knew what would likely happen next. When the large bear needed a breath, he pulled his head out of the water and shook, sending sparkling droplets of water spiraling around his head.

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While most of the Kermode bears that roam the region’s coastal islands are black, about 10 to 25 percent are white. This distinctive coloring is not an albino condition, since the bears have pigmented skin and eyes. It is, however, an inherited trait that is fully recessive, and scientists had long wondered why white-morph bears—often called spirit bears or ghost bears—were so common on the islands. In 2009, a team of researchers from the University of Victoria monitored salmon fishing proficiency among both black and white Kermode bears and found that while black bears were slightly more successful when fishing at night, white bears were significantly more successful during the day. Spirit bears, like the one Valberg photographed, are highly conspicuous from a human standpoint, but this is not the case for a salmon looking up through the water. Against a bright sky, a white predator is actually less conspicuous than a dark one, which is why so many seabirds and waders have white plumage. On this particular day, the bear in front of Valberg could have been any color; the roe that lined the rocks on the riverbed made an easy meal. Relaxed and confident, he briefly made eye contact with Valberg before lowering his head back into the water. “I felt a catch in my throat,” she says of that moment, which encapsulated what wildlife photography means to her: the opportunity “to look into the eyes of the wild and see ourselves reflected, to understand that we are, after all, intrinsically entwined.”

While there’s no particular shortage of perches in the Ecuadorian highlands, few seem as tailor-made for little feet as the long, slender beak of a sword-billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera). What might appear to be a youngster taking a break under the exasperated gaze of its parent, turns out to be a bird of a different feather: an opportunistic speckled hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) simply looking to save a little energy. For hummingbirds, especially species that live in the cool and wet Andean cloud forests like these two, calories—those they consume and those they conserve—are key to survival and reproduction. After all, tiny though they are, it can take hundreds of flower visits per day to keep a hummingbird running. So, a conveniently placed perch, and one that comes with its own predator-detection capabilities, is hard to pass up.

Despite its modest proportions and rarity in the wild, the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is one of the most recognizable plants in the world—its iconic form more than simply suggestive of the flytrap’s carnivorous potential. That role reversal, a plant that eats animals, has become a popular novelty for many people, driving a lucrative market in cultivated plants— and sadly, the poaching Nutritional Supplement of wild ones as well. by Nick Kanakis In its native longleaf Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora Finalist pine (Pinus palustris) forests of the Carolinas, however, carnivory is a means of survival. There, the species makes its living much like other plants, harnessing energy from sunlight to make its food. In contrast to many other plants, however, the Venus flytrap must also catch vital nutrients that are missing from the soils in which it grows. With hinged leaves that snap shut at the slightest touch of hair-like triggers on their surfaces, it’s highly specialized to do just that, as this hover fly (Toxomerus sp.) going about its business in a North Carolina forest last November learned the hard way.

Taking a Load Off by Nicolas Reusens Winged Life Finalist

Another Planet by Fran Rubia Landscapes, Waterscapes, and Flora Winner

Down the Hatch by Angel Fitor Art of Nature Finalist

What looks at first glance to be lava flowing down the sides of these Icelandic volcanoes is, in fact, iron oxide deposited during past eruptions. Unlike Geldingadalir, a volcano just 20 minutes away from Reykjavík that has been actively erupting since March 19, 2021, the last eruption here in Fjallabak Nature Reserve took place in 1480.

This beautiful and mesmerizing view may very well be the last thing that many hapless oceangoing creatures see before falling victim to the barrel jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo). Also known as the dustbin-lid jellyfish for the size and shape of its bell when washed up on UK shorelines, the species is one of the largest jellies in the world, reaching 90 centimeters (35 inches) or more in diameter. It ranges widely from the North and South Atlantic to the Mediterranean and Black Sea. While most often seen dead and flattened on beaches, in the water, the barrel jellyfish’s translucent bell takes on a mushroom shape, fringed with a brilliant violet ribbon of sensory organs. Eight frilly arms trail behind the bell, subduing prey and pulling it toward the jellyfish’s mouth. By backlighting his shot, photographer Angel Fitor was able to capture those arms here in intimate and ominous detail.

With mountainous reefs, more than a thousand species of tropical fish, and several species of coral-dwelling sharks, Palau’s Blue Corner, located about 40 kilometers southwest of Koror, is considered one of the best dive sites in the world. But beholding its beauty is no mean feat. Unpredictable currents that change speed and direction at a moment’s notice can zap even the most experienced diver’s energy and send them hurtling towards the reef or out to sea. Given these turbulent conditions, it’s hard to imagine that underwater photographer Yung-Sen Wu didn’t feel a tinge of jealousy at the effortless swimming of the streamlined barracuda (Sphyraena sp.) he was there to photograph. Known more for their hunting prowess than their hospitality, the barracuda were slow to acclimate to Wu’s presence. Over the course of five days, however, Wu braved the Blue Corner’s currents daily in an effort to gain their trust, finally being allowed into the school on his last day there to capture this striking image.

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The climate in the reserve is arid and cold, and the growing season is limited to about two months a year, so vegetation is scarce, and mineral-streaked mountains provide the landscape with much of its color. Photographer Fran Rubia was awed by its stark beauty, especially when he first saw it from above. “When I lifted the drone for a reconnaissance flight, I was surprised by the large amount of iron oxide inside the volcanoes,” he says. The photograph he captured later that day made him reflect on the importance of preserving such places. “Because the image seems to be photographed in another world, on another planet, it seemed to me a primal place without any human alteration, which made it even more special.”

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Ice Bears by Peter Mather Photo Story Winner (one of six images)

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In Canada’s Yukon Territor y, griz zly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) delay their hibernation to catch the last salmon runs of the season. As temperatures drop below -20 degrees Celsius, the griz zlies’ water-soaked fur freezes into a chandelier of icicles that jingle with each step. Local Indigenous peoples tell stories of arrows unable to penetrate the icy armor of the bears. Unfor tunately, Yukon’s ice bears, as they are known, are facing new threats for which their armor is no match. Climate change and other human activities are leading to sparse salmon runs, reduced river flows, and shor ter winters, all of which put the ice bears’ way of life in jeopardy.

With their silky coats, big, dark eyes, and perpetual grins, leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) can look downright cuddly lounging on Antarctic ice floes. It ’s safe to say, though, that penguins have a different perspective of these powerful apex predators. Weighing up to 600 kilograms (1,320 pounds), with powerful jaws lined with sharp teeth, and long front flippers that propel them through the water at speeds up to 37 kilometers per hour (23 miles per hour), leopard seals are capable of catching and subduing a wide range of prey. Few animals are safe in their presence. Studies have shown that leopard seals feed on ever y thing from krill, fish, octopuses, and crabs to penguins and other seals. A recent study conducted on the Antarctic Peninsula, not far from where photographer Amos Nachoum captured this image of a leopard seal preying on a young Gentoo penguin (P ygoscelis papua), found that penguins make up about a quar ter of the leopard seal’s diet throughout the year. That propor tion increases to nearly 50 percent for the larger female leopard seals, especially when they have pups. As polar regions continue to warm dispropor tionately to the rest of the world, scientists are scrambling to better understand such feeding behaviors and their potential to impact the populations of vulnerable species.

Facing Reality by Amos Nachoum Aquatic Life Finalist

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