This Week in Noe Valley: La Ciccia Is Still Great, Noe Valley Loves EVs and Other Local Happenings

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• La Ciccia has a new local owner – and the food is still delightful [SF Chronicle]
• This 1907 Victorian has started leaning, but it’s still gorgeous [@BobHorowitz@sfba.social]
• A new Burmese restaurant is coming to Church St. and the old Ambiance space is slated to be a chiropractor [March NVV, p. 21]
• A photo postcard of high tea at Lovejoy's [Only in Your State]
• Noe Valley and the Castro have the second highest number of EVs in SF [SF Standard]
• Lucky us: Holey Bagel is one of the 10 best bagel shops in SF [Eater]

[Photo: Mamahuhu channeling Edward Hopper vibes via localpics_sf]

This Week in Noe Valley: Love Letter to Noe Valley, Pink Blooms and the Romance of the New Spice Shop

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• Sweet: 3 guys who meet every day at Martha & Brothers [marthasonchurch]
• Lehr’s does it up for Valentine’s Day [lehrssf]
• Love letter to our hood: Why you should spend the day in Noe Valley [SFGate]
• New spice shop shakes up couple’s wedding plans [EBAR)
• Scammer posts fake wine dinner at Uma Casa on Eventbrite [SFist]
• Loving tribute and memorial service for Peter Gabel [YouTube]
• Urban Remedy has closed, vacating it's $7K per month rent [Feb NVV, page 21]

[Photo: Pink blooms via travistraversing]

This Week in Noe Valley: Town Square's Cheaper Toilet, Noe Valley Tavern Parklet Lives and Slow Sanchez Mayor

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• Noe Valley will finally get a Town Square toilet for less than $1.7 million [SF Chronicle]
• Profile of the owner of La Lucha coffee shop on Sanchez (and other SF venues) [Mission Local]
• Noe Valley Tavern is keeping its parklet [valletavernsf]
• The mayor of Slow Sanchez Street [SF Chronicle]
• Birch & Rye is up for a possible James Beard Award [SF Standard]

[Photo: Dorian D. Clair clock shop via rwlaplaca]

This Year in Noe Valley: The Biggest Stories of 2022

2022 had all the hallmarks of what looked to be a bad year: A brutal war, an ongoing tripledemic, burn-it-all-down billionaires behaving badly and a contentious and high-stakes election. And yet, for all the gnarly badness, it was a shockingly hopeful year.

 

Democracy works. It’s raining in California this winter. And beautiful Noe Valley is still a bright spot in a wild and crazy world.

 

Here were the biggest stories in our little corner of universe in 2022: 

Toiletgate Drove the World Wild

It’s mind boggling that anyone figured it was reasonable to sign off on a $1.7 million toilet for anything but because this one was for the Noe Valley Town Square the response was … predictable. Loo-dicrous: San Franciscans flushed with anger over $1.7m public toilet wrote The Guardian and S.F. is spending $1.7 million on one public toilet: ‘What are they making it out of — gold?’ was the headline from The Chronicle. Fox News hailed it as part of the Left tearing down America. Oy. Calm down everyone. The toilet plans are on hold and the ridiculous price tag is being investigated. Life goes on.

The Market Has Cooled But It’s Still Unreal Estate

Feeding the outrage machine was a $1.9 million teardown on Day Street that also broke the Internet. 'No wonder everyone is homeless!' Derelict San Francisco home with boarded-up windows and ZERO BEDROOMS but located on city's 'best block' sells for $1.97 MILLION screamed The Daily Mail (which was also parroted by hundreds of other pseudo news sites). Yes, that’s expensive—but when you consider the average cost of a San Francisco home is $1.4 million and Mark Zuckerberg sold his Noe Valley compound for $31 million … is all this really worth the freakout? It’s expensive to live here. If you are fortunate enough to own a house here consider yourself very, very lucky.

Slow Streets Are Here to Stay (And Awesome)

One of the best things to come out of the pandemic, Slow Sanchez is now the heart of Noe Valley and this year we learned the transformation will be permanent. The new people-first space is regularly filled with walkers, bikers, dogs, and kids and adults playing. And Noe Café, which now spills out onto Sanchez in a good way, is always a hive of activity. Now just imagine if more of San Francisco became more people-friendly too… 

We Said Some Sad Goodbyes…

Peter Gabel, a longtime Noe Valley resident, activist and co-founder of Noe Valley Farmers Market passed away this fall at 75. The many heartfelt tributes were a testament to his incredible contributions to the neighborhood. RIP, Peter and thank you for everything.

 

Other departures from Noe Valley this year were the loss of 24th Street Cheese Co. and the original Lehr’s German Specialties. Massimo and Lorella left La Ciccia (although the restaurant is still open under new management) and Ardiana closed down. We’ll miss them all. There were also other closures including Patxi’s, Inle Burmese and Ambiance as well.

