The best weeks begin with a holiday Monday. This Columbus Day, see Sting at the Masonic and get your ice cream scoops topped with chocolate-covered critters as Salt & Straw rolls out its Halloween flavors.
The rest of the week guarantees your culture fix as Litquake and TedX San Francisco return and Treasure Island Music Festival plays a new Oakland venue. Plus, beloved former Locanda chef Anthony Strong is back with a new restaurant, and the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival announces that it's officially decorative gourd season mofos!
Monday, Oct. 8th
Spooky Scoops + More
When: 11am to 11pm
Where: Salt & Straw, 1309 Burlingame Ave (Burlingame), saltandstraw.com
Why: Salt & Straw has two exciting updates: One, they've just expanded to include a Burlingame location; and two, they're launching new Halloween flavors! Dig into scary scoops including Mummy's Pumpkin Spiced Potion, Creepy Crawly Critters (matcha ice cream with dark chocolate covered crickets and coconut toffee brittle mealworms from Don Bugito), and The Great Candycopia (salted butterscotch ice cream packed with essentials: homemade Snickers, Twix, Heath Bars, and peanut butter cups). The new flavors are available at all Salt & Straw locations and via Postmates.
Egyptian Style Belly Dance Class
When: 6pm
Where: Alonzo King Lines Ballet, 26 7th St. (SoMa)
Why: Confess: You've secretly always longed to belly dance. Now is the time to learn with lessons from a Lines Ballet pro. // Reservations ($15/single class) can be made through linesballet.org/dance-center.
Haruki Murakami New Book Release Party
When: 9pm to 12:30am
Where: Green Apple Books, 506 Clement St., greenapplebooks.com
Why: Because you've been eagerly awaiting Murakami's latest work, Killing Commendatore, a novel about the mysterious journey of a Japanese painter. Green Apple calls it "a tour de force of love and loneliness, war and art—as well as a loving homage to The Great Gatsby."
Sting & Shaggy - The 44/876 Tour
When: 8pm
Where: The Masonic, 1111 California St. (Nob Hill), sfmasonic.com
Why: Because Sting. And Shaggy. Hello. // Tickets ($98 and up) are available at concerts1.livenation.com.
Tuesday, Oct. 9th
TEDxSanFrancisco: Dare To Know
When: 9am to 9pm
Where: Herbst Theatre, 401 Van Ness Ave. (Civic Center)
Why: Get smarter with a full day of talks with luminaries from the fields of tech, science, medicine, journalism, design, and even magic at this annual nerdfest. Stay for the afterparty to have drinks with the speakers. // Tickets ($199-$299 are available at eventbrite.com.
Rock & Roll's Original Cover Art Exhibition
When: Ongoing, through Oct. 31st
Where: SF Art Exchange (458 Geary St.),
Why: Art of the Album Cover features $25 million worth of rock and roll cover art, with works that graced such famous albums as The Dark Side of the Moon, Abbey Road, and Imagine. Music and photography fans alike will dig pieces by Jim Marshall, Robert Freeman, Brian Duffy, Barry Feinstein, Terry Oneil, Joel Brodsky, Iain Macmillan, Gered Mankowitz, Bob Seidemann, Peter Webb, Rowland Scherman, Jerry Schatzberg, Storm Thorgerson and Ethan Russell. // 10am to 6pm, sfae.com
Rosemary's Baby + Unsane
When: 7pm (Rosemary's Baby), 9:30pm (Unsane)
Where: Castro Theatre (Castro)
Why: You've seen it a hundred times and you'll see it a hundred more. Tag team your annual Rosemary's Baby pilgrimage to the Castro with a double feature including a screening of Steven Soderbergh's Unsane, starring the real queen, Claire Foy. // Tickets ($13) are available at the door.
Wednesday, Oct. 10th
Bardo Lounge Opens In Oakland
When: 5:30pm to 10pm dinner Wednesday through Monday and until 9pm Sundays; lounge 5pm to 2am
Where: Bardo Lounge & Supper Club, 3343 Lakeshore Ave. (Oakland), bardooakland.com
Why: The Town's beloved Michel Bistro has been overhauled with 60s living-room style and rebranded as Bardo Lounge & Supper Club, but keeps the same Michelin Bib Gourmand chefs to serve up delicious American dinner party eats—think sea urchin fondue and next-level green bean casserole.
The Terror Vault
When: Every half hour from 6:30pm to 10pm nightly, through Nov. 3rd
Where: The San Francisco Mint, 88 5th St. (SoMa), intothedarksf.com
October means one thing—time to scare your pants off. Terror Vault is taking over the SF Mint for one hell of a haunted house with terrifying characters, mazes, and escape rooms. Need some liquid courage? Grab a cocktails from the pop-up bar inside. // Admission is 21+; tickets ($60) are available on eventbrite.com.
