Tag: food

Clement Street in San Francisco. A multi-cultural enclave

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 9.22.2026

One of the busiest streets in the western section of San Francisco is Clement Street. A multi-cultural with a substantial Asian enclave near where the blogger has lived much of his lifetime.

The blogger took a walk on recent foggy morning on a portion of Clement Street and memorialized his excursion with a number of photos.

Clement Street | TCLF

This public street runs from Arguello Boulevard westward through the Richmond district for three miles, ending on a hill at 45th Avenue just before Lands’ End. The street was built as part of the development of the Richmond district, previously sparsely populated terrain known as the “Outside Lands,” a vast stretch of sand dunes beyond city limits.Eager for customers to reach his seaside attractions, including the Sutro Baths, Sutro Gardens, and Cliff House resort, Adolph Sutro underwrote an electric trolley line in 1896 that ran the length of Clement Street, catalyzing its development as a major commercial corridor. A new wave of development followed the 1906 earthquake and fire, as refugees flooded into the area. After World War II, Southeast Asian immigrants began moving to the district en masse, earning it the name of “New Chinatown” among locals. Clement Street’s cultural diversity has long been a defining characteristic of its identity, with demographics shifting over the past century from predominantly Irish-American to Russian, Middle Eastern Jewish, and, later, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai residents.

Clement Street was spared the widening that neighboring Geary Boulevard underwent in the late 1940s, preserving the former’s pedestrian scale. A vibrant, two-way thoroughfare, the street is densely lined by two- and three-story, mixed-use buildings housing a variety of locally owned restaurants, produce markets, shops, and community organizations. Examples of the Classical Revival, Mission Revival, and Italianate architectural styles that once dominated the neighborhood can still be seen, interspersed with twentieth-century buildings.

Gold Star Discount Store where the blogger’s wife has shopped for years.
NO on G SAVE SUNSET DUNES PARK! banner on Clement Street alerts the voters to a crucial November ballot measure
The produce assortment at the Yin Xing Food Co.
The Recology containers stacked for the Monday morning collection
The Donuts shop at 10th Avenue. Years ago it was an ice cream parlor
The Asian food selection piled high at a Clement Street grocery shop
FOR SALE. The hyper real estate market in San Francisco on Clement Street
A dangerous crossing. A mother yacks on her phone while crossing 7th Avenue with her toddler in tow
Green Apple Books was founded by Richard Savoy in 1967 in a pre-1906 building at the corner of Clement Street and Sixth Avenue.[2] In 1996, Green Apple Books acquired its long-time neighbor, Revolver Records.[3] By 2005, the store housed over 250,000 titles, as well as 60,000 available online.[4] Green Apple Books & Music – Wikipedia
An art studio on Clement Street
The now abandoned building at 9th Avenue. It was formerly the Coliseum Theater where the blogger spent many Saturday afternoons during his youth watching movies, munching on popcorn and candy. Later it was a Walgreens outlet. Now shuttered
The foggy Monday morning foot traffic on Clement Street
See’s Candies a Richmond District sweet tooth staple for decades at the corner of 9th Avenue
Hamburger Haven at the corner of 9th Avenue feeding the neighborhood for years
Waiting for the San Francisco Muni bus number 44 at nearby 6th Avenue and Geary Blvd
The brick house. The Richmond District Police Station on 6th Avenue. A block south of Clement Street
Another nearby Clement Street resident
Sign of the times. Sky high fuel prices at the pump on Geary Blvd and Park Presidio. One block south of Clement St.
Opening theme to the movie Beyond Rangoon – conducted by Hans Zimmer

Cheeseburger lover Trump has a beef with the cattle industry

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 8.26.2026

Full disclosure. The blogger admits he eats an occasional cheeseburger.

The treatment of cattle is cruel and unusual.

The average consumer does not see the cruelty of the slaughterhouse when shopping for beef at the neighborhood supermarket. The beef is nicely packaged in plastic or served up by the ‘butcher’ behind the counter.

