San Francisco, CA
Sam Smith’s San Francisco Residency Charts New Course for the Castro
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Sam Smith has kicked off his residency at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco, with the singer’s 20-date stint helping to officially usher in a new era for the historic landmark.
First erected in 1922, the Castro closed in 2024 for a reported $41 million renovation project. But the century-old Spanish-style Baroque theatre is open for business — and music — once again, with its gilded ceiling and ornamental walls restored to its original design, while seating is now reconfigurable for different events, including 650 seats that can be removed to create more standing room space (like for Smith’s concert). More importantly, city officials hope the re-opening of the Castro Theatre will also help revive the predominantly queer neighborhood it sits in, which shares a name with the venerable venue.
“Do you guys realize how special this street is?” Smith asked the sold-out crowd, during night two of their residency last week. “I grew up in a village in the middle of f-ckin’ nowhere,” they shared. “I was the only gay in the village and yes I was very dramatic about it as well,” they added with a laugh.
“There is nothing like this street and nothing like the Castro and the community here,” Smith said. “I’ll never forget coming here when I was 20 years old, so reopening this theater now is such an honor.”
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Sam Smith Tickets on StubHub
Tickets to Smith’s Castro residency quickly sold out when the shows were first announced but you can still find stubs on sites like StubHub, Vivid Seats and SeatGeek. New users can use the promo code THR30 to save $30 on orders of $300 and up at VividSeats.com. SeatGeek customers can use promo code HOLLYWOOD10 to save $10 at SeatGeek.com.
Smith’s San Francisco stint follows their “To Be Free: New York City,” residency which took place last fall at Brooklyn’s historic Warsaw club. Other artists set to play at the Castro this spring include Father John Misty, José González, Santigold and Lucy Dacus. The Castro will also help celebrate the 50th anniversary of the LGBTQ-themed Frameline Film Festival this June.
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Castro Theatre Tickets on Vivid Seats
Smith’s residency runs until March 14.
According to tourism officials and local businesses, Smith’s new Castro residency and the reopening of the theatre has already helped to bring in a number of new visitors to the area. Mat Schuster, the executive chef and owner of long-time neighborhood fixture, Canela, says business has been “very busy” in the last few weeks, crediting Smith’s show with bringing out new diners to the Spanish restaurant, which has been on Market Street since 2011. Other local hotspots like wine bar Bar49, the San Francisco outpost of Hi Tops, and the women’s sports bar, Rikki’s (named after Gay Games Federation founder Rikki Streicher), were all packed on a recent evening following Smith’s Castro concert.
According to San Francisco Tourism, the reopening of The Castro Theatre is poised to deliver “meaningful economic gains” to the surrounding neighborhood, which some stats estimating that the venue will draw more than 200,000 visitors annually.
With the Castro Theatre now open again, local officials are looking ahead to other upcoming celebrations, including a planned reimagining of the Castro and Market Street intersection into The Memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza, honoring the first openly gay elected official in California (and the inspiration for the 2009 Sean Penn film). Milk’s legacy is already enshrined at the San Francisco airport of course, with terminal 1 at SFO renamed as the “Harvey Milk Terminal;” the new memorial is scheduled to be completed by 2028. The annual Castro Street Fair, meantime, a community street celebration founded by Harvey Milk in 1974, will take place on the first weekend of October.
The reopening of the Castro comes amidst a busy few months for San Francisco, which recently saw a number of athletes and celebrities in town for the Super Bowl. Steph Curry’s new speakeasy, The Eighth Rule, was among the hotspots over the big game weekend and the basketball star’s bourbon-forward bar continues to be a hot reservation in the city. Opened in the fall, the bar is tucked away in a nondescript hallway inside the Westin St. Francis hotel in Union Square, offering an intimate and exclusive setting for the Golden State Warriors point guard’s Gentleman’s Cut Bourbon, which can be ordered on its own or as part of a six-course omakase-style cocktail tasting (we loved the clarified coconut milk punch and the truffle-vanilla whiskey sour). Of course, guests can also order cocktails a la carte, choosing from different bourbons and whiskeys, plus a full selection of other spirits.
