“Tenderloin Buzz” is a recurring column on changes, tidbits and other news from the Tenderloin. Check out our Tenderloin web page for more.
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Rye, an oasis in the Tenderloin for lovers of craft cocktails, will celebrate its 20th anniversary at the end of August. I sat down this week with Rye’s managing partner, Phil Mauro, to talk about his last two decades in the neighborhood.
The bar, at 688 Geary St., sits a stone’s throw away from Union Square’s high-end hotels. But the clientele has consistently remained locals who live in and around the Tenderloin.
“We’ve come to terms with being a hidden gem,” Mauro said.
“If you’ve never been here, if you’re here for a conference, or a tourist — make it to the other side of the hill,” Mauro said, referring to the incline as you go west on Geary.
When Rye first opened in 2006, cocktails were $9. They’re now $17 a pop, and the menu has gone through many different iterations. What’s survived? Its signature basil gimlet, which left the menu for a few years but was returned by popular demand.
Working with other local businesses and Tenderloin community members has been essential to the bar’s success, Mauro said.
At Rye, you can hear San Francisco bands live on weekends, buy local art right off the walls, and order fried chicken from nearby restaurant Kokio and have it delivered to your barstool. And Rye features an espresso martini made using coffee from Skullery, a coffee shop on the same block.
On Aug. 30, from 6 p.m. to midnight, a select few of Rye’s cocktails from the original 2006 menu will be available — at the original prices. The celebration will be a “blast from the past,” Mauro says.
If you want to get your carbs in before visiting Rye, there’s a new family-owned sandwich shop right around the corner. Just follow the smells of freshly-baked bread wafting out from Golden Focaccia at 881 Post St. and take your pick of sandwiches or made-to-order pizza.
Owner Omar Barkache said that business has been good since he opened in June, and has picked up this month.
Barkache recommends the signature Golden Focaccia sandwich to newcomers. It’s loaded with prosciutto crudo and prosciutto cotto, spicy salami, porchetta, mortadella, roasted peppers and romesco spread.
Who doesn’t like good eats, good tunes and good views? You can get all three — along with your choice of craft cocktails — every Wednesday night at Rhythm in the Sky in the Timbri Hotel’s rooftop restaurant, Rise over Run, where local Bay Area mixmaster DJ Heartbreak spins R&B tunes from 5 to 10 p.m.
The event is mostly about community, said Justin Williams, who took over as general manager of the Tenderloin hotel at 33 Turk St. nearly a year ago.
Since then, Williams has connected with local organizations and even “adopted” the Tenderloin Community School. Williams runs fundraisers on the school’s behalf, and gives a portion of the proceeds from Rhythm in the Sky to the school.
“When you come here, whether it’s to stay here or play here, it’s all for a purpose,” Williams said.
The next Rhythm in the Sky event is on Aug. 26. Williams suggests coming early if you want to be able to get a table, sit and eat. And if you just want to dance, the place gets crowded in the second half of the night. He recommends staying for both.
On Saturday Aug. 22, the Tenderloin Museum will host a roundtable discussion with historian Susan Stryker to celebrate Transgender History Month and the 60th anniversary of the transgender-led riot at Compton’s Cafeteria.
For the last decade, the Tenderloin Museum has put on a commemorative production called The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot. The discussion Saturday will be a look behind the scenes, with a discussion among Stryker, co-writers, and cast and crew members about the ways this enduring performance has shaped activism.
The free event will be hosted at the play’s venue at 835 Larkin St. from 4 to 5 p.m..
Cafe Dolci, a Vietnamese coffee and banh mi shop at 740 Market St., will be closed for the next few weeks while the owner recovers from chemotherapy, according to a sign posted on the door this month.
Earlier this year, the cafe posted that its hours would vary based on the owner’s day-to-day reactions to the treatment.
“We will be closed for a few weeks as my chemotherapy has been harder on my body than expected,” the updated sign reads. “I need some time to rest and adjust to the treatment. Thank you.”
customers that the business will close. Photo by Adriana Gutierrez.
