“Richmond Buzz” is a recurring column on changes, tidbits and other news from the Richmond. Got news? Send tips to nicholas.david@missionlocal.com.
It’s officially Spring, and April showers are starting to drizzle down.
But where spring typically means renewal, the Richmond can’t seem to get enough of the old. Here’s what’s new (and old).
Local Strange is once again selling vintage furniture and curios, this time at 3227 Balboa St. and 33rd Ave. The store’s owner, Anthony Williamson — who was also a semi-pro skateboarder and worked in construction for many years — studied industrial design in college, which, he said, led to a passion for midcentury furniture and design.
Williamson has sold vintage on Outer Balboa for over a decade, first as Mixed Nuts (with some friends) and then post-2017 as Local Strange. In 2020, during the lockdown of the pandemic, Williamson closed up his earlier storefront and moved the inventory into a storage unit. Now, he’s back.
“It took a lot of sorting through all my stuff,” Williamson said. The shop’s offerings, he said, bring together “sort of like, the best things you’d ever find at an estate sale.” Stuff like vintage Herman Miller chairs and pastel-colored ceramic teapots.
but he’s fully set up and open for business Friday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., and by appointment during the week. Down the line, he might start selling skateboarding goods as well. To keep an eye out for that, or any future pop-up events, follow the store’s Instagram.
Just down the street, boutique and art gallery Eye & Hand Society at 3425 Balboa St. and 35th Ave. is also entering the vintage game: It recently announced the opening of “Second Hand” a store-within-a-store carrying vintage clothes and other items.
Williamson said he’s happy to see so many vintage shops all over the Richmond; it reminds him of the early 2010s. “It feels like it’s become a hub for vintage again, this whole corridor,” he said.
“Vintage” comes from the Anglo-French meaning “vine harvest.” Outer Balboa’s got that too.
Rampant Wine Bar, the much–lauded hangout at 3516 Balboa St. and 36th Ave., has a handful of pop-up events slated for this month.
On Thursday, April 2, Rampant will host Tacos Sincero as it cooks up (also much–lauded) Asian-Mexican fusion (think smoked sardine tostadas or bulgogi sandwiches with salsa negra), and will serve champagne courtesy of French winemaker EPC Champagne.
On April 9 at Rampant, the Comfort Collective, a group of local chefs who strive to create comfortable spaces for queer people and people of color, will serve southern food, and Alsatian winemaker Lindenlaub will pour; on April 12, Rampant will host a debut party for WIP, a new French-inspired chardonnay from Verjus sommelier Alex Evnin. That vintage is Evnin’s first attempt at winemaking.
You can keep up with the Outer Richmond bacchanalia on Rampant’s Instagram.
If furniture, clothes, and trinkets aren’t quite enough to meet your antiquarian needs, we’ve got big news out of Cards and Comics Central at 5424 Geary Blvd. and 19th Ave.: The 35-year-old store will reopen its doors for card tournaments.
Pre-pandemic, tournaments were regularly scheduled in the Cards and Comics backroom (your correspondent should know; he remembers playing in one or two of them).
Now, after years of using the storefront essentially as a storage facility for inventory to fulfill online orders, Cards and Comics’ owner, Herbert Gin, is clearing out its backstock of, well, cards and comics, and preparing the space to do battle once again.
Gin hopes to have the Geary storefront ready for play around June, he said, and plans to open a new shop for collectibles sometime in the near future. While nothing can replace the hole left by the recent closure of Silver Sprocket’s storefront in the Mission, your correspondent will take all the good news they can get.
Another vintage outer Richmond event for the local nostalgic: George Washington High School’s fifth annual car show will take place on campus at 600 32nd Ave. between Geary Blvd. and Balboa St. on April 11. The school’s autobody club, which organizes the affair, calls itself “the only high school auto shop in San Francisco,” and labels this show “the only car show with a Golden Gate View.” Needless to say, it’s a singular experience!
The event is free of charge for spectators. Expect freshly waxed and shined cars and bikes from throughout the decades of motorized transportation and design, parked on the blacktop for your viewing pleasure.
After the sun sets on the auto show, you may find yourself looking for answers in the machinery of night. Lucky for you, the Bazaar Cafe at 5927 California St. and 32nd Ave. is set to host “Songs for Celestial Bodies” that same night, April 11 at 7 PM. The event is this month’s iteration of the “2nd Saturdays” program organized by Musician E.G. Phillips. Each month has a different theme: Come back in May for “Tales from the Fog,” and June for “Online and Alone.”
The following day, on April 12, the Golden Gate Park bandshell will host “Live! at the Shell,” a night of funk-reggae-blues-R&B-hip-hop-etc featuring Nick Otis (kin to Shuggie), San Francisco born-and-raised singer Cynny and more.
The soon-to-open small-bites-and-coffee joint Hologram at 2512 Clement St. and 26th Ave. appears in good shape. A freshly painted, fully furnished interior, with new furniture and an open kitchen, could be seen from the outside. The forthcoming small-bites-and-coffee joint will have a sister in Snowbird Cafe in the sunset.
Anna Kim, who runs Hologram and Snowbird alongside her husband, Eugene, said Hologram is waiting on the final permitting processes, and will very soon, possibly even this weekend.
There’s the Buzz. Send tips to nicholas.david@missionlocal.com.
