Mission | Dear Vixen - Catherine Gacad

Livin La Vida Loca

Posted on January 30, 2013 // 2 Comments

We are keeping it real, living in the Mission this week on our quest to try out different neighborhoods before we buy. We rented our apartment in Nob Hill to a nice British gentleman who is in SF for work. Last time we tried the Potrero neighborhood, which we loved. This time, we opted for the Mission. We are a block away from the hospital on the corner of Hampshire and 23rd. I have to admit, I didn’t have very high expectations, but I am really loving it here. Sure this ‘hood is a bit grittier, but it’s got character. I haven’t felt unsafe. Lots of people always on the bus and walking around. I feel like I’m living in Mexico City!

The 9L bus whisks me to and from work so quickly, I’ve been shocked. This is my first experience dealing with a timely Muni bus! Can’t beat that!!

The apartment we’re staying in is small, but lovely and fine for us which makes me think we really don’t need a lot of space. Dean and I are so low maintenance. If the 2 of us can live in this treehouse for a week, then a reasonably-priced, minimalist home should be enough. We always joke that people buy big homes purely to put more shit in it.

What’s great about the couple renting to us is that they are doing exactly what I aspire to do. They own a 2-unit building, live upstairs, and rent the downstairs unit. The rent for the downstairs unit covers their mortgage. Score! In addition to the 2-unit building, they pounced on this tiny loft next door which they had used for family and friends visiting from out of town. Now that Airbnb has blown up, they’ve been renting it out to RAVE reviews. The rental is inexpensive. It’s nice and clean. And they’re the nicest hosts ever. So they’ve got a great little side business going.

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Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: 23rd street, airbnb, buy, hampshire street, livin la vida loca, mission, muni, potrero, rent, san francisco, sell, SF

San Francisco Apartment Tour

Posted on January 30, 2013 // 2 Comments

I wanted to follow-up my San Francisco Home Tour post with a similar post on apartments.

Buying a home in SF is unbelievably stressful. You should be cashing in those stock options. Your granny hopefully wrote you into her will. Money better be growing on trees in your backyard. If anyone has saved $100,000 – 250,000 and is within my reader age range of 30-50 years old, email me. I want to know how you amassed that money so I can share your story on my blog. I am particularly drawn to people who are self-made, who paid their own way through college and graduate school.

Personally, the reason Dean and I have been able to sock away money is because of Dean’s apartment. Our saving grace is a 1-bedroom with parking in Lower Nob Hill with a reduced rent of $1,700. It is easily rented on Airbnb which helps offset vacation costs.

When you start to calculate the cost of renting in SF, home prices don’t even seem that ridiculous anymore. Like I said, a mortgage on $1,000,000 home in SF will be cheaper than some of the rents below.

Here are 2-bedroom apartments I would consider living in and their price tag. I would never feel comfortable paying these rents and would probably fight and research to find that under-priced gem in an unknown alley of the city.

$3800 / 2br – NEW Apt #1 in 4-Unit Victorian in the Heart of the Mission (mission district)

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$4695 / 2br – 1300ft² – 2BR/1BA REDUCED! FURNISHED Very Spacious Victorian Flat *Pet Friendly* (hayes valley)

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$2850 / 2br – 2 BR Flat- New HW Floors Near BART & Rainbow Grocery! (mission district)

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$3775 / 2br – Charming 2×2 Apt w/ Polished Concrete Flooring & 9’6″ Ceilings! (potrero hill)

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$3775 / 2br – 884ft² – OPEN HOUSE Tonight, 1/29, from 6pm – 7pm. (potrero hill)

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$2995 / 2br – Bright, Large unit w/ SF Character & New Hardwood Floors (mission district)

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$3795 / 3br – Mission District 3 Bedroom/2 Bath. Fully Remodeled with garage! (mission district)

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: airbnb, apartment tour, hayes valley, home tour, lower nob hill, mission, potrero hill, rents, san francisco, SF, stock options, victorian

Food Review: Mr. Pollo

Posted on November 18, 2012 // Leave a Comment

I hate soup! Argh.

Mr. Pollo is a 10-seat, no reservation, cash-only restaurant in the Mission that has been getting a bit of press lately. They base the menu on ingredients found at one of the local farmers markets that day. They do a $20 fixed price, 4 course meal. You can add on arepas and dessert. Arepas are like quesadillas but with more substantive ingredients so it’s kinda like a sandwich. You can also buy beer or pay the corkage fee if you bring wine.

Course #1 was a fresh arugula salad with tomatoes, nuts, and fruit, lightly seasoned, letting the freshness speak for itself.

Course #2 was a green soup. Ick.

Then we had the arepa which was good.

Course #3 was a prawn with potatoes.

Course #4 was a hearty soup. Ick.

The dessert was a caramelized pear. Hated it.

The menu changes daily. I could see myself going back, but was not happy with 2 courses of soup.

