The Blog
Going Down Easy, Mint Slope
Photo by Sarah Han
Tuesday night, hundreds of us gathered to tip a glass, have a nibble and browse some wonderful shops in celebration of an often overlooked nook of Market Street between Octavia and Guerrero we've loving titled "Mint Slope."
During their microhood stroll, Mint Slopers devoured tasty tacos and Trumer Pilsner to the beat of Triple Crown's resident DJs. Get Lost Travel Books and Gear's complimentary beer and Three Twins Mint ice cream inspired visitors to invest in dreams of international exploration. On the sidewalk nearby, Mali Num Num Treats served up amazing Filipino dishes, while the aroma of Gorilla Pete's mouthwatering hot dogs and sausages kept a steady stream of hungry happy hour types to his cart.
Pisco Latin Lounge and Destino next door were both packed with folks enjoying the great atmosphere and distinctive tapas and cocktails that highlight both spots' unique flavorful charm. Across the alleyway, Metamorphosis Salon displayed their beauty-making talents with cheap bang trims and free styling consultations. Nomad Body Piercing dared visitors to make a personal statement by poking a few holes, ensuring for those brave souls, this microhood would indeed be an unforgettable affair.
Beautifully curated art and design shop, Rare Device's prepared a beautiful spread of treats and wine to compliment their inspired assortment of books, original artwork and housewares, all offered with a healthy discount. Exceptional discounts were also the order of the day at Al's Comics and the vinyl-centric record store, Grooves. And lovingly handcrafted cocktails, Hog Island Oysters and live jazz from the Joe Callum Trio at The Orbit Room rewarded all those who made it to the top-end of Mint Slope.
Thanks to the merchants and all who attended The Bold Italic's party for one of our favorite stretches of Market Street - a perfect way to spend a late July evening. Make sure to sign up for our email newsletter to find out about The Bold Italic's next microhood event.
Basement Bootleg: The Secret's Out
Thanks to everyone who helped sell out July 15th’s Basement Bootleg soiree, our underground speakeasy held in an undisclosed Mission location. Revelers were dressed in their swankiest outfits — fedoras, feather boas, suits, flapper gowns, the whole nine yards — and they dined on delicious food from local merchants. We had mouth-watering arepas from Pica Pica Maize Kitchen, delectable sausages and meatballs from Aidells, inventive spreads from Slow Jams and mmm butter!, hearty homemade bread from Sour Flour, and sweet cupcakes from Mission Minis. Of course, there was plenty of booze on hand too. No one went home thirsty with a special assortment of small-batch wines from Forlorn Hope, a keg of Blue Bell Bitter from Magnolia Brewery, and cocktails from Bulliet Burbon.
We ate, we drank, and we learned a little something — thanks to David Katznelson of the San Francisco Appreciation Society, who gave a brief history of local speakeasies — and then we danced. Seth Augustus’ trio gave a spirited performance of haunting urban blues.
It’s important to support underground culture in San Francisco — and we found it’s even more fun to do so while partying deep below street level.
Merchants! Make An Offer On The Bold Italic For Free
The Bold Italic is an experiment in local discovery with the mission of making our readers better locals and showcasing the best local merchants and organizations. With over a hundred thousand visitors to the site since our launch, The Bold Italic represents an incredible opportunity to make an impression with San Francisco's most active social conveners.
Merchants can make offers on The Bold Italic - creating a special giveaway, promotion or discount to catch readers’ attention - that will appear on the homepage, our Offers page, the merchant's profile page, and on the stories the business is mentioned in. Try posting an offer - normally valued at $25, your first one is on us!
If you're a business with a profile on The Bold Italic, find and click "Is This Your Business" on the page to access your Merchant Dashboard, where you can take advantage of The Bold Italic's extensive menu of offerings, all designed to align your passion points with those of our readers. You'll be able to easily customize your profile, promote your upcoming events on our events calendar, and feature products you offer, all for free.
Merchants on The Bold Italic are connecting directly with the people that want to engage with the city’s most unique merchants. If your business is not yet on The Bold Italic, drop chris@thebolditalic.com a line and we'll get you started.
