Emma’s Coffee Shop on Geary. Photo by Alan Turkus

Happy Wednesday everyone! Here’s some local links to keep you clicking…

• Thursday is Bike to School day so be mindful of more tots than usual out and about on two wheels.
• Just desserts: There’s a new dessert cafe in the outer Richmond, located on Clement near 32nd Avenue. It’s called Akiba, and reader Jason tells us: “Went in to check it out and was pleased to see that Japanese dessert does indeed mean crepes! Very fresh and yummy.” 50 Yelp reviews so far and they’re at a solid 4 out of 5 stars.
• EaterSF reports that Vietnamese restaurant Perilla is opening in the former Pho Clement 2 location at 5423 Geary. Like its other two locations, “the menu is pho-and-bun-centric, but also has a large selection of garlic noodle or rice plates with charbroiled meats and vegetables.” Owner Tin Truong also runs another restaurant in the Richmond District – PPQ Dungeness Island (2332 Clement).
• The Bold Italic has a colorful feature story on the ladies of Paul’s Hat Works. “As proprietors of a relatively new business, the four gals serve as their own best advertising, strutting their wares along with impeccable outfits. They temper Al Capone’s smooth outlaw style with a dash of feminine whimsy.”
• ScoutMob SF has a good deal for free treats at new Cassava Bakery on Balboa in the Outer Richmond
• Coyote hysteria? We had great pics of a Golden Gate Park coyote on Monday, but one woman’s scare with them is prompting the city to close off some trails in the park.
• A place for your next BBQ party: RichmondSFBlog reader Carolyn tells us that the Bazaar Cafe (5927 California) is renting out their lovely garden and new BBQ for group gatherings. You bring your own BBQ fixings, and buy your beverages from the cafe, plus pay $10 an hour to use the BBQ.

Sarah B.

It’s time for Sunday Streets! Sunday’s event will close down roads in Golden Gate Park and along the Great Highway to car traffic, allowing residents to stroll stress-free and enjoy live music, activities and other family-friendly fun.

It’s always great people-watching out at Sunday Streets – roller skaters coast by, multi-sided bikes revolve past, you might come across a free yoga class, or band performing. Anything goes at Sunday Streets, and it’s a great chance to get out and enjoy the day with the community.

This year, MLK Drive in Golden Gate Park will be closed, as well as the usual stretch of Great Highway from Fulton down to Sloat Boulevard. View Sunday Streets route

So dust off your bikes, roller skates, Radio-Flyer wagons, strollers or whatever other means of transportation you have – and come out to enjoy a car-free day!

Sarah B.

Photo by judy h

This Saturday, San Francisco Nature Education will begin hosting their weekly Saturday programs for viewing the Great Blue Heron bird population that visits Stow Lake very Spring.

Great Blue Herons have been nesting at Stow Lake since 1993. Since SFNE began counting, 149 chicks have learned to fly at the lake. It will be their 20th year of monitoring the colony and showing off the nesting birds to locals and visitors with their high-powered telescopes and walking tours.

Walking tours begin at 10:30am – one for adults, and another for families. The adult walk returns at noon after stopping at different spots to observe various nests. The cost is $10 for adults, children are free.

The family walk lasts only an hour and costs $10 per family, and includes a Stow Lake field journal for kids to color at home. Both walks are led by the SFNE’s high school interns.

The Heron Watch begins this Saturday, April 14 and is offered every Saturday through May 19th from 10:30am until 1pm. Look for the observation deck near the Stow Lake boathouse.

Sarah B.

Photo by Mel1st

We got a note today from Bruce Olson, the manager of the Golden Gate Park Golf Course, telling us about an public meeting this Wednesday regarding SF Rec & Park’s plans to find new management for the 60 year old golf center.

Olson tells us that Rec & Park is in the process of negotiating a contract with The 1st Tee of San Francisco to manage and operate the Golden Gate Park Golf Course for the next 5 to 7 years.

According to their website, the mission of First Tee is “to provide children (ages 6-17) of all backgrounds an opportunity to develop, through both golf and character education life-enhancing skills and values that they can apply to all aspects of their life.”

There are currently over 200 First Tee chapters located throughout the United States and abroad. Founded in 1997, The First Tee is a division of the World Golf Foundation. Their first facility began operating in 2009 at Visitacion Valley Middle School. They also offer classes at TPC Harding Park.

Olson says that while much of First Tee’s proposal to Rec & Park has been confidential, he believes they are motivated to transform the par three, nine-hole golf course – ideal for beginner golfers – into a “junior golf learning center”.

The Golden Gate Park Golf Course, located near the 47th & Fulton entrance to the park, already has a legacy of providing junior programs, including summer golf camps and year-round classes for boys and girls age 6 to 14.

The GGP course also has a restaurant on-site, Ironwood BBQ, which boasts “100% oak wood fired BBQ”, and serves pulled pork sandwiches, beef brisket and more.

The public meeting is this Wednesday, April 11 at 6pm at the Golden Gate Park Senior Center (6101 Fulton at 37th Avenue). Rec & Park and First Tee will present their proposal for taking over management of the course, and take questions from the community.

Sarah B.

Photo by David Cruz

RichmondSFBlog reader David Cruz was in Golden Gate Park yesterday, when he saw a pair of eyes and big ears in the distance. No, it wasn’t the Easter Bunny, just a local coyote out for a stroll. Thanks to David for sharing the pics!

