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P-Town Birria’s cooks up Mexican and Soul Food in Pacifica

Pacifica resident Tiffany Keeling's pop-up and catering business P-Town Birria's, which serves up Mexican and Soul ood, has become a mainstay on the Coastside.

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Zoppe Circus next generation
How the Zoppé family built a Redwood City circus legacy
October 14, 2021
The sweet-scented legacy of Ah Sam: 88 years of fame, family and flowers
September 9, 2021
Live it up this Labor Day: 20 local events for the long holiday weekend on the Peninsula
September 2, 2021
Missing the playa this year? Get your Black Rock fix with “Burning Man: The Musical”
September 2, 2021
Stanford art professors and De Young Museum painters loom large in Palo Alto tapestry exhibition
August 12, 2021

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  • Six decades of football photography: Michael Zagaris talks fighting for access, the San Francisco 49ers’ deep Peninsula roots and his new photo book November 23, 2022
  • Silicon Valley’s next meat substitute is being grown in a Morgan Hill mushroom lab November 22, 2022
  • The mysterious case of the SF Peninsula’s poop-polluted beaches November 22, 2022
  • Where to watch the 2022 World Cup on the Peninsula November 17, 2022
  • From classic apple pie to bourbon pecan, these Peninsula pie purveyors have you covered for Thanksgiving November 16, 2022

Popular Posts

Zoppe Circus next generation
How the Zoppé family built a Redwood City circus legacy
October 14, 2021
The sweet-scented legacy of Ah Sam: 88 years of fame, family and flowers
September 9, 2021
Live it up this Labor Day: 20 local events for the long holiday weekend on the Peninsula
September 2, 2021

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The San Francisco Peninsula’s coastline is studd The San Francisco Peninsula’s coastline is studded with breathtaking views, world-class surf breaks, wildflower-dappled hiking trails and charming seaside towns. In the last several years, though, it’s become notorious – at least among surfers, scientists and environmental activists – for having some of the most polluted beaches in all of California. The reasons why the Peninsula’s ocean beaches are so filthy are complicated, and few of the many experts we talked to for this story agreed on what exactly is happening in the water or on what can or should be done about it. But one thing they all agreed on is that the problem isn’t going away despite years of study, many thousands of volunteer hours and tons of pressure on regulators and politicians to fix it. To some extent the problem is invisible, even to swimmers and surfers who dive into it daily. The consequences of fecal pollution can manifest as ear, skin, eye and respiratory infections. Any frequent surfer you talk to will have a story of getting sick, usually if they ignored conventional wisdom and surfed shortly after it rained, but there is currently no mechanism for tracing these illnesses back to specific concentrations of pollution. What is obvious from speaking to experts is that a labyrinth of laws and government agencies, from local municipal utilities to the federal EPA, has sometimes served to stymie accountability and delay action instead of facilitating them. Click the link in bio to read the story from @pcbeller and @k8bradsh. Photo by Charles Russo.
For those looking to watch World Cup games in a pu For those looking to watch World Cup games in a pub with fellow fans to those looking for an excuse to duck out of a family-filled house over Thanksgiving weekend, we’ve put together a running list of Peninsula bars and restaurants where you can watch the World Cup. Grab a friend, find your vuvuzela (OK, maybe leave that at home for patrons’ sake) and get ready for some football. Head to the link in bio for the list. Photos by Katie Brigham, Vivian Wong and Michelle Le.
While online shopping for gifts over the holidays While online shopping for gifts over the holidays has become the go-to choice for many, there’s an indistinguishable spark that arises when you spot that perfect present or snag the last available must-have gift of the season off the shelf. Throw in some holiday activities like wreath-making, dancing and ice skating to make shopping an outing to remember at these Peninsula holiday fairs, craft boutiques and other seasonal events. These one-time events often feature one-of-a-kind wares, from food and clothing to artwork, toys and home decor. Click the link in bio for our guide to 16 happening around the Peninsula starting this weekend. Photo by Rich Yee.
