This week: Trans BIPOC memorabilia through the ages, Oakland Ballet turns 60, Southern BBQ in the East Bay, and a Sonoma coast road trip. Plus, a refuge for Jews on Christmas, the Christmas Bird Count, an inside look at SF’s “Holiday House,” and a “holiday jay” box set.

Holiday jays

A Northern California cannabis collective has put together a holiday gift box aimed squarely at weed connoisseurs. Emerald Triangle Craft’s 12 Jays of X-Mas bundles a dozen one-gram pre-rolls from farms across the region, spanning sativas, indicas, and hybrids, each labeled by grower and strain.

The packaging, illustrated by artist Mabel Alcock, highlights the farmers as much as the product, framing the set as a snapshot of the Emerald Triangle’s small-scale cannabis economy. The box is available at a variety of Bay Area dispensaries. — Broke-Ass Stuart

Leaps through time

Oakland Ballet marks its 60th year in motion, shaped by ambition, collapse, reinvention, and a stubborn commitment to the city it calls home. Founded in 1965, the company weathered national tours, lean years, a mid-2000s shutdown, and a revival under artistic director Graham Lustig, who has expanded the repertoire while keeping the organization afloat.

Recent seasons have included culturally specific works like Luna Mexicana and Dancing Moons Festival, with The Nutcracker remaining both an artistic anchor and a financial lifeline. The Nutcracker runs December 20 and 21 at the Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. — The Oaklandside

Counting the flyway

Now through January 5, the Audubon Society is inviting the public to take part in its annual Christmas Bird Count, one of the country’s longest-running wildlife surveys, with a couple Bay Area events coming up.

Additionally, photographer Dick Evans and wilderness guide and author Hannah Hindley are celebrating the release of In the Shadow of the Bridge: Birds of the Bay Area, which maps the region as a key stop along the Pacific Flyway. Evans and Hindley will speak at Book Passage in Corte Madera, 51 Tamal Vista Boulevard, on January 17. — Bay Area News Group

Storybook lights on the hill

With the Castro’s beloved Tom & Jerry house now dark, another longtime standout can be found just up the hill in Corona Heights. The so-called Holiday House at 45 Upper Terrace, also known as the Storybook House, goes all in for Christmas, with a toy train looping above the enclosed front porch and Santa climbing the ladder outside.

The owners, a retired gay couple, are known for decorating their home for every holiday and recently gave a video tour showing off the house’s whimsical details, including an elevator. They bought the home for $800,000 in 1997, and today it’s estimated to be worth between $8 million and $10 million. — San Francisco Bucket List

A Jewish Christmas tradition

For more than three decades, Kung Pao Kosher Comedy has given Jews in San Francisco (and many gentiles, we imagine) somewhere to gather each Christmas: a Chinese restaurant, a full crowd, and a sharp lineup. Created and hosted by Lisa Geduldig, the long-running series has built a sense of continuity and community that’s carried the show through generations.

This year’s headliner is veteran stand-up Elayne Boosler, known for her dry delivery and political bite, joined by Orion Levine, Amanda Marks, and Geduldig. Runs December 24–26, Imperial Palace, 818 Washington Street — The Bay Area Reporter

Lives in full color

The GLBT Historical Society Museum’s current exhibition co-presented with the city of Richmond’s Louise Lawrence Transgender Archive, I Live the Life I Love Because I Love the Life I Live, traces the lives and work of Black, Indigenous, and other trans and gender-nonconforming people of color across a century of Bay Area and national history. Photographs, performance ephemera, activist materials, and personal portraits move between the stage and daily life, from Finocchio’s cabaret performers to community organizers who fought for care and visibility during the AIDS crisis.

