Castagnola's: A Part of San Francisco's History

Castagnola’s is more than a restaurant - it’s a piece of San Francisco’s history. Thomaso Castagnola opened the first crab stand on Fisherman’s Wharf in 1916, selling fresh crabs to passersbys. Back then I imagine you could get a huge bowl of clam chowder or a big crab cocktail for a nickel! Eventually, this stand turned into a restaurant, which the Castagnola family owned and operated until it was sold in 1975. During their tenure, however, the Castagnola family played a major role in building San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf into the popular destination it is today.

Part of the allure... (more)

Tags:

Lefty O'Doul: a San Francisco Baseball Legend

I sat down at Lefty O’Doul’s restaurant in San Francisco the other day, ordered an O’Doul’s and sat down to interview Tom O’Doul, Lefty’s cousin. Is that triple déjà vu or what? Today would have been Lefty’s 113th birthday. So, hoist a brew in Lefty’s name, because somewhere up in heaven he’s hitting in the high .300’s and having a great time.

Benefits of a famous cousin: “I didn’t really know who Lefty O’Doul was until I started playing baseball in Little League. Until then, he was just my cousin. When I started playing ball, he started coming around more. One story I love to relate... (more)

Tags: babe ruth, lefty o'doul, san francisco seals, pacific coast league, ty cobb, japanese baseball

Spring Time In San Francisco: Drums And Slip-N-Slide

As you can see from the video above - the weather in San Francisco this weekend was.... breathetaking. I am not an "active" person, but I couldn't resist the outdoors. On Saturday afternoon, after some spring cleaning, I hoped on my bike and headed to Golden Gate Park. Specifically "hippie hill" which is the open field just beyond the Haight street entrence to the park. It is a haven for gutter punks, burnouts, frisbie throwing hippies, music lovers and people like myself - who just love watching it all go past them.

Later that night I went to Dolores park... (more)

Tags: los angeles, san francisco, movie, police, music

Remembering The San Francisco Earthquake

...was massive. It was felt from as far north as Coos Bay, Oregon, as far south as Los Angeles and even beyond Carson City, Nevada. The city of Santa Rosa was obliterated and Stanford University was left in severe ruins.

There is no doubt that at the turn of the 20th Century, San Francisco was the major economic and social hub of the west. Even in the late 1800s, when people were headed west, the question, “Where ya goin’?” was answered with”San Francisco.” People didn’t go to Los Angeles the way they went to San Francisco. People... (more)

Tags: los angeles, new york, san francisco, california, hollywood

San Francisco: The Bottom Feeders Of Top Chef

... it pits young chefs against each other and features some of the leading culinary kings in the world as guest judges. Now in its sixth season, it is the most popular reality cooking show on TV.  Every season, they do the show from a different city and this year it’s in Chicago.   

San Francisco initially featured four chefs (out of a total of 16) on this season's Top Chef. As a food lover's/top restaurant town, it just seemed fitting to see that The City was so well-represented.

 Well, the only problem is--the San Francisco chefs are falling off the board like flies. They... (more)

Tags: san francisco, top chef, san francisco chefs

The San Francisco Giant's First Shortstop: Ed Bressoud

... absolutely loaded with talent. The only problem was that the National League was a powerhouse full of great clubs back then. Milwaukee, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh—those were some good teams. We didn’t play particularly well that year and then in 1958 the team left New York and moved to San Francisco. I remember seeing signs from the fans that said ‘Please Don’t Go.’ I never thought we’d move to the West Coast, but we did. It was kind of sad.”

His relationship with Willie Mays: “Willie and I never had a conversation that lasted more than a... (more)

Tags: new york, san francisco

San Francisco's Not Feeling Tommy

We've seen some pretty amusing pieces of legislation out of the Board of Supervisors, but this one beats them all: Supervisor Michela Alioto-Pier wants organizers of the San Francisco Italian American parade to boot Tommy Lasorda as grand marshal. And my initial question is: Doesn’t she have any more important things to do? Her district suffers from bad roads, bad drunks and a sagging economy (like everywhere else). Is Tommy Lasorda at the Italian American parade really reside at the top of her list or priorities?

For those of you who don’t know or care, Lasorda is the former... (more)

Tags: baseball, los angeles, san francisco

Irreverent Musical To Roast San Francisco Seeks Talent.

Bay Area Theatre Director and Producer John Bisceglie, who is best known for his elaborate and colorful musical productions, will be producing and directing his SF Follies musical revue at the Actors Theatre in San Francisco, opening February 6th, 2009.

The SF Follies takes a wicked wink at San Francisco'ss past, present and future. The show lampoons the City'ss popular landmarks, attractions, personalities, neighborhoods, institutions and events, making it the one show the San Francisco Board of supervisors doesn'st want you to see.

With hippies, flappers, rabid sea lions,... (more)

Tags: san francisco, california, music, restaurant

Welcome to BrooWaha San Francisco

Welcome! Thanks a lot for joining BrooWaha San Francisco, your local newspaper. As you may know, BrooWaha is a platform that lets you express yourself, and get rewarded for your work. This reward is expressed in terms of what we call Popularity points. You can see how many points you have by having a look at your profile. Your popularity is measured according to numerous factors including the ratings other readers give your articles, the number of people reading them, and how significant and regular your contribution to the newspaper is. The more popular you are, the more weight you will... (more)

Tags: los angeles, new york, journalism, san francisco, broowaha

The Last of the Great San Francisco Street Perfomers

His name is Noah Tyler, age 55, but everyone calls him Dave. He’s one of the last street musicians still left in San Francisco. I first encountered him when I was walking my dogs down by Fisherman’s Wharf on the weekends. It’s a nice stroll down through Aquatic Park, if you can stay clear of all the clueless tourists on bikes who seem to think people on foot are simply in the way. So, I go down to where the cable cars turn around, and I started to notice this street musician entertaining the tourists while they waited in line for a cable car to board. I was immediately impressed with Dave... (more)

Tags: san francisco, police, music