Sarah B.

Photo by David Cruz

Photo by David Cruz

Photo by forte

Happy Wednesday to everyone. Here’s some local links to go with the sunshine.

• Brewster Kahle, head of the Internet Archive on Clement at Funston, was profiled in People magazine recently. “Internet entrepreneur Brewster Kahle has made it his mission to collect – and preserve – one copy of every book published”. View article
• The Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park kicked off their extended spring/summer hours. They open at 9am and last entry is at 6pm, with the garden closing at 7pm. In other news, their huge annual plant sale is coming up on May 4th and 5th.
• Looking for good kosher food? CBS News says Israel Kosher Meat, Poultry and Deli (5621 Geary) is among the best in the city. “While it has built its reputation on offering a wide selection of kosher foods, it is the matzo ball soup that has people of all religious persuasions coming to the store.”
• In a totally unrelated list, CBS News also named Purple Skunk Board Shop (5820 Geary) as one of the best skateboard shops in the city. “Come on Purple Sundays wearing a Purple Skunk tee or hoodie and get 10 percent off your purchase.”
• Get a parking ticket for not curbing your wheels properly? Think it was bogus? This article from 7×7 explains how a little math and a city map of the street grades may help you get out of it.
• The de Young Museum has contributed images of 31 works of art from its permanent collection of American Paintings to the Google Art Project. “Thanks to Google, art lovers are able—with a few simple clicks of their fingers—to discover not just paintings, but also sculpture, street art and photographs.” View the de Young Collection in the Goodle Art Project
• Summer camp registration at the Richmond District Neighborhood Center has begun. Early bird signups save $200 when they register by this Thursday, April 5. There are camps for all ages that include activities related to history, art, cooking, exploring San Francisco, outdoor education and more.

Sarah B.

This Saturday, the SF Recreation & Parks Department will host their annual Spring Eggstravaganza family fair at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park.

This year’s theme is “Alice in Recreation Land” and features egg hunts, carnival rides, food vendors, bouncy houses, arts and crafts, entertainment and more. SFPD and SFFD will also compete against each other in a rib cookoff.

The festival runs from 11am until 3pm, and admission is $8 per person for an all-access pass.

Sarah B.

On Thursday, we got a sneak peek at the new de Young exhibition featuring the works of fashion icon Jean Paul Gaultier. The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk celebrates the French designer, featuring 140 ensembles from his 35 year career that has touched not only the fashion and haute couture worlds, but cinema, popular music and the arts.

But don’t expect a refined retrospective like you saw in last year’s Balenciaga exhibit. The Gaultier show not only features a modern fashion icon, but it also utilizes multimedia and innovative techniques in the installation and display of his intricate designs.

The most notable is the projection of live video faces onto the faces of some of the mannequins. It makes for an eerie effect, amazingly lifelike as you move through the exhibition. Their eyes blink, mouths move – almost like they are living and breathing live models on the catwalk.

In another part of the exhibition, the mannequins revolve on small pedestals that rotate around the oval catwalk – as if you were watching the models move down the runway. Perfectly placed lighting washes up each garment as it turns the corner.

The show is comprised of six themed sections that take the visitor through the various creative phases of Gaultier’s career. His signature blue and white designs are featured (one of them featuring the designer’s face and voice), as well as a “Boudoir” theme exploring Gaultier’s fascination with lingerie that was made most famous by the pointy bustier worn during Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition tour.

Equality, diversity and perversity have been Gaultier’s mantras during his fashion career, and they are all on display in the exhibition. The “Skin Deep” gallery features garments inspired by themes of bondage and body art, including one design that looks like the muscles of the human body.

The “Urban Jungle” gallery features a diverse medley of influences ranging from Frida Kahlo to Hassidic Jews. The final “Metropolis” themed gallery highlights Gaultier’s work in film (The Fifth Element, Pedro Almodovar), and his relationship with pop (and fashion) icons like Kylie Minoque and Tina Turner.

In addition to seeing his beautiful fashion, you also experience the breadth of Gaultier’s design aesthetic across a variety of mediums be it sketches, stage costumes, film clips, dance performances and of course, haute couture. He plays with conventional gender stereotypes, dressing men and women alike in some collections, for what he playfully refers to as “a wardrobe for two”.

The show also mixes in fashion photography from some of Gaultier’s renowned contemporaries including Andy Warhol, Steven Meisel and David LaChapelle.

Gaultier was on hand for the press preview on Thursday, delighting the media with stories of his early visits to San Francisco, and of dressing up his childhood teddy bear with his earliest fashion creations – including an early version of the cone bra Madonna would later make famous.

The designer is in town through the weekend and on Saturday, he’ll sit for a Q&A with Suzy Menkes, fashion editor for the International Herald Tribune. The event is already sold out, but you can watch it streamed live from the de Young’s website beginning at 11am.

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk opens Saturday at the de Young Museum, and runs through August 19.

The museum is the exclusive west coast venue for the exhibition, and during its stay in Dallas, was consistently sold out. After seeing this beautiful, innovative and fun show, we can understand why. Don’t miss it!

Sarah B.

The famous bustier worn by Madonna on her Blonde Ambition tour

A message left by Jean Paul Gaultier on the wall of the exhibition