Next door to The Eighth Rule is Bourbon Steak San Francisco, the latest outpost of Chef Michael Mina’s award-winning steakhouse. The restaurant marks the celebrity chef’s return to the Westin St. Francis, where he opened his first eponymous restaurant in 2004. In addition to its selection of steaks, seafood and caviar offerings (like Mina’s famous “caviar twinkee”), this Bourbon Steak outpost offers a family-style dining experience for six people, available through advance reservations. This is the only Bourbon Steak location to offer this communal table format.
New this month is the highly-anticipated opening of JouJou, an elevated French brasserie concept from the owners of the two Michelin-starred Lazy Bear. Located in the city’s Design District, JouJou is poised to be the next celebrity hangout, with its ornate dining room and marble-topped counters setting the scene for steak frites and star sightings alike. As chef David Barzelay told the San Francisco Chronicle when asked about the inspiration for JouJou: “It always feels like you’re just in a place where it’s happening.”
Bay Area High School baseball fans are treated to a rare opportunity Saturday (April 18) with three games at Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, including the famed Bruce-Mahoney clash between West Catholic Athletic League rivals St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart Cathedral.
The first pitch of the 20th annual Dante Benedetti Baseball Classic starts at 11 a.m. and pits two more San Francisco private schools as University (9-7), winners of four straight, taking on Riordan (5-11).
That will be followed by the Bruce-Mahoney game at 2:30 between St. Ignatius (12-5, 4-2 WCAL) and the Irish (7-10, 1-5) and finished off with a North Coast Section clash between North Bay’s Marin Catholic (9-7) against Acalanes (7-6-1).
The Benedetti Classic, founded by Dante’s Boys Foundation board member Tom Lounibos and Giants president Larry Baer, benefits the DBF which honors the spirit of Benedetti who for nearly 40 years owned San Francisco’s Mr. Baseball nickname for his kindness and generosity to baseball-playing youth in the area.
Among their philanthropic efforts are glove and baseball equipment drives, field renovations and contributions to scholarships and sponsorships.
After starting the season 0-4 — three of those losses were by one run — University, under head coach Andrew Suvunnachuen, has found its way, winning the last four, all in Bay Counties League play, by a combined 51-6 count over Lick-Wilmerding (16-1 and 11-3) and San Domenico (13-2 and 11-0).
Senior catcher and pitcher Jett Messenger leads the way with a .447 average, while getting on base at a .638 rate. He also leads the team with 20 stolen bases. Junior third baseman Tate Gebhart is hitting .419, while Leo Felder and Behbart share the RBI lead with 15 each.
Junior Matthew Foley is 3-2 on the mound with a 2.38 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17.2 innings.
Riordan, under second-year head coach Craig Sargent, was 5-5 in nonleague games but lost six straight in the rugged WCAL, losing two tough games this week to Mitty (3-2 and 7-4). Junior third baseman and pitcher Santiono Williams leads the team in batting average (.371), on-base percentage (.488) and stolen bases (nine). He’s also been the team’s top pitcher at 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA.
The teams have split two previous games in their history, with Riordan winning 2-0 in 2023 and University prevailing 5-0 in 2021.
St. Ignatius, led by ninth-year head coach Brian Pollzzie, has already secured the Bruce-Mahoney trophy with four straight wins — one each in football, girls volleyball, boys basketball and girls basketball — but this rivalry is always spirited.
The Wildcats, who are ranked fourth in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Chronicle, are coming off a tough 3-0 home loss to No. 2 St. Francis on Friday after beating the host Lancers 10-6 on Tuesday.
The team is led by Stanford-bound Archer Horn, who is hitting .486 with four home runs and a .604 on-base percentage. The shortstop and pitcher also has not allowed an earned run in three pitching appearances while registering one save.
Pitching is a team’s strength with a 2.59 ERA, led by a brigade of strong arms including Leo Rhein (2-0, 2.38), Tycco Giometti (2-1, 2.62), Charlie Stecher 1-1, 0.72) and Chase Gordon (1-0, 2.80). The team is missing standout Finn Demuth, out of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Sacred Heart Cathedral, led by fourth-year head coach Gregg Franceschi, has scored 60 runs on the season and given up 61. The Irish are coming off two losses to eighth-ranked Valley Christian (5-2 and 10-1).
They are led offensively by junior outfielder Brody O’Sullivan (.381) and senior infielder Jacob Vines (.378). Johnny Nepomuceno and Max Nylander are other run-producers. Zach Stallworth (37 strikeouts, 29.2 innings) and Cooper Rogers Lewis (0.25 ERA) have been the team’s top pitchers.