Now Donald Trump, a notorious consumer of McDonald’s cheeseburgers, has signed an Order to permit more beef imports. He expects sky high consumer beef prices to drop. The beef industry is in an uproar. It’s just a ploy to boost his floundering presidency before the November 3rd midterm election. Just 69 days away.

The beef is nicely packaged in plastic or served up by the ‘butcher’ behind the counter.
Donald Trump, a notorious consumer of McDonald’s cheeseburgers

Excerpted from Wisconsin State Farmer 8.26.2026

Beef prices have inched upward near record highs, with cattle numbers in their lowest in 75 years due to ranchers culling herds due to years-long droughts that dried up grazing lands and drove up feed prices. The advance of the New World screwworm forced U.S. officials to close the border to Mexican beef, further tightening supplies. Reuters reported that U.S. meatpackers have been shuttering processing plants in response to soaring cattle costs.

Cattle futures fell to eight-month lows shortly after President Donald Trump announced on Aug. 21 plans to allow up to 300,000 metric tons of ground beef imports into the United States at reduced tariff rates in an effort to lower consumer prices.

The Oklahoma Farm Report noted that live cattle futures fell $3 to $4 per hundredweight and feeder cattle futures dropped $3 to $6 per hundredweight Friday morning, immediately following Trump’s declaration on Truth Social that beef imports would be “sold at 25% below current market prices”. By market close, however, many contracts had recovered much of those losses.

At a time when U.S. cattle numbers are at historic lows and ranchers are slowly rebuilding herds after years of drought, high input costs, and disease-related trade disruptions, the administration’s move has triggered pushback from farm and ranch groups and Republican lawmakers who are often aligned with the president on agricultural policy. Many warned that the move could weaken cattle markets, slow herd rebuilding, and benefit meatpackers more than producers.

Criticism was notable coming from Montana Republican Sen. Tim Sheehy, who represents one of the nation’s top cattle-producing states.

“I’ve advised President Trump against this course of action for a year because American ranchers have been struggling against packer monopoly for decades and this will harm them…” Sheehy posted on X. “This action will make it more difficult for American ranchers to rebuild our herd and bring prices down for the American people.”

https://www.wisfarmer.com/story/news/2026/08/26/trumps-beef-import-announcement-sparks-cattle-industry-alarm/91435574007

Top photo: Cattle in the Slaughterhouse

European chocolate thieves steal 414,000 KitKat bars

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 3.28.2026

The sweet tooth run amok.

I think ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ needs to come to the rescue and make life sweet again for the lovers of chocolate

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_and_the_Chocolate_Factory

Deutsche Welle 3.28.2026

“We’ve always encouraged people to have a break with KitKat,” a spokesperson for the brand said, referring to the product’s advertising slogan. “But it seems thieves have taken the message too literally and made a break with more than 12 tons of our chocolate.”

Swiss food giant Nestle said on Saturday a huge shipment of KitKat chocolate, weighing around 12 tons, had been stolen last week.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_Kat

The company also sounded the alarm over the rise in cargo theft incidents.

“Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes,” KitKat said.

“With more sophisticated schemes being deployed on a regular basis, we have chosen to go public with our own experience in the hope that it raises awareness of an increasingly common criminal trend.”

The company said the truck carrying 413,793 bars of its new chocolate range set off from its production facility in central Italy and was on its way to Poland when it disappeared.

Nestle did not reveal where exactly ​the truck was lost.

As of afternoon Saturday, the whereabouts of the ​vehicle and the merchandise remain unknown.

The firm said the heist could result in shortages of the crunchy bars — made of waffles covered with chocolate — on supermarket shelves in some European countries. 

It also warned that the missing chocolate bars “could enter unofficial sales channels.” But Nestle said if that happens, it would be possible to trace the stolen goods by scanning the unique batch codes found on each bar.

