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Good afternoon, San Francisco!
Welcome back to Lunchbreak, The Standard’s source for Mission dive bar overhauls, cuffing season how-tos and tips to avoid getting pig-butchered by some holiday scammer.
The origin story of jeans is a tale woven into the fabric of San Francisco. In the wake of the Gold Rush, an enterprising German Jewish immigrant named Levi Strauss ripped thick denim fabric from sails or tents and dyed it blue, fashioning the very first pair of jeans for hard-working gold miners.
The only problem is that none of it is true. All the same, Levi Strauss became the name synonymous with American blue jeans, in part because the brand excels at storytelling and iconography. |
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Levi’s success might feel effortless, but maintaining the brand’s purity requires serious work. Behind the scenes is a careful curation of identity that has been essential to the company’s century-and-a-half of success—and some good luck. The brand’s dominance rests on a commitment to progressive politics, a robust vintage market and a ruthless pursuit of lawsuits.
We went deep into the 150-year history of jeans, the “cockroach of the fashion world,” and the quintessentially San Francisco company. With the rise of the casual office, Levi Strauss has arguably never been more indispensable to the way we dress.
— Peter-Astrid Kane at The Standard |
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Quick Chat: Brewmaster Regan Long of Local Brewing
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On Dec. 3, a late-night fire broke out at 69 Bluxome St., gutting second-floor artist studios and causing extensive smoke and water damage to Local Brewing, a 12-year-old craft operation that’s also one of the few women- and LGBTQ-owned breweries in the Bay Area. Cofounder and brewmaster Regan Long filled us in on how it’s affecting the business. |
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This is just terrible news. Do you have any idea what the future might hold?
I don’t know what the near future holds, but in the next couple of years, it’s not going to be at Bluxome Street. The building’s been red-tagged. They will have to demolish that floor and rebuild.
This timing is especially unfortunate in that San Francisco Beer Week is barely two months away.
We already had a few collaborations for Beer Week, a couple breweries we’re partnering with. We’re doing a collaboration with Pond Farm in San Rafael, and our fourth collaboration with Anchor. We’re brewing beer on Dec. 19, and it’ll come out in January or February, and it’ll be a fundraiser with Anchor. We’re also doing a Beer Week collab with Barebottle and Laughing Monk, and a new brewery, Olfactory. The owner is a good friend of mine. These were already in the mix, but we’re just going to keep moving forward.
Local Brewing
📍69 Bluxome St., SF
☎️ (415) 932-6702
🔗 localbrewingco.com |
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Dispatches From Across SF
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SF Macy’s Staff Will Strike on These Crucial Holiday Shopping Days
All retail workers at the Macy’s store in Union Square will strike on Dec. 23 and 24, a union representative said.
After three years of failed negotiations, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 (UFCW5), a union representing retail workers, held a behind-closed-doors vote Tuesday that passed overwhelmingly. |
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| The union alleged that Macy’s wanted to eliminate seniority positions, lay off merchandisers and eliminate sales employees’ full-time work guarantees, and the company only offered a raise of less than a dollar over the next three years. The impasse reached the boiling point last week when the union alleged that Macy’s negotiating party abruptly left negotiations.
The Battle To Bring Live Music Back to Kilowatt
Kilowatt, the impressively durable dive on 16th Street in the Mission, is set to change hands after almost three smoky decades of ownership by one Peter Athanas.
The incoming owners, a group of bartenders from Bottom of the Hill and Thee Parkside, want the bar to host live music—as those two venues famously do. Just as Kilowatt used to, back in the 1990s, before bands like Third Eye Blind started shooting music videos on Valencia Street. |
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| A petition, which approximately 1,800 people have signed as of Thursday afternoon, also notes that Kilowatt was a center of indie culture and a stop for touring bands, “as well as a stage for the first four Noise Pop festivals.”
Beset by Allegations of Union-Busting, The Original Boba Guys Shutters
The SF-born bubble tea chain Boba Guys permanently shuttered its original Valencia Street location this week.
Co-founders Andrew Chau and Bin Chen announced the closure in an email to employees last month and told workers that Boba Guys’ Newport Beach location would also close. |
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Boba Guys began in the Mission more than a decade ago and eventually expanded to about two dozen locations in the Bay Area, Southern California and New York. The closure of the original location comes after the popular grab-and-go milk tea company temporarily closed its Mission cafe in October amid allegations of union-busting and backlash from employees over reduced work hours.
Luxury Cake Truck Pops Up in SF With Decadent Crêpes
New York-based crêpe-cake maker Lady M has partnered with French crystal brand, Baccarat, to bring an elegant sweets shop on wheels to the the city’s United Nations Plaza. Billed as the “world’s first luxury cake truck,” the mobile crêperie pops up in Union Plaza again on Dec. 28 and then in the Mission along Valencia Street on Dec. 19, Dec. 23 and Dec. 30. |
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The 28-foot truck, designed by 3D artist Kurt Wenner and decked out with three Baccarat crystal chandeliers that collectively cost more than $40,000, is serving Lady M’s signature mille crêpe cakes. The sweets take inspiration from French and Japanese culinary traditions, consisting of 20 light and fluffy French-style thin pancakes with layers of cream in between. |
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Cuffing Season is Upon Us. Here’s Where To Find Your Seasonal ‘Situationship’
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| The days are shorter, the discounted Uniqlo fleece your mom bought you is no longer enough to fend off the wind chill and suddenly your friends are posting cute selfies with someone they met literally last week. Cuffing season is upon us.
For those looking for a special friend to stay cozy with through winter, here’s a list of local places where you can scout your seasonal bae, from an Oakland venue known for queer speed-dating to the most scientifically rigorous bar in Fort Mason. |
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Edwardian Ball Returns in 2023 With a Touch of the Absurd
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The Edwardian Ball returns Feb. 3 and 4, 2023 at the Regency Ballroom. Per usual, the annual two-night extravaganza of ballroom dancing, immersive art, performance and fashion pays tribute to gothic humor writer and illustrator Edward Gorey as well as the eponymous king of the gilded Edwardian era, Edward VII.
Expect to see not only attendees decked out to the nines in whimsical ware but also appearances of steam-powered art by Oakland’s Kinetic Steam Works, belly dancing by Zoe Jakes & Coven Dance Company and early silent film clips from Magic Lantern Midnight Theatre. Friday night’s lineup features sultry jazz strains of Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers as well as a live set by electronic artist Atom Smith and Thatcher Boomer on the “Haunted Pipe Organ.”
Edwardian Ball
📍 Regency Ballroom
🗓️ Feb. 3 & 4, 2023
🎟️ $45+
🔗 edwardianball.com |
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The Standard on TikTok: Don’t Fall for These Holiday Scams!
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| Are you familiar with “pig-butchering”? The holidays are here, and people are gearing up to exchange gifts with family and friends. However, purchasing those presents might be in jeopardy if you happen to fall for any number of scams proliferating around the Bay Area this year. AND YOU REALLY DON’T WANT TO GET PIG-BUTCHERED |
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h. brown's SF Bulldog 
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