The series has been remarkably close since 2005 with Sacred Heart Cathedral holding a 27-20 edge, though St. Ignatius won both games last season (5-0 and 6-3) after the Irish won 9-7 and 1-0 in 2024.
Marin Catholic hopes to get back to winning after starting the season 9-1, but have since lost six straight, four in Marin County Athletic League play, including 4-2 to Novato on Thursday. Senior outfield Luke Martin is the team’s leading hitter at .478 while senior infielder and pitcher Cooper Mitchell is at .455. Senior infielder Walker Untermann leads the team with 15 RBIs.
Acalanes is at the other end of the spectrum, winners of five of six after a 2-5-1 start. Junior infielder Tyler Winkles, also a highly recruited quarterback in football, leads the team with a .383 average and nine stolen bases. Riley Gates (2-3, 2.49 ERA, 30 strikeouts) is the team’s top pitcher.
The teams have played three times, all since 2022, with Marin Catholic owning a 2-1 lead. Acalanes won last year’s game 8-7.
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Chinatown fatal crash victim ID’d, safety measures proposed
The victim killed in Friday’s Chinatown crash was identified Monday by the medical examiner as Cutberto Zamora-Martinez, 49, of San Joaquin County. At a meeting on Monday, city officials said the cause of the crash is still under investigation.
SAN FRANCISCO – A 76-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and speeding following a crash in San Francisco’s Chinatown that killed a man working in the area.
Zhuo Ming Lu, 76, is accused in the March 27 crash that left 49-year-old Cutberto Zamora-Martinez, of San Joaquin County, dead.
Suspect was trying to park
What we know:
Authorities said Lu was attempting to park near Grant Avenue and Jackson Street when his vehicle jumped the sidewalk and crashed into the landmark New Lung Ting Café, also known as the Pork Chop House. The vehicle also struck two pedestrians, including Zamora-Martinez.
Zamora-Martinez died from his injuries.
He had been working in the area, according to a GoFundMe page. A San Francisco Police Department source close to the investigation told KTVU the victims were carpet installers arriving for work.
The fundraising page described Zamora-Martinez as a husband and father who was the sole provider for his family and “a humble man who wanted the best for his family.”
Before his arrest, Lu had been cooperating with investigators. Authorities have not confirmed what caused the crash.
Some residents questioned whether the driver’s age or a possible confusion between the brake and gas pedals may have been factors.
“Maybe if people hit a certain age, you got to get retested for your driver’s license is something I was thinking about,” said Keith Hong, who works next door to the crash site.
Another case involving an elderly driver
Big picture view:
In an unrelated case, Mary Fong Lau, 80, was sentenced to probation after killing a family of four, two parents and their young children. in March 2024. Authorities said Lau struck the victims as they waited at a Muni stop on their way to the zoo.
Lau pleaded no contest to four felony counts of vehicular manslaughter, and a judge accepted the plea. A Superior Court judge cited her age, remorse and lack of criminal history in the sentencing decision.
She was placed on probation for two years, banned from driving for three years and ordered to complete 200 hours of community service.
The Source: San Francisco Police Department, prior reporting
San Francisco first came to know chefs Laura and Sayat Ozyilmaz through their pop-up Istanbul Modern, and later through their breakthrough Presidio restaurant Dalida. The duo’s success is grounded in their take on Eastern Mediterranean food, which they made a conscious decision to champion 10 years ago.
Fast-forward to 2026, and now Laura is taking on a personal project of her own, with Sayat by her side, placing foods from Mexico’s Guerrero and Sinaloa center stage at Maria Isabel. It’s a refreshing menu that combines both Mexican and local ingredients, through the lens of the Ozyilmazes cooking backgrounds.
Reservations are released on OpenTable 30 days in advance, but Laura confirmed that they do take walk-ins depending on space. Smaller parties or solo diners might have better luck sliding in, thanks to the counter in the brighter, “Maria” portion of the restaurant.
The cocktails from consulting bar director Evan Williams are always worth a glimpse, whether at Dalida or at Maria Isabel. They’re well-balanced and have incredible depth and technique behind them. That being said, the team sourced wines from woman-led wine brands such as LOTIS Wines and Amevive Wine, if you’re looking to explore past the usual selections you’ll see elsewhere.
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