■ LOCALS ■ PHOTOGRAPHY Snow Place Like Home For his new fi lm, director Phil Kaufman SF fi nds a key location in the neighborhood Arthur Tress’s early eye PAGE 3 PAGE 12 THE NEW FILLMORE SANSAN FRANCISCO FRANCISCO ■ ■ APRIL MAY 2012 2010 A Designer’s Touch Defi nes Local Eateries Bun Mee, Roostertail visuals all shaped by the same creative team By Chris Barnett an Francisco graphic designer Chris- topher Simmons has a long list of pow- erhouse clients including Facebook, SMicrosoft, Wells Fargo Bank, Stanford, Kaiser Permanente and the Nature Conservancy. So why in an uncertain economy would he take a fl yer on two Fillmore startups that sell Viet- namese sandwiches and rotisserie chickens? For Simmons, owner of the design fi rm mine, it was a matter of pride — and guilt. “I got an e-mail from Denise Tran, who was planning to open Bun Mee, a small restaurant specializing in casual yet upscale Vietnam- ese street food, but I didn’t respond for six ■ INSIDE or seven days,” Sim- Two new restaurants mons admits. When open, more coming he did call, Tran told PAGE 7 him she had decided to go with a New York A culinary tour City creative house. of Japantown Simmons, a soft- PAGE 8 spoken 39-year-old who favors vintage tennis shoes and wears only scruff y duds made before 1970, says he “always wanted to do a restaurant.” He had a good feel- ing about Tran and her concept and off ered to do a full-blown proposal in two days. Tran recalls it somewhat diff erently. “I had committed to the other fi rm, but Christopher END ERA called and persuaded me to reconsider. His of an pitch was so much stronger that I hired him instead.” After fi ve years in practice as a corporate attorney in Seattle, Tran wanted to escape the After four decades, Mrs. Dewson’s Hats closes billable hours and do something enjoyable. Two years of on-the-road research convinced her that an informal eatery built around a gourmet By Thomas Reynolds “It’s a sad day,” said Glenn Mitchell, nephew of version of the humble banh mi sandwich (pro- owner Ruth Garland Dewson. “We’ve been fi ghting nounced “bun mee”), plus other traditional and or the first time in almost four decades, it off for a while.” Mitchell has been overseeing the modern Vietnamese dishes, mostly based on Mrs. Dewson’s Hats at 2050 Fillmore Street shop since his aunt checked herself into an assisted her mother’s home recipes, was her ticket out. She was right. Bun Mee opened in April wasn’t open in the days leading up to Easter, living facility two years ago. 2011 at 2015 Fillmore for lunch and dinner. A Fwhich is typically prime time for hat buyers. “I’ve been crying ever since I heard,” Ruth Dewson year later, lines of clamoring customers often A few days later a sign went up in the window said the next day, sitting in a wheelchair in the top- spill down the sidewalk. telling the news: After 37 years, Mrs. Dewson’s Hats fl oor lounge at AgeSong, her new home in Hayes But before the success hit, Tran was dealing with two design consultancies to get a single was closing. And on Sunday afternoon, April 29, the Valley. “I’ve had a good time on Fillmore Street and seamless visual theme. Simmons’ laundry list of last hats were sold, the fi nal goodbyes said and the I don’t want to give it up. Why should I die when all visual suggestions and clever touches, assembled doors closed on a prime piece of Fillmore history. these other assholes are still alive?” in just two days, brought the concept to life. TO PAGE 6 X TO PAGE 10 X LETTERS FILM PREMIERE Hemingway comes to the Swedenborgian Legendary fi lmmaker Philip Kaufman — director of The Right Stuff, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and many others — has lived in Pacifi c Heights for years. On May 28 his latest fi lm premieres when HBO broadcasts Hemingway & Gellhorn, starring Nicole Kidman and Clive Owen. It’s a love story exploring the tempes- tuous relationship between writers Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, which Scenes from was the inspiration for Hemingway’s classic director Phil novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls. The fi lm Kaufman’s latest was shot entirely in the Bay Area, with fi lm were shot key scenes fi lmed at the Swedenborgian in the neigh- Church at Washington and Lyon Streets, borhood at the only a few blocks from Kaufman’s home. Swedenborgian “One scene takes place in a church Church. Below in Finland that had been converted for right, the direc- Chase has opened a new branch bank in the neighborhood at 2429 California Street. wartime use,” says Kaufman. “We