In @k8bradsh’s family, Thanksgiving pies are a b In @k8bradsh’s family, Thanksgiving pies are a big deal. They go all-out, baking her grandma’s pie crust recipe days in advance, blending an ungodly amount of Crisco into the dough before rolling it out, shaping it and baking it. But the baking process is onerous (the crust dough has to be chilled for how many hours?!), and with so many top-notch pie places and bakeries nearby, it’s a great opportunity to impress friends and family and save some time by showing off your good taste rather than your baking prowess. Whether you’re looking for a tried-and-true classic, a gluten-free or vegan option or even a five-flavor flight of mini pies, there’s a pie on the Peninsula to meet your needs. Click the link in bio for our guide to 12 different spots offering locally made Thanksgiving pies filled with everything from sweet potatoes to chocolate cream. Photos courtesy @engagingaesthetics, @fishwifesweets and @thevillagebake.
A lighthouse that has stood sentinel over San Mate A lighthouse that has stood sentinel over San Mateo County’s rugged coast since the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant is turning 150 this month, a milestone anniversary that will be recognized at a celebration this weekend. The 115-foot tall Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero – among the tallest lighthouses in the U.S. – has overseen some of the biggest commercial shifts in American life over the past century and a half, and the dangerous waters it watches over have pulled no shortage of mariners to their deaths. Today, it’s a historic site that attracts visitors from around the world who stay at the hostel on the property, but it’s also a landmark in need of repairs, which are finally on the way thanks to recent funding. Read @k8bradsh’s story on Pigeon Point Lighthouse’s fascinating history and tomorrow’s @castateparks celebration at the link in bio. Photos by @devoroberts.
With multiple exhibitions now open and a symposium With multiple exhibitions now open and a symposium planned for the end of the month, Stanford’s interdisciplinary Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI) aims to make the university a major center for the study of Asian American art. Visitors to the Cantor Arts Center can view the initiative’s first three exhibitions: “The Faces of Ruth Asawa,” which opened in July and will be on display indefinitely; “At Home/On Stage: Asian American Representation in Photography and Film,” which runs through Jan. 15; and “East of the Pacific: Making Histories of Asian American Art,” on display until Feb. 12. Full story at link in bio. Words by @karlajkane, photos courtesy @cantorarts.
For some, having a large blank wall in a home migh For some, having a large blank wall in a home might be soothing, but others feel the need to fill such spaces with a showstopper like original art, or maybe a gallery wall or a beautiful piece of furniture. But what about a wall of…plants? Vertical gardens, essentially landscapes installed on walls with watering systems built in, were once rarely found outside of larger corporate and public building spaces like Google, Symantec or Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Over the past few years, that’s changed as more and more residents have started installing “living walls” in their homes. Full story at link in bio.
Gary Steinberg was a serious trumpet player in hig Gary Steinberg was a serious trumpet player in high school, where his orchestral band was the best in the state. He minored in music at Yale University, spent three months after graduation intensively studying music at an institute in Switzerland, and kept up playing through the middle of his medical residency at Stanford University. As family and career obligations increased, though, he focused on other things, including serving as the longtime chair of Stanford’s department of neurosurgery and leading the Stanford Stroke Center. But recently, after decades, he picked the trumpet back up, making music a part of his daily life again despite his very busy schedule. And he’s not alone. Steinberg is now a member of the Stanford Medicine Orchestra, which, alongside the Stanford Medicine Chorus, gives around 80 Stanford Medicine faculty, staff, students and affiliates the opportunity to make music together each week. The groups will perform an inaugural concert at Bing Concert Hall on Nov. 9. Full story at link in bio.
There are about 25 breweries in San Mateo and Sant There are about 25 breweries in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and, as of last month, zero hard cider makers. Sunnyvale’s Red Branch Cider Company (@redbranchcider), San Carlos’ Redwood Coast Cider (@redwoodcoastcider) and South San Francisco’s South City Cider (@southcitycider) have all shuttered recently. While many businesses have faced a hard times, a unique confluence of bad luck and challenging policies have hit these three cideries hard, pushing them to halt or relocate operations, leaving the Peninsula bereft of local makers of the apple-based alcoholic beverage. Full story at link in bio.