"A Field Guide To Bears" Poster Available Now
Now you can purchase a poster for "A Field Guide To Bears: Your Guide to the Wild Life of San Francisco." Built from the graphics for one of our most popular recent stories, "Grizzly Man," this original poster was designed by Volume Inc. for The Bold Italic. The poster is 22.5 inches tall and 15 inches wide and is only $18 plus shipping and handling.
Purchase "A Field Guide To Bears"
Needles & Pens wins our Merchant Contest
We are pleased to announce our winning merchant... Needles & Pens – a self-described "emporium of zines, d.i.y. goods, and an art gallery. Located in the Mission district, the space aims to provide an affordable place where like minded people from the community can display and sell their own home-made goods, home-published zines, and art work. The items we stock are predominately recycled, silk screened, cut-up, re-sewn, photocopied, hand-made, and hand-published."
Congratulations to Amal Murgian, who is the winner of the Apple iPad!
Thanks to all of the amazing San Francisco merchants and readers for participating in our contest. Watch for future contests and giveaways!
24 Hours at 6th and Market
Troy Holden/Caliber SF
If you were downtown on Saturday, you may have seen our 6th and Market project going down in the flesh. Sixteen contributors, including several Bold Locals and members of Spot.us , SF Public Press , KALW , and Caliber SF , spent 24 hours at the intersection. We sent our writers (and photographer) to cover all they saw and experienced, from the gritty to the tasty, and everything in between. Highlights include running into the Hell's Angels at Market Street Cinema, spending an afternoon with a family that lives right at the intersection, walking the beat with area cops, and braving a night in an SRO. To top it off, Insane Clown Posse played the Warfield that night, so as you can imagine, madness ensued.
A few Bold Locals tweeted about their experiences in real time. Robin Sloan even thanked us for our up-to-the-minute Juggalo coverage. If you missed it, check out #6thandMarket on Twitter.
On Thursday, June 10, KALW will be running an audio preview of 24 Hours at 6th and Market on Crosscurrents. The segment, which includes Sam Harnett reporting on his 6-8 a.m. beat at a 6th Street liquor store, will air around 5 p.m., so don't forget to tune in!
24 Hours at 6th and Market will run in its entirety on The Bold Italic on June 15 and 16.
Nice to Meet You, FolSoMa
Photography by Phillip Maisel
Last night, over 500 people came to check out the newly dubbed "FolSoMa" microhood (all in fun) on Folsom between 7th and 8th for some good, old fashioned revelry.
Guests got to preview Radius' and Sightglass' new, yet-to-open, larger spaces. Friends grouped together 'round tables of glistening oysters and farm fresh greens at Radius, sipping on local wines. Coffee connoisseurs could be found around the corner at Sightglass' gorgeously wood-worked digs, sipping the drip, cracking sugar topped wonders from the Creme Brulee Cart, and sampling Hooker's sea salted chocolates.
There were more street carts right down the way at City Beer Store, where meyer lemon ricotta savory treats from Bike Basket Pies and Adobo Hobo creations were lovingly paired with seasonal brews inside and $5 flights. Fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies and mini cupcakes were free for the taking at popular Pinkies Bakery.
Bloodhound was packed with people swilling Bulleit bourbon artisanal cocktails, and Old Speckled Hen brews in mason jars went down easy, too – especially after a few rousing games of Big Buck Hunter. Triptych was bumping as well as folks tracked down the free Firestone ale, live painting, and DJ beats. Some guerilla performances by Hubba Hubba Revue were even spotted.
And the fun never stopped at GAMA-GO's 15% off sale, where everyone stocked up on silly tees, cassette tape measures, and cupcake keys, and Firestone beers disappeared at a rapid rate.
Good times were had by all. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter to hear about our next microhood event!
Win an iPad from The Bold Italic… and support your favorite local merchant!
The Bold Italic loves local merchants and we know you do too. To prove our point, we're launching a contest next week where your favorite local business can win $3,000 and you can win that iPad you’ve been drooling over. For most local independent businesses, $3,000 would make a huge difference – it could help them create a new product, make a long overdue upgrade, or even pay the rent.