Figures like Stormé DeLarverie, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and members of the Filipino Task Force on AIDS appear alongside lesser-known artists and organizers, with an emphasis on joy, labor, and persistence. GLBT Historical Society Museum, 4127 18th Street, San Francisco’s Castro District. — San Francisco Bay Times

Smoke and memory

On a corner in the East Bay city of Richmond, CJ’s BBQ and Fish has been anchoring the neighborhood for three decades, run by nearly 80-year-old Charles “CJ” Evans, who still works the pits and the prep tables himself. The menu reflects his version of California-Southern barbecue, shaped by family roots in Arkansas, wartime Richmond history, and years of feeding shipyard workers, church folks, and regulars who never stopped coming back.

CJ’s BBQ and Fish now serves hundreds of slabs of ribs a week across its Richmond and Vallejo locations, remaining a steady fixture in a city that’s changed around it. — KQED

North on one

Highway 1 through Sonoma County offers a steady sequence of working ranch land, exposed coastline, and built-in stopping points that reward a slow drive. After Valley Ford, the road runs past Bodega Bay, where Bodega Head provides bluff walks and seasonal whale watching, then hugs the shoreline through state park land with beaches and pullouts at places like Wright’s Beach, Shell Beach, and the Kortum Trail.

Jenner marks a visual shift, with the Russian River spreading out before meeting the Pacific, harbor seals on the sandbar, and viewpoints near River’s End that invite a longer pause. North of town, the highway climbs into high green cliffs toward Fort Ross and Salt Point State Park, then eases into Sea Ranch, where low-profile homes and signed public trails lead to the bluffs before the road crosses into Mendocino County. — Marin Independent Journal

Top Image: Oakland Ballet/Facebook

Previously: Field Notes: Ube, Latkes, Native Plants of the Presidio, and Sarah Winchester’s Architectural Vision

A “slab of concrete” is indefinitely delaying slabs of ribs in West Oakland, as Horn Barbecue’s smoker for their brick-and-mortar restaurant has voided their permit application.

It’s great to see food truck and pop-up chefs get recognized as the Bay Area’s up-and-coming cuisiniers, and even greater to see  them graduate to the brick-and-mortar permanent restaurants they so richly deserve. Such appeared to tastily be the case when the Chronicle's 2019 Rising Chefs list acknowledged Matt Horn of Horn Barbecue, which dovetailed nicely into the fact that the pop-up BBQ pitmaster was going to be opening a permanent spot in West Oakland’s former Brown Sugar space (which itself has moved to Uptown). Eater SF reported the opening would be delayed until April, but hey, no biggie. Such delayed openings are not unusual.

But now Eater SF reports that things have taken a turn for the worse at the 2534 Mandela Parkway location. The city of Oakland has denied the permit Horn needs for his genuine barbecue meat smoker, as the area on which it would sit is partially owned by the city.

Eater obtained an email from the Oakland’s Department of Transportation telling Horn, “I regret to inform you that after much discussion between Department of Transportation and Planning and Building Department, we cannot support consumption of the Public Right of Way for ground-level expansion of a private restaurant. The permit application will be voided.”

Horn tells Eater that the area is merely a “slab of concrete” in an “area where trash has been dumped; it’s an area where there’s graffiti. It’s not a natural area for people to walk.” Horn adds that he’s been paying rent on the space for months, plus paying fines whenever the place gets tagged, and making substantial efforts to beautify the neglected concrete slab in question.

The pit boss has his options, none of them appealing. He could smoke his meats offsite, or he could just eat his losses and find another location. But he refuses to sacrifice preparing his BBQ in a smoker. This puts the opening of a permanent Horn’s Barbecue indefinitely on hold, though Eater also tells us his fried chicken sandwich spot Kowbird will likely open at Jack London Square in August or September.

Related: Flint's BBQ Is Coming Back As A Pop-Up [SFist]

Image: David K. via Yelp

A photo posted by Bender's Bar & Grill (@bendersbarandgrill) on Jan 24, 2016 at 2:20pm PST

In what most definitely is the end of an era, Mission District bar Bender's Bar & Grill has decided that after this weekend it will no longer continue the 12-year tradition of free Sunday BBQ's. The sad announcement was made via Facebook, and in many ways perfectly encapsulates how the Mission has for some time no longer catered to broke dirtbags (this writer says with affection, being one myself) and instead revels in its higher paid residents.

