Heart of the City

North Beach

Artist Jeremy Fish moved to San Francisco 30 years ago, and has lived in North Beach for most of that time. His decision to put down roots here had as much to do with finding a once-in-a-lifetime apartment listing as it did with the artistic history of the neighborhood.

“This was the hub for jazz music, for writers, for poets,” he says. “Ferlinghetti, Kerouac, Ginsberg—all of those sort of characters made it happen in this neighborhood."

The Beatnik scene inspired and attracted the next generation of disruptors. In 1972, film director Francis Ford Coppola purchased the Sentinel Building, an iconic North Beach structure at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and Jackson and Kearney streets. Some of his most memorable films were brought to life in this neighborhood; he worked on the screenplay for The Godfather at Caffe Trieste and edited Apocalypse Now in the Sentinel basement.

Lidia Valledor has managed Cafe Zoetrope, which occupies the ground floor of the Sentinel Building, for the past 16 years and knows its history well. “Francis came from Los Angeles looking to create a new space to work,” she explains. “He created American Zoetrope, his production company. He put his office here. He moved his family here. For Francis, North Beach is a very special place.”

Lidia was born and raised in Argentina. The diversity and hospitality of North Beach is what has compelled her to stay. “You have this very European atmosphere, with this blend of cultures,” she says. “I think everybody feels welcome in this neighborhood.”

Fellow transplant Jeremy agrees. “I moved 3,000 miles to go to art school out here. I have zero family on the West Coast. This neighborhood has become my family.”

It should come as no surprise that North Beach, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, is full of family-owned businesses. Among them is Firenze by Night, a classic Italian restaurant now run by the fourth generation of the Giusti family.

For Lidia, the unhurried nature of North Beach is part of its appeal. “People can come here and relax,” she says. “You can come here with a book, sit, have a glass of wine…and nobody is going to be rushing you out.”

“North Beach is going to be more and more special with time. So, I think it’s our job to preserve that.”

For Jeremy, the way that North Beach has withstood multiple waves of change is what sets the neighborhood apart. When you’re sitting in Caffe Trieste, for instance, “you have no idea if it’s 1950, 1980, or 2010. It just has a very timeless quality to it.”