Twelve years after a Sunnyvale woman first decided Twelve years after a Sunnyvale woman first decided to bake a few birthday cakes for a Los Altos nonprofit serving kids in foster care, Cake4Kids, now a national nonprofit, delivered its 40,000th cake to a youth in need this year. It all started when Libby Gruender, a former program manager for satellite launches at Lockheed Martin, read an article in 2010 about a little girl in foster care whose foster mother made her a birthday cake. The girl burst into tears, and so the foster mother apologized, thinking she’d somehow hurt her feelings. But the girl told her she was crying because she’d never had a birthday cake before. While that family was based in the Midwest, Gruender suspected there might be children in foster care in and around Sunnyvale who hadn’t had birthday cakes. She had recently been diagnosed with melanoma and had decided to leave working in tech. She and a group of friends partnered with a foster care agency in Los Altos to bake cakes for the children it served, and the nonprofit effort expanded into Cake4Kids. Gruender died of melanoma in 2013, but the organization she started lives on, inviting volunteers to bake personalized desserts for underserved kids in 21 regions nationwide. Click the link in bio to read the story from @k8bradsh and find out how you can get involved as a volunteer baker. Photos courtesy @cake4kids
🎉Today we hit 1,000 Instagram posts, a mileston 🎉Today we hit 1,000 Instagram posts, a milestone reached through posting hundreds of stories about life on the Peninsula. Thank you to everyone who’s read, liked and shared our stories and posts and subscribed to our weekly newsletter! If you’re not signed up for our newsletter, we can fix that — click the link in bio to visit our website and subscribe.
For years, Redwood City resident VC Tang balanced For years, Redwood City resident VC Tang balanced nonprofit work with her passion for cooking Thai comfort food at home. When the pandemic hit, she found herself cooking more and wanting to do something to combat the rise of anti-Asian hate she was seeing in the community. She was also inspired by the elders she’d gotten to know as a tai chi practitioner and member of her Thai temple community, many of whom were remarkably adept at soldiering on with their daily lives. So she turned to the kitchen. The experience has inspired the publication of VC’s cookbook memoir “Come Eat, Grandma! Recipes and Stories of Thai Home Cooking.” To launch her book, she’s hosting a book signing and party at the @theparkjames in Menlo Park on Sunday, with a reception sponsored by @thaifarmhouse. Click the link in bio to read the story from @k8bradsh. Photos by @itsmagalig.
Gather your family and friends and join the @mvvoi Gather your family and friends and join the @mvvoice at the city of Mountain View's annual Monster Bash for some Halloween fun! Free and open to the public on Saturday, October 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Rengstorff Park. Don’t forget to wear your favorite costume and visit their booth for some free candy! 🎃🍬🍭👻
Emil DeAndreis, a born-and-raised San Franciscan, Emil DeAndreis, a born-and-raised San Franciscan, isn’t a typical writer. For starters, he says he does a lot of writing during his day job as a substitute teacher in San Francisco public schools (he’s also an English professor at College of San Mateo). He began teaching and writing after seeing his dreams of becoming a professional pitcher fall apart following a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis — the subject of his previous book, a memoir called “Hard to Grip.” His latest novel, “Tell Us When To Go,” follows two friends and Fresno State baseball teammates — Cole Gallegos and Isaac Moss — as they navigate San Francisco and Silicon Valley in 2010 and 2011. Gallegos, a top-ranked pitcher from San Francisco, gets the yips (a sudden inability to throw the ball accurately) and drops out, while Moss, a benchwarmer, has already graduated. The two move together to San Francisco’s Sunset neighborhood and land their first post-college jobs: Moss as a contract worker at a tech company called “GO,” similar to Google Maps, and Gallegos as an aide in a special education classroom in the San Francisco Unified School District. The novel follows their character arcs as Moss looks to snag a full-time tech job and Gallegos works to support Dizzy, a struggling student he’s been assigned to work with. We spoke with DeAndreis about witnessing how the tech boom has changed the Bay Area as a San Francisco native, how his teaching career influences his writing and the writing lessons he tries to pass on to his students. Click the link in bio to read the Q&A with @k8bradsh. Photos courtesy @emildeandreis.
Much has changed since the United Nations Associat Much has changed since the United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF) made its debut 25 years ago. The documentary festival has nearly quadrupled in size, growing from three days of screenings to 11. And now, the festival not only hosts screenings around the Peninsula, but it also takes some of its offerings on the road to national and international destinations throughout the year. The festival’s jury, which selects the films, has grown as submissions have steadily increased. What hasn’t changed is the festival’s mission, which focuses on human rights issues — and the fact that many of those issues remain as timely and urgent as when the festival was founded. The 25th anniversary UNAFF, which has the theme “Reflections,” takes place in person Oct. 20-30 at venues in Palo Alto, Stanford University and East Palo Alto. This year’s festival will screen 60 films from around the world and include six panel discussions. Among the films will be four world premieres and a dozen U.S. premieres. Click the link in bio to read the story. Photo from the documentary “A Decent Home” courtesy UNAFF.
