Every other city in the U.S. and Canada should be “green” with envy now that San Francisco has been named the greenest major city in the U.S. and Canada Green City Index (New York, Seattle, Denver and Boston completed the top five U.S. cities. The study, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and commissioned by Siemens, examines and compares 27 major U.S. and Canadian cities on environmental performance and policies across nine categories: CO2 emissions, energy, land use, buildings, transport, water, waste, air quality and environmental governance.
Cities that performed best in the rankings are the ones with comprehensive sustainability plans that encompass every aspect of creating a greener future, including transportation, land use, energy use, carbon dioxide emissions, and water.
Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn
With more than 300 wineries, 40 spas, and 50-plus miles of Pacific coastline, Sonoma County (www.sonomacounty.com <http://www.sonomacounty.com/>) has plenty to offer.
NEW TOURS AND ACTIVITIES
Farm Tours at McClelland’s Dairy
Families have the opportunity to get an up-close look and hands-on experience at McClelland’s Dairy, located seven miles west of Petaluma, in the rolling hills of Sonoma County. The farm was founded in 1938 and is still run today by the McClelland family as a modern family dairy with traditional values.
Tours are scheduled for weekend dates throughout the spring and summer, with a typical tour lasting about an hour and a half. Visitors get to see and pet baby cows, learn how the business is taking care of the land with sustainable practices, and see how the dairy’s creamy butter and crème fraiche are made.
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It’s coming. Dine About Town San Francisco is returning to the city June 1-15. More than 100 restaurants are participating in the twice-yearly restaurant promotion, offering a two-course lunch menu for $17.95 and/or a three-course dinner menu for $34.95. Great Deal: This pricing can represent up to a 25 percent savings off regularly priced a la carte items.
E&O Trading Company
The complete restaurant list for Dine About Town San Francisco (now in its 10th year) will be posted on San Francisco’s official visitor website www.sanfrancisco.travel/dineabouttown beginning May 1.
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The Porsche Design Group has opened a new Porsche Design franchise store at 100 Grant Avenue, near Union Square. The store offers the full range of Porsche Design products, such as sports apparel, luggage, watches, writing tools and small leather goods. A highlight is the lately extended fashion collection for men and women. “San Francisco is an important location for our brand,” says Dr. Juergen
Gessler, CEO of Porsche Design Group. “The Bay Area holds great potential for our brand. The people living here are creative types that support and seek out good design. With our purist, timeless and functional Porsche Design philosophy we do not follow any trends but set our very own accents. The idea behind that lifestyle matches perfectly with the San Franciscans’ lifestyle.”
Can you smell it? Spring is in the air signaling the return of America’s pastime: baseball. Where better to experience it than in the city of the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants? The Hyatt Regency San Francisco sure has you covered. Located just blocks from AT&T Park, the hotel is offering its “20 Paces to the Bases” package. It includes a $25 certificate good for use at all AT&T Park outlets as well as the “Dugout” Team store. In addition, guests will receive a $20 F&B credit for use at Eclipse Restaurant and Lounge (win or lose you can still celebrate!).
The Powell Hotel has its own baseball-centric package. It includes: Deluxe Junior Suite accommodations, four Giants tickets in the Viewbox Section at AT&T Park, valet parking and four Muni passes for transportation to and from the ball park. Packages start at $395.
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Napa Valley wine country just got a jolt of luxury with the soft debut of Hotel Yountville. We can’t wait for early spring when this five-acre northern California hideaway has its grand opening.
Nice Touch: The guest rooms, which range between 420 square feet and 1,050 square feet, will give off an earthy, wine cellar-chic Napa Valley vibe (think vaulted wooden-beamed ceilings, reclaimed wide-plank floors, decks and oversized spa tubs). Napa fieldstone hearths and rain showers are available in most rooms, as well.
In a city like San Francisco, the array of restaurants available are countless—and fit every palate. If one person in the city knows about the best places to eat, it’s a top hotel’s chief concierge. Say hello to Antonio Barrios, chief concierge at The St. Regis San Francisco. In the video below from GloboMaestro.com, he shares insight on the best places to eat in the Bay Area—and you don’t even need to stay at the hotel for the advice!
How about checking out the Olmec exhibit? The Olmec are best known for the creation of colossal heads carved from giant boulders. Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico features more than 100 objects drawn primarily from Mexican national collections with additional loans from more than 25 museums. The exhibit runs through May 8, 2011.
Considered the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica and recognized as America’s oldest civilization, the people known today as the Olmec developed an artistic style as early as the second millennium BC. Included in the exhibition are colossal heads, a large-scale throne and monumental stela, in addition to small-scale vessels, figures, adornments,and masks. Olmec brings together new finds and monuments that have rarely been seen by American audiences. Get down to de Young now!
Admission to Olmec is $25 adults, $22 seniors 65+, $21 students with current ID, $15 youth 6–17, and free for members and children 5 and under. There is a $5 discount for purchasing tickets in advance.
Its time was coming and now it’s here. A museum dedicated solely to gay culture is opening in The Castro at 4127 18th Street. We hear its the first museum of its kind in the entire United States. The GLBT History Museum, a project of the GLBT Historical Society, includes 1,600 square feet of gallery and program space built to the specifications of the Historical Society, with custom fixtures, lighting and multimedia installations. The museum will feature two debut exhibitions: In the main gallery, “Our Vast Queer Past: Celebrating GLBT History,” curated by historians Gerard Koskovich, Don Romesburg and Amy Sueyoshi; and in the front gallery, “Great Collections of the GLBT Historical Society Archives.”
Museum Information:
Location: 4127 18th St.
San Francisco, CA 94114
Hours: Wednesday-Saturday,
11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, noon to 5:00 p.m.
Admission: $5.00; free for members.
First Wednesday of the Month: Free
For more information, call 415-621-1107
Major Exhibitions are headed for the de Young Museum. Here’s a look.
Olmec: Colossal Masterworks of Ancient Mexico February 19–May 8, 2011
Considered the “mother culture” of Mesoamerica and recognized as America’s oldest civilization, the people known today as the Olmec developed an iconic and sophisticated artistic style as early as the second millennium BC. The Olmec are best known for the creation of colossal heads carved from giant boulders
Balenciaga and Spain March 26–July 4, 2011
Balenciaga and Spain examines the influence of Spain on the work of fashion designer Cristóbal Balenciaga. The impact of Spanish culture, history, and traditions is explored through the recurring themes in Balenciaga’s oeuvre and organized in the exhibition in six sections: Spanish Art, Regional Dress, The Spanish Court, Religious Life and Ceremony, the Bullfight, and Dance. Hamish Bowles, the European editor at large for Vogue, serves as guest curator.
Picasso from Musée National Picasso, Paris June 11–September 25, 2011
An exhibition of more than 100 masterpieces by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso from the permanent collection of Paris’ Musée National Picasso. The exhibition is made possible only because of the temporary closure of the Musée Picasso until 2012 for extensive renovations and comprises paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints drawn from every phase of the artist’s career.
In the Galleries at the de Young:
Developed and Undeveloped: Photographic Landscapes October 9, 2010–March 20, 2011
The exhibition features a diverse selection of over 35 photographs of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. From the pristine western views of Ansel Adams to the scarred quarries of Edward Burtynsky, the exhibition presents a variety of approaches to framing the landscape, with scenes of unspoiled wilderness contrasted with sites bearing evidence of human intervention.
Rupert Garcia: The Magnolia Editions Project 1991–2011 February 19–July 17, 2011
The exhibition includes approximately 25 prints made by Bay Area artist, Rupert Garcia, at the presses of Magnolia Editions, Oakland.