"[The] Mission is a changing," bar owner Johnny Davis explained to Capp Street Crap when asked about the reason behind the closure.

However, as always, things are complicated, and Davis furthered explained to CSC that the decision to kill weekly gathering of people on the bar's back patio was both a business and a practical one.

The origination of our “FREE BBQ” was due to the fact that our kitchen was not opening on Sunday or Monday. We have new chefs in our kitchen that upon taking over showed interest in serving food on Sundays.

We originally shot down the idea, but over time and the decline of interest or too many lame-asses showing up expecting to eat w/o being a bar customer, we have given in.
There was also the Fire Dept informing us on their last random walk-thru inspection (when the patio door happened to be open) that us having the BBq on the patio was not allowed.

The final free BBQ is this Sunday, and kicks off at 2:00 p.m. We strongly recommend that you head on down, eat a free burger, buy a beer, and say goodbye to something that once helped to make the Mission great.

Related: Here Are The Best Tater Tots In San Francisco (And Beyond)

As a bit of an addendum to SFist's Best BBQ list, which we reserve the right to update periodically per the whims of our editorial staff: Sneaky's BBQ is now available in pop-up form two nights a week at Vinyl on Divisadero. Also: you can order it as porky new hamburger topping.

Smoked meat fans will remember walk-in orders of Sneaky's almond wood smoked pork belly, pulled pork sandwiches or vegan BBQ jackfruit were previously available only on Wednesdays at the Divisadero wine bar. Starting today, that moves to two nights a week. (Pre-ordered catering is still available too, if you prefer to buy your pork by the pint.)

In related meat news, Sneaky's has also teamed up with Wesburger Wednesdays down the street at Mojo Bicycle Café for an off-menu beef/pork collaboration that we really hope to see more of around the city. On Wednesday nights, diners can pop into Vinyl and order a burger "Sneaky Style" with either pulled pork or smoked pork belly. Sneaky's will serve you up an order of straight up pork, which you can bring to Mojo and demand it be placed on top of your burger order. $10 for the burger, plus $3 for pulled pork (or $4 for the pork belly) tops out at 14 bucks, but you'll be getting this:

On top of something like this:

Think of it as your locally sourced In-N-Out secret menu, but with even more heart-stopping power. Delicious. See you guys down in cardiology.

Previously: Best BBQ in San Francisco
Go Eat This Thing: Burger Night At Mojo Bicycle Café
[Sneaky's BBQ]

There's no good 'que in the Bay Area, you bemoan? Ha! We have some choice spots where you can find the best barbecue in town that will make you feel like you're back in the South, minus the fire flies, thick drawls, and not giving a damn.

HI-LO
This new-ish Mission spot (owned by the team behind Maverick and Hog & Rocks) boast excellent ribs and appropriately sloppy smoked meat and smoked beef sandwiches. Sure, it's a tad on the pricey side, but worth it for good 'cue and cloth napkins. (Also of note: Bauer gave it a meh, while Patricia Unterman gave it a rave review. You make the call.)
3416 19th Street (between San Carlos & Mission), S.F., 415-874-9921

MEMPHIS MINNIES
Still smoking after all these years, the Lower Haight BBQ mainstay has lately become known for their fantastic Tuesdays-only Saturdays-only fried chicken but their namesake Memphis-style sweet smoked pork or Texas slow-smoked beef brisket are still go-to sandwiches for homesick Southerners looking for a mesquite fix. Arm yourself with a six-pack of regional sauces and you can tweak your meat to your preferred temperature or hometown style.
576 Haight Street (at Steiner), S.F.; 415-864-7675

THE RIP WHIP
Cedar Hill has two Rib Whip trucks, which aren't bad. They don't get a ton of press (because they're in the Marina), but when you see the Rib Whip truck out and about, do give it a try.
Check their Facebook page for locations

