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INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES
Virginia Peanut Group

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Sutter Street

Follow locals past the regular San Francisco hotspots and discover a whole new part of town.
October 2007

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SURPRISE

FOLLOW THE LOCALS PAST UNION SQUARE AND EXPLORE A PART OF SAN FRANCISCO THAT’S LESS CROWDED AND HAS TONS TO OFFER.

BY KAREN LELAND

A stone's throw from the superstar shops, restaurants and hotels of San Francisco's Union Square is still glamorous but less crowded Sutter Street. Named after Gen. John A. Sutter, a member of the California State convention that framed the state's first constitution, the street became official in 1849 when the discovery of gold swelled the population of the city and streets were surveyed and laid out by the dozens. The well-known road was also home to San Francisco's second cable car company, Sutter Street Railway, which ceased operations in 1929. Three-quarters of a century later, Sutter remains a bustling thoroughfare of commerce-a wide boulevard that shouts "big city" in a boutique town. Packed day and night with locals making their way around the downtown area, it is an easy one-block stroll (or quick trolley ride) up Powell from Saks Fifth Avenue to Sutter Street. Here, the block between Powell and Mason offers a surprising treasure trove of art, entertainment and dining.

Looking for the perfect place to grab a quick cappuccino or linger over a refreshing Cosmopolitan before hitting the shops or catching a show? Make your first stop the popular Caffe Espresso (www.caffeespresso.com; 415-395-8585). Located on the corner of Powell and Sutter, the café is popular with locals who come here to discuss books and San Francisco politics and mingle with jetsetting tourists who have stopped in to rest their weary feet.

Part of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel (www.sirfrancisdrake.com; 800-795-7129), the café is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and offers a fresh and simple menu of soups, salads, sandwiches and desserts. The hearty beef stew or turkey pot pie will warm you when something hearty is in order, while the house Caesar salad is a light repast. If it's a sweet tooth you are looking to please, try the chocolate and butterscotch parfait.

Even if a caffeine fix is the only thing you have in mind, have a seat anyway.

The café, with its floor-to-ceiling windows, provides the perfect spot for people watching. Sit back and order a cup of café au lait or gourmet tea, and relax amid butter-colored walls that feature antique Italian posters of Old World espresso machines and ladies lunching.

Having fortified yourself with a good cup of joe, head toward Mason Street. In a few short steps you will arrive at the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design (www.sfmcd.com). Tucked discretely behind an artistic metal gate, this intimate museum is dedicated to interpreting the role of craft and design in contemporary society.

The museum has no permanent exhibit, but instead hosts a changing roster of artists. Recent installations have featured toys, glasswork and antique wine labels.

The current exhibit, which runs until December 30, features the work of Lee Fatherree, who has photographed art for catalogues, exhibitions and curatorial records in the San Francisco Bay area for more than 25 years. The show will feature personal photographs that have captured significant artists working in their studios, including painters Viola Frey and Joan Brown and sculptors Manuel Neri and Robert Arneson.

For a present or souvenir, make a stop in the museum’s gift shop, which sells handmade, one-of-a-kind objects from local artists. Keep an eye out for the whimsical ceramic word stones by artist Rae Dunn and the brightly colored bud vases by Berkeley glass-blower Michael Sosin.

Located a few doors down from the museum, Hotel Rex (www.jdvhotels.com/rex ; 800-433-4434) is a great choice for an after-museum drink. First stop: the library bar. Sink down into an oversized chocolate brown leather chair, browse the antique book collection and peruse the original oil portraits on the wall while enjoying a well-made Martini. If you’re hungry, head to the adjoining Café Andrée, outfitted in a long red leather banquet table and matching red chairs. For a satisfying meal, try the duck confit salad and cheese french fries with garlic aioli. Inspired by the art and literary salons of the ’20s and ’30s, the hotel has become a hotspot for the creative crowd, with live jazz on Friday nights and the occasional book signing or poetry reading in the lobby.

Next stop on your tour: shopping. The Designer Consigner (415-362-3793) is an upscale clothing shop that offers anything and everything adorned with a designer label, from the elegantly simple (Ann Taylor) to the high-end sublime (Hermès)—all at a substantial discount. Keep in mind the shop is strictly consignment, and won’t carry fashions that are more than three years old (except vintage). In addition to clothes, it’s a great place to find designer bags, shoes or jewelry. Be sure to check out the excellent selection of skin (alligator, crocodile, lizard) handbags sold at one-third retail price.

A few doors down, take in the alternative San Francisco theater experience at the Shelton Theater (www.sheltontheater.com). Known as the daytime home of the Jean Shelton Actors Lab, the theater plays host to not one, but three small theaters with performances on weekend nights. Upstairs, the San Francisco Playhouse (www.sfplayhouse.org) offers a series of plays; now showing through November 17 is John Guare’s Six Degrees of Separation. Showing downstairs, on an indefinite run, is the hilarious Shopping! The Musical. Written, composed and directed by legendary San Francisco writer Morris Bobrow, the show is currently the longest-running original musical review in the city and has been nominated for several Bay Area theater awards.

Whether taking in some culture or eating and shopping your way through the area, it’s worth the time to step out beyond the usual glamour of Union Square and head to where the locals go: Sutter Street.

AirTran Airways provides daily, low-fare flights to San Francisco. Visit www.airtran.com for more info.

ART WALK

If the art on display at the San Francisco Museum of Craft + Design and the Rex Hotel inspires you to add to your personal collection, you’re in luck. Hang Art Gallery and Hang Art Annex (www..hangart.com), located on opposite sides of Sutter Street, feature a combined 7,500 square feet of contemporary artwork from more than 60 Bay Area artists.

“Our aim is to make artwork accessible, especially for first time collectors,” says gallery director Deborah-Jean Harmon. The gallery, which carries work in all mediums, from acrylic and oils to sculpture and mixed media, participates in the larger community First Thursday Art Walk, when many San Francisco area galleries host new exhibit openings from 5:30 to 7:30pm.

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