Thursday, Oct. 11th
Fauxnique (pictured) and partner Marc Kate debut Girl, at Joe Goode Annex tonight.
(RJ Muna)
Litquake Gets Shakin'
When: Through October 11th
Where: Locations citywide
Get pumped for the annual 10-day festival of the written word that's long on workshops, readings, shows, tours, and films. Some events require tickets, but several of them are free. Check out the schedule online and refer to this column this week and next for our best daily picks. // The Hobnob: Litquake Festival Opening Night is tonight at 8pm at University Club, 800 Powell St. (Nob Hill); tickets ($25) are available at litquake.org.
Cuyana Fall Collection Party
When: 5:30 to 8pm
Where: Cuyana 291 Geary St. (Union Square), cuyana.com
Why: Because you never even realized Cuyana didn't sell pants. Celebrate the less-is-more fashion label's launch of their first legging, plus the new fall collection, at a cozy event, with mini beauty sessions from GlamSquad, in their showroom overlooking Union Square. // For more info, go to facebook.com/events.
Artist Talk With Wayne Thiebaud
When: 7pm
Where: SFMOMA, 151 Third St. (SoMa)
Why: You loves cakes, and you love art, so naturally you adore Wayne Thiebaud, the pop-ish artist beloved for his renderings of sweet things, lipsticks, and more. SFMOMA Curator of Painting and Sculpture Janet Bishop hosts a convo with the artist about the museum's recently opened exhibitions featuring 50 years of Thiebaud's work alongside paintings by other artists that he personally selected from SFMOMA's collection. // Rush tickets may be available 30 minutes prior to the lecture on a first-come, first-served basis. Limited overflow seating will be available on Floor 2 in the Koret Education Center.
Fauxnique & Marc Kate in Girl
When: 8pm, October 11-13 & 18-20
Where: Joe Goode Annex, 401 Alabama St. (Mission)
Why: Wigs! Horror! Electronica! And Fauxnique!—our favorite real-girl drag diva. This time, she's teaming up with her longtime partner, electronic music composer Marc Kate, for a spoken-word-slash-musical-slash-dance performance that conjures the narrative of the classic scream queen—the last girl standing in the horror flick, if you will. // Tickets ($25-$35) can be purchased joegoode.org/box-office.
Friday, Oct. 12th
The Picture Is a Word: The Posters of Rex Ray
Where: GLBT History Museum, 4127 18th St. (Mission), glbthistory.org
Why: Artist Rex Ray (RIP) was well loved for his colorful, abstract swirls. This new exhibit, however, focuses on the late queer artist's designs for Bay Area music posters and LGBTQ book covers from the 1990s to the 2010s. // Opening reception is from 7 to 9pm tonight; tickets ($5) are available at eventbrite.com; exhibition runs through Feb. 3, 2019.
Chef Anthony Strong's Big Return
When: Dinner Tuesday through Sunday
Where: Prairie, 3431 19th St. (Mission), prairiesf.com
Why: For over a decade, chef Anthony Strong made mouths water at Delfina and Locanda. Lately, he's been working to transform the old Hog & Rocks space into Prairie, a spunky Italian restaurant with some quirky twists. Expect hearty fare with unusual ingredients (think mochi and Korean rice cakes) and interiors that feature a gold Madonna statue, graffiti by local artist Apexer, and an Elon Musk "Not-A-Flamethrower." Curious yet?
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Live!
When: 7-9pm
Where: SF Oasis, 298 11th St. (SoMa), sfoasis.com
Why: "Into every generation a slayer is born: one drag queen in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill and the perfect shade of lip gloss to fight the vampires, demons, and the shady queens of darkness. She is the Slayer." // Tickets ($28-$50) at nvite.com.
Jonathan Keats on Art, Books, and the Future
When: 7-8:30pm
Where: Modernism, 724 Ellis St. (Tenderloin), modernisminc.com
Why: The New Yorker calls Keats "a poet of ideas." See the futurist author of You Belong to the Universe: Buckminster Fuller and the Future, Forged: Why Fakes are the Great Art of Our Age, and Virtual Words: Language on the Edge of Science and Technology in conversation with The Long Now Foundation's Michael McElligott. // Free; for more info, go to litquake.org.
Saturday, Oct. 13th
Learn All About Cheese
When: 8am to 5:30pm, Saturday through Monday
Where: The Cheese School of San Francisco, 900 North Point St. (Ghirardelli Square), thecheeseschool.com
Why: Living the good life requires plenty fromage, so check out The Cheese School's three-day boot camp to beef up your cheesemonger knowledge. Market Hall Foods GM Juliana Uruburu will show you the ropes. // Tickets ($1,200) are available on thecheeseschool.com.