Brewery bashes, pumpkin-carving shindigs, costume Brewery bashes, pumpkin-carving shindigs, costume parties and spooky movie nights: It’s Halloween in the 650. Celebrate all month long with our comprehensive event guide. Click the link in bio for details. Photo by Natalia Nazarova.
It’s fall, and that means it’s time to luxuria It’s fall, and that means it’s time to luxuriate with warm, comforting and richly indulgent dishes. We asked Peninsula chefs to share some of their favorite fall recipes, and they responded with guides on how to create a variety of elegant dishes sure to please the pickiest of household members, roommates or dinner party guests. From ajapsandali, a Georgian eggplant stew, to winter squash gratin, to pear tarts and an involved recipe for duck tagliatelle with wagyu beef and chanterelle mushroom sauce, try out these recipes to push your culinary techniques to new levels and explore a wide palette of autumnal flavors. Click the link in bio for the recipes from @pausasanmateo, @sweet55swiss, @bevrifood and @zola.barzola. Pear tart photo courtesy @sweet55swiss.
Raise your hand if you’re a gourd-mand 🙋‍♀️🎃We bring you a running roundup of Peninsula pumpkin dishes and drinks both sweet and savory to stoke that fall feeling, featuring @mezzalunarestauranthmb, @vervecoffee, @romoloscannoli, @itsiticecream and more. Click the link in bio for the story. Photos courtesy @humphryslocombe, @hmbbrewingco and @stateofmindslicehouse.
Behind the doors of a shop on Palo Alto’s Califo Behind the doors of a shop on Palo Alto’s California Avenue is a brand-new game wonderland that aims to appeal to everyone – even people who say they don’t like games. Filled wall to wall with colorful game boxes of all sizes, @gamelandia.fun has games for Dungeons & Dragons and “Twilight Imperium” fans to casual jigsaw puzzlers; for small kids still developing hand-eye coordination to adults looking for raunchy party games (which are stored in a special cupboard above the reach of youngsters). The store has everything from enamel pronoun pins and indie games to greeting cards and Pokémon cards. There’s even a whole display of cat-themed games and toys for fans of felines. Gamelandia, which is in the midst of its soft opening, was founded by married couple Berry Hatfield and Lisa Joyce, who first moved to Palo Alto from New York about a year and a half ago. Both Hatfield and Joyce have had accomplished careers in the entertainment industry – Joyce has an extensive acting history with credits from @insecurehbo (she plays @issarae’s nonprofit co-worker Frieda), “Law & Order,” “Boardwalk Empire,” and “The Good Wife,” among other shows, and Hatfield’s production management credits include work with “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” and “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” The couple relocated to Palo Alto partly because of Joyce’s health. She was diagnosed with leukemia in the months before COVID-19 broke out, and when it did she had to be very cautious because leukemia impairs the immune system. She’s now in remission, but when isolation and quarantine were the norm, it was important for her to be able to connect with friends over games, she says. The pandemic cut many people off from in-person interaction with friends, and now that case rates are easing it feels all the more powerful to get together to foster camaraderie, community and connection, she says. Read the story from @k8bradsh at the link in bio. Photos by @itsmagalig.
Many entrepreneurs found an opportunity to launch Many entrepreneurs found an opportunity to launch a new business during the pandemic, and for Adriana Porter, it’s been a bittersweet experience. Porter and her husband Aaron set out to open their Los Altos cafe, Tal Palo, in early spring of 2021. Their biggest setback was the permit and planning process, which pushed their timeline back by several months. With only Porter, her husband and the occasional help from her mother, there’s no staff when they open this November. As a self-funded business, Porter says, “Our initial budget was inflated due to this significant loss of time. How are people like us, who lost our jobs because of the pandemic, supposed to make it work?” Read the story by @sophiamwrites on how restaurants like @tal_palo, @thebottleshop_rwc and Centro Pizza in Burlingame are navigating ever-present COVID impacts at the link in bio. @tal_palo photos by @itsmagalig.
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