SNEAKY'S BBQ
After departing the kitchen at Rebel, Sneaky's BBQ has returned as a weekly pop-up affair in Vinyl Wine Bar on Divisadero, where the crisp, almond-wood-smoked kurobuta pork belly that won accolades from Food & Wine and SFWeekly is now available in sandwich form as a Pork Belly BLT. For pulled pork purists, Sneaky's does a Carolina-style sandwich with a choice of mustard, vinegar or rooster sauces and homespun sides like baked beans, shells & cheese and the ubiquitous cornbread. The truly adventurous go for a BBQban — the bastard child of a Cubano and a BBQ sandwich and there's even a vegan option (it's BBQ jackfruit) so your meatless friends don't have to miss out.
Wednesdays, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. Vinyl Wine Bar, 359 Divisadero (at Oak), S.F.; 415-621-4132

SMOKIN' WAREHOUSE
You used to have to trek to the Bayview between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. for the excellent ribs and brisket served up by this Asian-owned operation, but luckily they launched a truck and now make appearances at SoMa StrEat Food Park occasionally. They make, hands down, some of the best ribs you'll find in the city, we promise, and their corned beef sandwich isn't half bad either.
1465 Carroll (at Jennings), S.F.; 415-648-8881

SOUTHPAW BBQ
One of the better "upscale" barbecue spots in town is this unassuming spot on Mission Street that opened in 2011. Their dry-rubbed ribs are the business, and they do a fine brisket too. Their sides are possibly where they shine most, with some excellent grit cakes with ham hock and cheddar, and various California-ized items like broccolini and roasted beets. They also have a solid, whiskey-centric bar program, house-brewed beer, and some unique items like smoked pulled goat with salsa verde and fry bread; and a BBQ version of nachos dubbed Natchez, with potato chips, pulled pork, black-eyed peas, hot sauce, and pimiento bechamel.
2170 Mission (at 18th Street), S.F.; 415-934-9300

WEXLER'S
Chef Charlie Kleinman's four-year-old Financial District restaurant has never been a traditional barbecue spot by any stretch, but Kleinman is a big fan of Southern food and smokey flavors, and he does wonders with a small smoker in his tiny kitchen, creating upscale spins on barbecue dishes like pulled pork and BBQ chicken. Also, as of last year, he launched a truck called Wexler's Back, serving more traditional stuff like brisket sandwiches -- and they're good.
568 Sacramento (at Montgomery), S.F., 415-983-0102

B-SIDE BBQ
We have to give one to Oakland, folks. It would be wrong not to include them. Following on the success of Brown Sugar Kitchen, chef Tanya Holland and husband Phil Surkis opened their version of a traditional West Oakland rib joint like so many that used to exist there, way back in the day. They do traditional Carolina-style pulled pork as well as jerk-spiced baby back ribs, and Holland "Dark & Stormy" version of St. Louis ribs, which all adds up to what she called "Oakland style" BBQ. Plus there's brown sugar-rubbed brisket, and in a nod to modern-day Oakland, there's a vegetarian option of BBQ-braised tofu nuggets. And as Tasting Table and others have noted, sides like Holland's version of baked beans, using Great Northern beans, ham hocks, and burnt barbecue ends, "almost upstage the barbecue."
3303 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland

What began as a joke between two friends in Florida in 2005, Meat Week is a national holiday with a growing number of fans dedicated to celebrating good ol’ traditional Southern BBQ. It takes place over eight consecutive nights, like Hannukkah for extreme carnivores with meat instead of gelt. During the last week of January every year, enthusiasts gather to eat tons of carne across America. Because we aren’t fat enough.

Every city has an appointed Captain and First Mate (of... meat?) who designate where the gluttony goes down each night. Last night, they kicked the event off at Cat's Head BBQ, and will continue to move through the city’s go-to BBQ joints during the week. Memphis Minnie's and Baby Blues made the line-up. If you're hungry, here’s a more detailed look at the schedule.