To enter, all you have to do is add your favorite local merchant to your Clipbook (here’s how) between May 26 and June 9. The business with the highest number of adds by the end of the day on June 9th will get a gift from The Bold Italic in the form a $2,500 American Express gift card and $500 credit to promote their business on our site. And of course, you'll get your iPad.
UPDATE: We have extended the dates of this contest through the end of this week. You now have until midnight June 11 to enter!
You just have to be able to pick it up in person at the winning merchant’s address to be eligible to enter. It’s pretty simple – add your favorite local merchant to your Clipbook and be entered to win an iPad. We thought it sounded pretty good too.
To find your favorite local merchant on our site, use the search field in the bottom right corner of the home page or browse around our stories. Not there? Email chris@thebolditalic.com and we'll create a page for them on the site. If you are a San Francisco merchant, please get in touch! We can create a profile page for your business (if you don't already have one), provide contest language for your email, Twitter, or Facebook updates, and give you other tips to help activate your customers in the hopes of winning the merchant prize.
"From Hipsters to Hippies" Poster Available Now
Now you can purchase our very first poster, "From Hipsters to Hippies: A Cautionary Tale in 6 Steps." Built from the graphics for one of our most popular recent stories, "Keep Off the Grass: The Rise and Fall of Hippie Hill" this original poster was designed by Volume Inc. for The Bold Italic. The poster is 22.5 inches tall and 15 inches wide and is only $18 plus shipping and handling.
Purchase "From Hipsters to Hippies"
Musing Upon the Future of Media
Our fearless leader Michael Maness joined other pillars of the SF
media scene in a Commonwealth Club panel a couple weeks ago called "If
Not the Chronicle, Then What?" His panel-mates were Jeff Hunt from Muni Diaries, Brock Keeling of SFist.com. Robin Sloan, who works for Twitter and does a lot of other things, moderated. Watch and ponder:
http://bit.ly/sfmediayoutube
Here's the podcast, too: http://www.commonwealthclub.org/broadcast/podcast.php
The talk was part of this series called INFORUM. In their words, it's:
"a division of The Commonwealth Club by and for people in their 20s and 30s, with a mission to inspire debate around civic issues."
Nudge, Nudge: Check Out Our New Nudgebox Feature
There it is, on the left side of your screen. We mean this:
We hope dozens of excursion-inspiring ideas will spring forth from this humble, icon-encrusted tab.
The Nudgebox is here to “nudge” you about things you already kinda knew you wanted to do. Things going on at places you already love or you've been dying to try. You just needed someone to remind you it was happening.
How'd we come up with this, you ask?
By talking with dozens of people in our research. For example, we talked with someone who we’ll call Bob, since Bob is a name people use when they’re naming a generic person even though a considerable number of perfectly unique people are really named Bob. Anyway.
Bob
So Bob often patronizes a great little Mexican spot named Puerto Alegre in the Mission. He favors the place for its cheap margaritas.
In the back of Bob’s mind is a wine bar down the street named Parea. It piques his interest, but he hasn’t been there. It’s a bit out of his price range.
The Nudgebox is for Bob. It’s there to tell him about, say, an event at Puerto Alegre, a place he already loves. And it’s there to tell him about a twofer deal at Parea, a place he’s wanted to try but hasn’t yet had the occasion. (That is, by the way, why we call our discounts The Excuse. It’s an excuse to head out to places like this).
What's Going to Happen
When you’re reading a story, you might see a few little ideas slide out of the Nudgebox for your perusal. They’re usually events, and sometimes they’re super mega discounts. They look like this:
The Nudgebox will try its best to show you only things you’ll probably like.
If you’ve added local places to your Clipbook (using the blue plus signs you see next to places’ names throughout the site), that’ll help you. We use the places you've collected to make your nudges better.
So let’s say you’ve added Paxton Gate to your Clipbook, and Paxton Gate plans to throw an event. Then we’ll show you their event as an idea in your Nudgebox.
For now, only Bold Italic members will see anything slide out. But anyone can click the big white plus-sign (or big white number, which indicates how many nudges are available) to see what the Nudgebox holds.
You’ll also notice some other changes here and there. We tweaked the layout of the homepage, for example.
So take the Nudgebox for a ride. Tell us exactly what you think in our feedback discussion. Enjoy!