“If a match is found, the scanner will be given clear instructions on how to alert KitKat who will then share the evidence appropriately,” it said.

https://www.dw.com/en/nestle-praises-thieves-exceptional-taste-after-12-tons-of-kitkat-bars-stolen/a-76579815

Super Bowl Sunday – Surfing through the shoppers at Safeway

San Francisco – Safeway at Ocean Beach

Lee Heidhues 2.9.2025

UPDATE: New Orleans, Louisiana. The Philadelphia Eagles demolished The Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 and capture the 59th Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy. In 2026 the Super Bowl will be played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Home of the 49ers.

The All-American pastime. The Super Bowl. And what more appropriate way to spend the time before the 3:30 kickoff. Shopping at the Supermarket.

We took a walk through the car free slow street near the Safeway a mile from our home. And an hour later boarded the bus carrying bags and backpacks full of food and household item.

Getting ready to chow down on Super Bowl Sunday.

The Super Bowl ads are always a signal of the current state of life in America.

The ads this year are light on substance with strong bows to the boomer generation. So, this photo montage concludes with the classic rock song by It’s a Beautiful Day, “White Bird.”

The crow watches over Safeway at the Beach in San Francisco.
The Super Bowl sugar fix ensemble. Complete with the team colors of Kansas City and Philadelphia
It’s not all the sugar fix at Safeway. Healthy oranges and apple abound.
Liz holds aloft a cabbage destined to be a marvelous Coleslaw salad. Check out that Erin Andrews 49ers sweatshirt. Maybe next February at Levi’s Stadium the home team will make another Super Bowl appearance.
Aisles and aisles of San Francisco consumer staples.
Blogger Lee loves those cookies.
The well stacked and surprisingly empty Safeway Deli section on Super Bowl Sunday.
For the non Super Bowl fan there are plenty of periodicals available to pass the hours.
Liz carefully looks over the organic chicken drumstick selection.
An abundance of organic produce at Safeway.
Heading home.
“White Bird” the classic late ’60s song and appropriate for a beautiful day on Super Bowl Sunday.
It’s a Beautiful Day is an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1967, featuring vocalist Pattie Santos along with violinist David LaFlamme and his wife, Linda LaFlamme, on keyboards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Beautiful_Day

Dave’s Killer Bread French Toast eats up the miscarriage of justice

SAN FRANCISCO

Lee Heidhues 10.14.2024

It’s been a long six and a half years. Hi-lighted by a gruesome and unjust pair of false citizen’s arrests inflicted on Liz and having to spend 400K out of pocket to secure a semblance of justice in San Francisco.

Liz stands tall through it all

We stood up for our rights and have maintained our equanimity. Assisted by neighborhood friends and a weekly trip to the San Francisco Food Bank. Where to keep financially solvent we have walked our shopping cart and come home with a cornucopia of fresh food.

Fortuitously, Liz is one fantastic chef who keeps us well nourished through it all.

The latest creation being French Toast put together with Food Bank distributed Dave’s Killer Bread. And our store bought ingredients including organic maple syrup “Made in Canada.”

Dave’s Killer Bread – 15 Years in Prison
Dave’s Killer Bread gets a dunking in a French Toast batter made with cage free eggs from the Food Bank

Interestingly, Dave’s bread products are produced by a number of ex-convicts including Dave himself who spent 15 years in prison. Liz knows what serving time is all about after her two false citizen’s arrests. Both of which were tossed by the San Francisco Superior Court.

Blogger Lee enjoys Dave’s Killer Bread French Toast with 100% pure organic Maple Syrup standing in front of the memorial ribbon memorializing the late San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi

Blogger Lee met with Jeff Adachi the day of Liz’s first false citizen’s arrest on April 12, 2018 in front of the Hall of Justice. Jeff Adachi sent then assistant Public Defender Chesa Boudin to meet with and comfort Liz while she was incarcerated in San Francisco County Jail.

Our part time tuxedo cat Bendi looks on