La Cocina Street Food Festival
When: 11am to 7pm
Where: The Power Station, 420 23rd Street (Dogpatch), potreropowerstation.com
Join our favorite local food incubator for a festival of tasty street food. Look for your favorites, including Nyum Bai, Reem's California, Bini's Kitchen, and more. // Pre-sale tickets ($6) can be purchased on Eventbrite or at the door ($10).
Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival
When: 9am to 5pm, Saturday and Sunday
Where: Main Street (Half Moon Bay), pumpkinfest.miramarevents.com
It's decorative gourd season, mofos! Celebrate autumn a the Bay Area's most popular fall fest with a giant pumpkin competition, parade, live music, food, pie eating contests, and, of course, a gorgeous pumpkin patch to pick your favorite gourds. Go early since traffic to HMB can get a bit insane. Admission is free.
Treasure Island Music Festival
When: Noon to 10pm, Saturday and Sunday
Where: Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, Middle Harbor Road (Oakland), portofoakland.com
After a quick hiatus, TIMF is back with a new location on the Oakland shoreline. Attractions include DIY craft tents, art installations, local breweries, and festival food. Headliners for this two-day fest include A$AP Rocky, Tame Impala, Silk City, Santigold, Lord Huron, and Courtney Barnett. // Tickets ($105-335) are available treasureislandfestival.com.
"A Night in Jerez"
When: 6pm to 9pm
Where: Neyborly Poet's Corner, 2043 San Pablo Ave. (Berkeley), lamarchatapasbar.com
La Marcha Tapas Bar is hosting its second "A Night in Jerez" tasting dinner where you can sample 11 sherries and learn sherry 101 from the experts while enjoying Spanish tapas, paella, and flamenco dancing. // Tickets ($70-$90) are available on eventbrite.com.
See the Real Black Klansman
When: 7pm to 10pm
Where: Alamo Drafthouse, 2550 Mission St. (Mission)
Why: The plot of Spike Lee's latest joint, BlacKkKlansman may seem to amazingly unreal to be true, and yet Ron Stallworth—the black cop who infiltrated the KKK in Colorado back in the '70s—is the real deal. He's also appearing live at Litquake tonight, in conversation with poet Michael Warr about his memoir, Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime. // Tickets ($30) are available at drafthouse.com; for more info, litquake2018.sched.com.
Sunday, Oct. 14th
Oakland Print Fair
When: 11am to 5pm
Where: FLAX Art & Design, 1501 Martin Luther King Jr, Way (Oakland)
Why: Last chance to catch the Oakland Print Fair, and outdoor bazaar showcasing local and national print-makers, zines, and more, plus music, eats and drinks. // For more info, go to facebook.com.
New Murals at Clarion Alley
When: 2-5pm
Where: Clarion Alley, between 17th & 18th Street, Mission and Valencia (Mission)
Why: Heads up, street art fanatics. Today brings the dedication of three new murals calling for solidarity with Palestine at the Mission's graffiti central. Swing by to see the new works as well as live poetry, speakers, dance, and more. // For more info, go to facebook.com.
CUESA's Sunday Supper
When: 5-10pm
Where: San Francisco Ferry Building (Embarcadero)
Why: At A Farm to City Feast, four bomb delicious courses will be prepared by countless A-list chefs—think Brandon Jew (Mister Jiu's), Reem Assil (Dyafa), Mourad Lahlou (Mourad), Traci Des Jardins (Jardiniere), Ken Tominaga (Pabu), Charles Phan (The Slanted Door), and more—for a fundraiser dinner to support CUESA's educational programs. Stuff your face, throw back some wine, and bid your ass off in the live and silent auctions. // Tickets ($300) are available at eventbrite.com.
Bay Area Pun-Off
When: 7pm to 10pm
Where: Make Out Room, 3225 22nd St. (Mission)
Why: What began in an Oakland living room has now sold out more than 30 shows in the Bay Area. If you can't resist "the world's most-loathed form of humor," the Pun-Off is for you. Bring your best wordplay game for a chance to win a one-of-kind trophy. // Advance tickets ($12) are available at flipcause.com; $15 tickets at the door. For more info, go to litquake2018.sched.com.
Rupi Kaur: America Tour
When: 8pm
Where: The Masonic, 1111 California St. (Nob Hill)
Why: You already follow her on Instagram. Now, see Rupi Kaur, the artist, poet, musician beauty whose Spring 2018 world tour sold out. You'll never see another performance like this. // Tickets ($55 and up) at concerts1.livenation.com.