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: arepas, farmers market, fixed price, food review, mission, mr. pollo, prawns, quesadilla, restaurant, soup

The Weekend in List Form

Posted on November 17, 2012 // Leave a Comment

Saturday

Slept in. This is a luxury I cannot fathom giving up. I have been sleeping in on weekends since I was born. I remember talking to a friend about how I sleep in until around 11am almost every weekend and he said, “What’re you like 16 years old?”

Hung out with friends and their twins. Dean’s really good with kids. I think they think he’s one of them, but just super tall.

Got car tires changed. My mechanic, the Toy Shop on Geary, is the best. If you own a Japanese car, get your car fixed at the Toy Shop. Very good at what they do, and honest with reasonable prices. I love the guys there. The only thing they don’t do are tires so we had to get those changed elsewhere.

Watched the new Skyfall movie. Entertaining. Can’t say it’s the best Bond flick ever, but pretty good. I think it’s been hyped up so much, I was disappointed.

Dinner at Mr. Pollo. I will review in another post.

Sunday

Slept in

Got my toe nails painted. Cut my own nails, filed them, then went to the nail salon across the street and had them do a french paint.

Drinks at the Phoenix. The Mission is now fully packed on the weekends. We went to 3 places in a row and there wasn’t any place to sit.

Dinner at Mission Chinese. Still, hands-down, one of my favorite restaurants in the city. Last weekend, I went to Chinatown and ate at Great Eastern which is the restaurant Obama got take-out from. I swear to God I gained 3 pounds when I weighed myself the next day. What a waste of calories, the food wasn’t even good. But Mission Chinese is good Chinese food, not that crappy stuff they serve in the bowels of Chinatown. After gorging on Mission Chinese, I weighed myself the next day bracing myself for another 3 pound gain and I swear to God I lost 2 pounds. Who loses weight after eating Chinese food? Mission Chinese–best diet ever.

Drinks at Beauty Bar. The place has turned into a major decrepit dive. Wow, won’t be going back there again.

Wine at a friend’s house. Can’t go wrong drinking wine with a friend who has hundreds of bottles at his home.

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: beauty bar, bond movie, diet, film, geary, great eastern, mechanic, mission, mission chinese, mr. pollo, obama, phoenix, san francisco, skyfall, sleep, toy shop, weekend

I Found Your New Apartment

Posted on November 13, 2012 // Leave a Comment

Is anyone looking for an apartment in the city? Because I while away a portion of my free time assessing apartment and home prices, I found this 2-bedroom, 2-bath in Potrero Flats for $2700 on Craigslist. What a deal, right?! Open house starts tomorrow.

If any of you readers pounces on this, I expect a finder’s fee!

Since we’re on the topic, I am totally torn on whether or not to sell my condo. I need to put together a decision matrix! There are pros and cons to both options. If I could extract the equity from our condo, the world is our oyster in terms of buying a new place. But with that money un-touchable, we are constrained in our choices. I need to win the lottery.

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: apartment, bath, bedroom, buy, condo, craigslist, finder's fee, home, lottery, mission, potrero flats, potrero hill, rent

Fashion Friday: Best Optical Shop

Posted on March 31, 2012 // Leave a Comment

I’ve been wearing and shopping for glasses ever since I could read. I discovered an optical shop in the Mission that has hands-down the best inventory of vintage, classic, modern eyeglasses and sunglasses. Hundreds and hundreds of pairs in all designs in multiple colors.

Fine Arts Optical at 888 Valencia near 20th

The company has been around for a while, but recently opened a location in the Mission. You’ll pay a pretty penny, but these glasses are works of art that you can sport on your face. Seriously fashionable glasses! I could have spent all day in the store; I wanted to buy several pairs.

Check it out. Best spectacle store ever!

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: 888 valencia, best optical shop, eyeglasses, fashion friday, fine arts optical, glasses, mission, spectacles, sunglasses, valencia

Restaurant Review: Chambers

Posted on August 4, 2011 // Leave a Comment

Alrighty, I’m posting a Yelp review because I write so few of them these days. Cmon, people, am I ready to be a food critic or what? Not a food critic yet, but a nightlife critic possibly?

Looks like the Tenderloin is the new Mission because hipsters are crowding around and forming lines outside Farm:Table, Jones, and the Shooting Gallery. Bored of the same consistently-good restaurants–Bar Jules, Mission Beach Café, and La Mar–I can finally ecstatically recommend a newcomer to the Tenderloin scene. In the aptly-named Phoenix Hotel, the adjacent lounge has re-incarnated itself from Backflip to Bambuddha and now to Chambers. It is sick, or slick, or whatever the lingo is today. It’s like entering Bourbon and Branch’s library, but better. Like the Ace Hotel, but even better. You can actually see your date as the lighting, a refreshing golden hue, has been strategically placed. Even the food is worth the guarded walk from your locked car to the entrance. As for the impeccable food, the PBLT, pork belly lettuce and tomatoes, is stand-out. A big coup for the neighborhood, this new hot spot won’t be reinventing itself for quite a while.