were tor with actors looking for something — maybe not Nicole Kidman Finnish, but with that approximate feeling. and Clive Owen. And of course I’d been to weddings there.” Incorporating archival black and white footage of Finnish soldiers, Kaufman Why So Many Corporate Logos? recreates the scene with snow and icicles on the historic church. “Then the color to the editors: But then this is the same JP Morgan comes back into it,” he says, “and we fi nd How does JP Morgan Chase & Co. get Chase that admitted to Congress earlier Nicole writing letters to Hemingway — away with plastering its name and logo this year that it purposely and illegally tar- actually taken from the real letters.” eight — count ’em eight — times on the geted and overcharged 4,500 military men Another scene was shot in the wooden exterior facade and interior ATM lobby and women fi ghting for their country stairway of the church’s parish house, of its new branch on California Street overseas with higher mortgage rates — standing in for the small British hotel where Gellhorn and Hemingway had their fi nal between Fillmore and Mollie Stone’s? It’s that harassed and threatened the soldiers’ rendezvous. garish and visually off ensive. spouses and families at home round the “It’s where they break up their relation- You expect to see that kind of fl agrant clock and foreclosed on 18 of their houses ship,” says Kaufman. “It’s their fi nal scene self promotion in L.A. strip malls or before the bank was caught. together.” Orange County shopping centers, where Invading the Fillmore with a new During the fi lming, Kaufman walked design standards and good taste are virtu- branch festooned with supersized versions home to Vallejo Street for lunch, then back to work at the church. ally nonexistent. But not in our little Fill- of the corporate name only reminds me “We can make fi lms here and use local more village, where most businesses have of that ripoff and other home mortgage people, yet create a fi lm that could be made the good sense to use a little architectural messes J.P. Morgan and other big banks anywhere in the world,” Kaufman says. “It’s restraint — or maybe it’s the city’s legal tried to get away with at their customers’ great. It’s just great working here.” constraints — to preserve some of our expense — and in many cases did. CHARLOTTE KARP OF HBO PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY neighborhood’s charm. Erik Cutler Th e Pleasures of the Neighborhood presents an evening to benefi t Women’s Health to the editors: tions on 30 years in busi- I applaud you for ness), the Film Festival and your celebratory and the ever-fascinating Crime joyful and wonderfully Watch assuring us that most creative April issue. On crime happens elsewhere. every page you rejoice Best of all, it is optimis- in everything that is best tic, lively and informative, about the Fillmore Dis- and all very positive. It is a trict and Pacifi c Heights. pleasure to be your neigh- You highlight the creative bor. and brilliant people who Oh, and do come and live here. explore the Upper Fillmore Th e cover images show as well. We are fortunate to Join us at the Jewish happy guests enjoying have the great Juicy News, Community Center an informal feast at the the new Curve, Erica of San Francisco Boulangerie. You have the Tanov, Margaret O’Leary, Thursday May 10, 6:00 –9:30pm Tallman Hotel, designed by my fabulous the admirable Mayfl ower Market and so friend Candra Scott. Th ere are baby hawks, many fresh and chic shops. new shops, Vitamin Express (congratula- Diane Dorrans Saeks Featuring ‘Best of the Bay’ comedian Ali Wong THE NEW FILLMORE Handcrafted Since 1926 newfi llmore.com Skilled craftsmen hand make DUX® Beds today just as 2130 Fillmore Street #202 ■ San Francisco, CA 94115 ■ 415.441.6070 carefully as our artisans did in 1926. They use the fi nest editors@newfi llmore.com materials: hardy pine from our Northern forests, thousands of strong Swedish steel springs, high thread count cotton Editors | Barbara Kate Repa & Thomas R. Reynolds Production | Ginny Lindsay Proofreader | Donna Gillespie and latex harvested from the rubber tree. Our craftsmen Marketing Manager | Alison Short fashion The DUX Bed by hand during weeks of intense eff ort. They are committed to the craft of quality, and Advertising inquiries ads@newfi llmore.com or 415.441.6070 that’s why a DUX Bed can last for generations. Published on the fi rst weekend of each month. Deadline: 20th of prior month Subscriptions by mail are available for $30 per year. Please send a check.