This was also the year we said goodbye to Twitter and migrated our real-time updates to Mastodon.

... And We Welcomed Some New Neighbors

Change is hard but with departures come some new friends. Lehr’s re-opened this November with the same name and a new owner bringing German specialties back into the hood. Birch & Rye opened on Castro Street and quickly landed on best new restaurant lists. Our main drag also gained a new veterinarian, a new bone broth dispensary, a spice shop and more. The old Ardiana spot became Damansara, an acclaimed Malaysian restaurant. And of course, on the topic of new neighbors, there were several coyote sightings as well.

  

And there’s more good stuff on the way. Michelin-starred chef Brandon Jew is opening a new “affordable” Chinese restaurant called Mamahuhu in the old Toast space on 24th Street.

And that's a wrap! 2023 beckons.

Happy New Year, Noe Valley. Be well and we’ll see you out there.

p.s.
This blog is now 14 years old (!), and although we don’t always have time to post weekly, it’s still a labor of love and we always appreciate your tips. Thanks for reading both here and on and on Mastodon.

p.p.s.
Feeling nostalgic? Here were the top stories of 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 and 2012. 

[Photos: Sunrise via sanfranciscoist, Town Square via SF Chronicle, 350 Day via Reddit, Slow Sanchez via Slow Sanchez Street SF, Peter Gabel via SF Chronicle, Noe Valley Run Club via Noe Valley Run Club, Noe Valley sunrise via Bob Horowitz] 

This Week In Noe Valley: Lehr’s Reopens, a New Mural, Inle Burmese Moves to Sunset

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• Lehr’s doors are open again [SF Standard]
• A tour of the Lehr’s redesign [lehrssf]
• A love letter to the most interesting butcher in the Bay Area at Baron’s Quality Meats [SFGate]
• The case for more and stronger Slow Streets, plus how Sanchez strengthened Noe Valley [SF Examiner]
• The $1.7 million toiletgate investigation continues [SF Chronicle]
• Inle Burmese leaves Church Street for the Inner Sunset [SF Standard]
• A new mural unfolds outside Omnivore Books [nomafaingold]

[Photo: The fornmer and the new owner of Lehr's German Specialties via lehrssf]

This Week in Noe Valley: Remembering Peter Gabel, Toiletgate Continues, Halloween Happened

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• Peter Gabel, Noe Valley activist and co-founder of the NV Farmer’s Market dies at 75 [SF Chronicle]
• Meet the Noe Valley neighbor helping Elon eviscerate remake Twitter [POSToast]
• $2.4 million homes around California, including one in Noe Valley [NYTimes]
• Experts offer alternatives to the $1.7 million Town Square toilet [SF Chronicle]
• And a public restroom company head chimes in [NY Post]
• Newsom halts state money for the $1.7 million toilet until costs come down [SF Chronicle]
• The lock shop on Church is becoming a flower shop and the old Ambiance spot is becoming a chiropractor [Noe Valley Voice, page 25]
• Bored Halloween [hornpouter]
• Kinetic Halloween fun [noevalleyrunclub]

[Photo: Stylish Halloween via sunnyssfpix]

This Week in Noe Valley: More Hellish Whole Foods Lines, Sunday Sanchez St Block Party and Halloween Vibes

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• Review of Damsara, the new Malaysian restaurant on Church [SFGate]
• Damsara officially opens Oct 19 [SF Chronicle]
• Sanchez Block Party – Sunday Oct 16 from 12-3 [@slowsanchezsf]
• Sister Act – filmed in Noe Valley – is getting another sequel [E Online]
• RIP John Stidham, who made Noe Valley more beautiful [SF Chronicle]
• An interview with the new owner of Lehr’s German Specialities [NBC Bay Area]
• The former Gallery of Jewels spot is now a sweater shop [@KristinHenry]
• Hint of a ceremony at St Paul’s [bissignette]
• Save the Valley Tavern parklet campaign [Change.org]
• The hellish lines at Whole Foods continue [NVSF]
• "Spooky" doorway [koepp200]

[Photo: And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting... via lukasjanata]

This Week in Noe Valley: Runaway Fire Truck, Hellish Whole Foods Lines, and Town Square Art Show

The latest news from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs.

• Hellish lines at Whole Foods [autooracle and @TUTAZCA]
• Noe Valley's Sally Brunn Library now open 7 days a week again [SFPL]
• Runaway fire truck smashes six cars on Hoffman St [SF Chronicle]
• Noe Valley Art Festival from 10-4 this Sunday Oct 2 in the Town Square [@KristinHenry]
• Noe Valley meth trafficker (?!) sentenced to 13 years in prison [CBS News]
• Details about what’s next for Lehr’s and some history, too [SF Gate]

[Photo: Fall colors via cabogracie]