Photo Credit: Thrillist

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: backflip, bambuddha, bar jules, bourbon and branch, chambers, farm:tabble, jones, la mar, mission, mission beach cafe, pblt, phoenix hotel, restaurant, review, san francisco, shooting gallery, Tenderloin, thrillist, Yelp

Mission Chinese: the Good, the Bad, and the Yummy

Posted on July 19, 2011 // 2 Comments

I don’t have good recall, but I vaguely remember writing how much I love Commonwealth. It must be divine intervention that my new favorite restaurant is one apartment building over. Any budding restauranteur would be wise to open up shop in the retail space sandwiched between Mission Chinese and Commonwealth. Cha-ching!

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m not really a fan of chinese food. The only time I get a craving for honey walnut prawns is when this piggy forgets to eat, throws back the cocktails, and wakes up to a pig pen of a day. Completely shot and wasted.

Not in the mood for food, but knowing that grease makes it better, I drove us shell-shocked at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon to the Mission.

“This place gets mixed reviews,” I told Dean. “Let’s check it out.”

Over a year old, the place retained the sign of its predecessor Lung Shan with Mission Chinese written in sharpie on a piece of 8×11 paper taped to the front door. Despite the lack of formalities–including seating yourself–this joint ain’t no dive. A dive is Tu Lan on 6th and Market. A dive is Cordon Bleu on California. Mission Chinese is like the downstairs area of R&G Lounge! Cmon, people, quit saying Mission Chinese is a dive. It even has one of those long, sparkly dragon puppets strung up on the ceiling.

The service is regimented–a whole gamut of non-English speaking and American-born asians who aren’t into feigning friendliness.

Our soda cans arrived on our table like they’d rolled out of a vending machine. What you see is what you get. No extra glass, no ice, no straw. I was having major doubts until the food came.

A tea cup of well-spiced szechuan pickles–which was more napa cabbage than pickles.

The tiger salad should be renamed fresh spring rolls. Not sure why they called it a salad. This was too minty. Use half the mint, please. But so fresh. I guess it was too fresh for my hungover taste buds.

Salt cod fried rice–the god of all fried rice. So light, fluffy, and tasty. Best fried rice of my asian life.

Pork belly. Ok, I already said the fried rice was the best. Do I also have to say the pork belly was the best? I must. That was the crispiest, yummiest pork belly in all my years of dreaming of fried pig parts.

A little over $30 including the tip plus leftovers for later.

FOUR HAPPY THUMBS UP!

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: commonwealth, food review, fried rice, lung shan, mission, mission chinese, pork belly, spring rolls

Restaurant Review: Commonwealth

Posted on June 9, 2011 // Leave a Comment

I’ve mentioned before that I’m a firm believer that Commonwealth is one of the best restaurants in the city. If not the best, I guarantee it’s the best value. So for all y’all who live in San Francisco and all y’all who plan on visiting our annoyingly cold city, make sure to get a reservation at Commonwealth.

Let’s talk about even before you step foot in the restaurant. There is parking. I’m talking smack dab in the Mission. Not valet, not paid. Drive your beat-up Honda or Toyota right into their parking lot, lock the doors, and head inside. What really impresses me–probably on par with the food–are the people who work there. I don’t know how they managed to hire the best wait staff, but wowee, they’re so down-to-earth! You know how you go to Prospect or Coi or any of those 4-dollar sign restaurants that I never really go to, and the servers are so robotically sweet you have a sense that they’re either being watched or have a metal rod up their ass? At Commonwealth, you feel like you’re shooting the shit with long lost friends.

Don’t worry about not having a reservation. We were there on a Thursday night at 7:30pm and there was plenty of open seating at the bar. And the atmosphere throughout the restaurant is cozy.

Since I’m manic and have had the blues, I thought we’d go for the chef’s tasting menu. I love tasting menus. You are regaled with all these appetizer-sized plates that you’d get all the time if it weren’t so damn expensive. Normal tasting menus in the city go for $120-125. Commonwealth? $65. That’s right, people. Half the price of most other restaurants. We added the wine pairing for an additional $30. Does not get any better than that. Oh wait, it does. $10 from the sale of each tasting menu is given to a local charity.

Here’s what we had:

ocean trout tartare, beets, frozen horseradish // Nobles Ranch Sonoma Coast pinot noir rose

radishes in various forms, goat’s milk butter, sunflower seeds / / Xavier Frissant Loire Valley sauvignon rose

asparagus custard, abalone, mushroom, chorizo, jalapeno // Charles Bove Vouvray chenin blanc

lamb sweetbreads, fava beans, daikon, mustard caviar // Luciano Landi Marche lacrima di morro d’alba

apricot sorbet, honey – lime soda

peanut butter semifreddo, chocolate ganache, frozen popcorn // Quinta de la Rosa Douro, Portugal tawny port

Filed Under: Posts // Tagged: appetizers, charity, chef's tasting menu, coi, commonwealth, mission, prospect, restaurant review, san francisco, tasting menu, wine pairing