"Never has barbecue been so popular in San Francisco — and never has there been so little of it," explained Memphis Minnie's founder Bob Kantor in a recent interview with Haighteration. And he's right. What with the local food sect's sometimes refreshing, often stupid lockjaw on the latest food fad (we hear that Eastern European is the thing that should be passing through your gastrointestinal tract these days), or anything served under the warm glow of an Edison bulb for that matter, this city tends to relish eschewing food trends that really aren't trends at all. Like barbecue.

Tomorrow, September 11, Haight Street barbecue staple Memphis Minnie's celebrates 12 years making the Lower Haight a sweet and savory place where the south rises again on Tuesdays - Sundays from 11 am - 10 pm. Furthermore, they've been serving the community good grub for shockingly reasonable prices. Kantor goes on to explain, "The cost to produce all my food has tripled in the past 12 years, though my prices have not. The vendors and producers control everything, and I would hate to see it get to the point where we have independent restaurants for the wealthy and corporate chains for the rest of us."

True words, Bob — true, haunting words.

Be sure to read the interview with Kantor in its entirety. Then tomorrow, by all means, head over to Haight Street for some sticky meat and a glass of imported sake.

Memphis Minnie's: 576 Haight (between Fillmore), SF, 415-864-7675

[Haighteration]

Is your barbecue grill making you ill? Could be. Who knows. This handy chart by the FDA, CDC, Mayo Clinic, and International Food Council will tell you at what temperatures one should prepare their meats on the grill in order to prevent foodborne illness. Sure, some might disagree with the suggestions here. (We prefer our steaks barely introduced to the patio grill from the other side of the street. Rare is the only way to go.) But it's pretty good for those who don't abide by artisan law, or are unsure from where their meat came.

Here are some other less frightening suggestions for throwing your own BBQ fete this summer:

• Never use lean ground beef. Or pre-made patties.
• Do not start spraying lighter fluid after more than two cocktails -- ask a more sober friend to light the grill. We're not kidding.
• Please keep 2:1 ratio of beer to (white) wine. A lack of dry wine makes for unhappy blog editors.
• Classic barbecue sauce is only a suggestion, not a requirement.
• Please keep soft blankets at the ready. We enjoy sitting on the grass, but not on the grass. While we're at it, a colorful selection of parasols make for a lovely melanoma-free afternoon.
• Thighs and legs > breasts
• New Edition or En Vogue are ideal Pandora stations for barbecue under the sun. Dunno why. They just are.
• Clean your grill before using.
• Stop moving the meat around constantly like your dad did. Let it sit on the grill for a bit. Also, never press on your patties. The juice will run out and you will have dry burgers... and a dry frowny face.
• Got any weed?
• Screw it. Grilling, like math, is hard. Grab some ribs from Pican instead. Or, better yet, get some meat from B-Side BBQ in Oakland, care of chef Tanya Holland. She's a wizard when it comes to the art of barbecue.

Happy grilling, people!

Well, slather us in barbecue sauce and call us Baby Back, a recent poll/listicle thing by leisurely travel glossy, Travel + Leisure Magazine has determined that San Francisco's barbecue options are decidedly subpar. According to a poll of visitors, Bay Area barbecue ranks 28th out of 35 vacation-friendly cities, putting us well below pulled pork destination cities like Memphis (where Willie Brown imports his ribs from) and Kansas City. Embarrassingly, we couldn't even beat out either Portland.

Before we get our white bread all soggy over some magazine reader poll, we'd like to defend the plentiful pulled pork and brisket options around town: We've had the pleasure of licking rib sauce off our fingers at Big Nate's BBQ (we confess we haven't been since it switched over to CatHead's though), friends rave about Sneaky's on Market Street and near the SFist Western Branch Office on Divisadero Da Pitt BBQ is... well, it consistently has at least two people eating there, so it can't be all bad. (And before you start shouting "MEMPHIS MINNIES" at us please realize that, while the food is certainly tasty, most of their charm lies in the sauce selection and the 90s-holdout cartoon pig logo.)

