knarik

if you are in north beach, make the stop at caffe trieste, the closest thing to time travel san francisco has. in 1947, istria stopped being italy. the peninsula was handed to communist yugoslavia, italian homes were nationalized, and 300,000 italians packed up and left. giovanni giotta, a fisherman from rovigno, was one of them. he ended up in san francisco - the one city in america where an italian fisherman wasn't a stranger. north beach spoke italian, the wharf was full of italian fishing boats, and saints peter and paul church took his family in. later on giovanni washed windows for a living, and sang opera while he worked. they called him "the singing window washer." in 1956 he opened caffe trieste, named for the port city of the coast he'd lost. it was the first espresso bar on the west coast. their jukebox still plays opera, and they still accept cash only. then the world came to him. coppola wrote the godfather at the back table. kerouac, ginsberg, ferlinghetti were regulars. every saturday since 1971 the family hosts a free three-hour concert. the nobel poet joseph brodsky wrote about it: "nothing has changed here. neither the furniture nor the weather." 70 years on, that was always the point. trieste on 35mm, i've shot last year:

more 35mm film shots from komakase 🎞️

only in sf. the best coffee in san francisco is at komakase. a slow coffee bar, with a chef's kitchen behind it. this june, komakase teamed up with chef seth stowaway at folklore, the 10-seat tasting salon at 243 front st, bringing specialty coffee and food into one experience. there are two ways to experience the collaboration: - slow bar, an a la carte experience with coffee and food from both teams. this is the one i visited, upstairs, where i could order the coffee and food of my choice. - folklore x komakase, a tasting with coffee and food courses built around each other. here, coffee is more than a quick fix, it's an intentional experience, slowed down so you can take in the flavors, the process, and the story behind each cup.

film photograph of spider kelly's bar in san francisco, taken by fred lyon in 1955

i haven't quite found that same viennese coffeehouse culture in sf. but for settling in with a book, writing, being around art, and friends, some bars in sf feel like a better fit than cafes: - vesuvio cafe - golden sardine - the interval at long now - the jay, autograph collection - hotel biron - royal cuckoo

this and never talking about open-weight models btw this is unarguably the best coffee in sf

when i think about hong kong, i keep coming back to man wa lane, also known as chop alley, in sheung wan. it's been a center for traditional chinese seal making since the 1930s. names, symbols, or calligraphy are engraved into stone to make personal stamps called chops, historically used to sign artworks and official documents. it sounds like such a small thing to remember a city by, but the memories and film photos of it are among those i return to most. shot on 35mm film:

a writer's dilemma is that you mostly think in stories, and everything you do needs to be a story. you mostly act from an observer's position, and it's hard because you also want to feel, but you stop feeling at some point because there's a story to write and navigate, and it's your life (and not only). and you're stuck inside your own story without letting yourself feel much. it's basically a temporary trap within your own existence until something or someone (un)expectedly triggers deep (or any) emotions in you. if you write long enough and are genuinely self-aware and under the illusion of having your life under control, it's really rare for something to move you, but when it does, it feels like an unreasonably special experience

🗓️ poetry, cyberdecks, film, forests and chamber music. a curated list of art events in sf: ‣ fady joudah: exhibit g, @greenapplebooks, 10/26 7pm, poems, essays and photographs of gaza greenapplebooks.com/event/20… ‣ cyberdecks, playful interfaces & expression, @tiatplace by @imempowa, 10/27 7-8pm, homemade computers as self-expression luma.com/cyberdeckpanel ‣ people need places, 10/28 5-8pm, experimental pop-up gallery closing, @mikeswartz_ luma.com/ws2scwlf?tk=D5eM5o ‣ scaling intelligence opening, @grayareaorg x @modal, 10/28 7-10pm, art on computing, microbial life and forests luma.com/5j93bc4c?tk=z7xaVx ‣ woman in the dunes, @roxietheater, 10/29 6pm, teshigahara's 1964 film of a man trapped in a sand pit roxie.com/film/woman-in-the-… ‣ san francisco latino film festival, cine+mas sf, 10/22-11/1, latino films and documentaries across the city cinemassf2026.eventive.org/s… ‣ @sfsymphony chamber music: mozart, bridge & saint-saëns, @legionofhonor, 11/1 2pm, trios and a cello sonata sfsymphony.org/Buy-Tickets/2… ongoing exhibitions ‣ miró: proof against all, @legionofhonor, 80 color woodcuts for éluard's poetry famsf.org/exhibitions/miro-p… ‣ new work: raven chacon, @sfmoma, seven-channel video of navajo nation landscapes sfmoma.org/exhibition/new-wo… image by raven chacon:

sfmoma just announced a yoshitomo nara exhibition opening in fall '27. around 100 works, from paintings and drawings to sculptures and installations. it'll be the first exhibition in northern california to bring together so many different sides of his work. can't wait to see @michinara3's work at @sfmoma in real life.

mood open.spotify.com/playlist/6d…

an endless forest in one tree