Rewarding Times at TBI: Honors from the Webbies + SF Weekly
The
Webbies
recently noticed our internet fanciness and gave us an honoree nod in the "Magazine"
category.
Hats off to our aesthetically-gifted co-conspirators at IDEO, as well, for all that is
good-looking about The Bold Italic!
The Webby's website offers this by way of ego fuel: "Of the over 8000 entries submitted to the 14th Annual Webby Awards, fewer than 15% were distinguished as an Official Honoree." Stroke, stroke.
Speaking of aesthetics, we got an award for that, too, from SF Weekly's Revenge of the Nerds awards.
We're very excited about both of these, and we reach around to pat ourselves delightedly on the back. (We're stopping short, though, of snorting coke off our prize, like this dude).
We have a story with your name on it. Yeah, literally.
How did we know you were brilliant?
We don't know. We just knew.
So we made a feature called Ideas,
where you can tell us what you're
curious about.
Then, if your idea proves popular (or if we develop an arbitrary fondness for it) we just might make it happen. If we do, we'll credit you with the idea.
That's right. There's glory in it for you.
Behold those that have gone before you: You'll see Richard Tomayo 's name at the bottom of Home Theater , a story about rooftop squatters. surfysurfy inspired us to play dodgeball in Home Base . And we headed to Japantown in Last Manju Standing at the suggestion of DavidW .
To share an idea,
click "Suggest a Backstory"
at the bottom of the Ideas section on the
homepage, or on the
Ideas page
.
You get 140 characters (because that's the longest anyone can write anything these days) to type your grand idea for a story.
Your idea
appears on the homepage
to receive the lavish praise of the
entire world.
People can vote for your idea, and our producers keep an eye on Ideas every day.
If we pursue your idea
, you'll see the big, grey text change to "We're on it." Then you brace yourself, mentally, for a phenomenal story.
When the story's published, we'll label it "Done" and
credit you for inspiring the story
. And we'll notify you and your idea's supporters by email. Now you're big time Internet Famous.
Let's say you're shy on the Internet. (We can't see why. We seriously had no idea you were a dog). No matter. You can always jump in by voting for the ideas of others . We'll email you if we published a story you endorsed.
Or, you can merely follow a story's progress by clicking "Nudge Me." That way, you'll get an email notification when the story is published, too.
We hope you have fun with Ideas. Soon you'll see the names of bright thinkers, such as yourself, in the credits at the bottom of many of our stories.
Let us know what you think by clicking the tab at the top right of your screen that says "Feedback." Enjoy!
Nice to Meet You, Mr. Microhood
On March 4th, we hosted our first "microhood" event, spotlighting the
unique shops that have popped up on 20th and 21st streets between
Mission and Valencia in the last year –
The Mission Mid 20s. Over 400
people came out! At almost 20% off in each store, the evening was a
steal.
Over at Bianca Starr, ladies sipped prosecco and popped in and out of
the dressing room, trying on luxurious vintage numbers.
Folks over at Her Majesty's Secret Beekeeper were all a-buzz over the
homemade honey soaked bread and mead pours, all while contemplating a
new hobby – urban beekeeping.
Mission: Comics & Art was poppin' while guests checked out the
exhibit, mingled with the artist, and downed a brew or two from
Firestone Brewery. The good stuff was also flowing freely over at
Gravel & Gold, where people fawned over gorgeous hand made leather
moccasins and other items made with love by our Nor Cal brethren.
The eats weren't too shabby either. Rodger's Coffee
& Tea was giving out free (yes, free!) Straus Family Creamery ice
cream cones. Stack's Coop's fried chicken sandwiches rivaled Bakesale
Betty's. Street eats from Spotted Rooster, Banh Mai, Sweet Confections,
and Gobba Gobba Hey kept everyone full and happy.
Congratulations to the winners of our raffle –
Sarah, Carey, Carla and Anthony! We hope you think of The Bold Italic
fondly during beekeeping class or while reading
Little Nemo in Slumberland
on the toilet.
Rejoice: a deal is born!
You can look forward to the most valuable insider deals here on The Excuse. Check back early, check back often!
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