Anyhow, the same survey placed our fair city pretty low on the list for hamburgers, which is just a flat-out lie.

Previously: Aggressive Panhandlers Blamed For San Francisco's Slipping Tourism Ranking
[Travel + Leisure]

Who's excited for barbecue season? In South San Francisco, one man was apparently a little too excited for a backyard grill session in his neighborhood last Sunday. While it's unclear if Pedro Garcia was actually invited to his neighbor's barbecue, it is clear that he made some "inappropriate sexual comments" to a fellow guest at the party and was asked to leave. Apparently unhappy about the invitation to vacate the premises, Garcia responded by lifting his shirt and showing off some rifle ammo he was just keeping tucked under there. Later, Garcia returned to the neighbor's carnivorous celebration brandishing a machete and threatening to kill the host.

Unable to do much damage with the big knife, Garcia ended up biting the victim on the back before cops arrived to place him in a patrol car. Still reluctant to leave the party, Garcia escaped - handcuffs and all - and attempted to make a break for freedom before he was finally tackled and taken to San Mateo County Jail. The only break he made successfully was his arm, which apparently snapped sometime during the struggle. Sounds like our man was having a little PCP cookout of his own before dropping in on the neighbors.

[SFEx] [KTVU]

Awesome last name recipient and New York Times contributor Nicole Spiridakis covered NOPA (AKA, "North of the Panhandle" -- of course) in this past weekend's travel section of the NYT, "Colonizing an Urban Frontier".

Spiridakis tells us that "an influx of attention-getting restaurants and boutiques in the last decade has made it one of the city's cooler destinations, even as it struggles to maintain its gritty individuality." Though we must disagree with the claim that it's "one of the city's cooler destinations" -- that title would go to Rincon Hill and its resevoir-tip highrises, hands down -- she's got a decent list of some of the area's hip-ish eating places and venues. (Even some love for the bullet magnet, Lilly's BBQ!)

Since neither BART nor MUNI trains go there, we never travel to said NYT-worthy destination. Unless it's to escape the sun, that is. But we hear that the neighborhood is just darling. Yet gritty. But mainly darling.

Also, are there any other neighborhoods out there rebranding themselves via adorable acronyming? Weren't SoMiss-Po and BBB (Bail Bond Boulevard) supposed to take off? But didn't?

Smurfy image: Jorge Colombo

We've been big fans of Good Magazine since their premier issue came out last fall. We love the inspiring stories they cover and the ways they present them -- graphics, design, and concept are given as much weight as the words. We also love that the staff is predominantly made up of young people -- much younger than we are, we might add. (Incidentally, bad-boy Al Gore III is the associate publisher.)

Some recent, stand-out topics for us include: naked streets and bicycle planning; companies that are projecting new business plans based on global warming (not so inspiring, but a memorable story nonetheless); artist/engineer Natalie Jeremijenko of NYU’s Environmental Health Clinic; BioBling; The Face2Face Project; artist Katherine Hubbard, who documented a whole year's worth of her trash; oh, oh, and our very own Ross Mirkarimi is featured in the latest issue! And we are totally buying that portable BBQ.

Every time we pick up Good at the newsstand (they have it at SFO, by the way!), we think to ourselves, "Jeez, we need to get a subscription," 100% of which goes to the charity of our choice. Their goal is to reach 50,000 subscribers, through which they will raise $1 million for their list of charities. (They're currently at 19,049 subscribers and $380,980.) So, finally, upon hearing about Good's Block Party bash at 111 Minna this Sunday from Noon to 8 pm, which is only open to subscribers, we got our butts on over to Good and virtually plopped down $20 for a year's worth of Good. You have until 11:59 pm on Saturday night to to do the same! Booths, outdoor stage, music, food, drinks, giveaways, and do-Gooders -- we are totally there.

Good Magazine Block Party | Subscribe + RSVP | 111 Minna | Sunday, July 15, Noon to 8 pm