DAY after day in January, the rain poured down on the California coast without pause or pity -- some of the worst storms to hit the state in a decade. High winds took out power lines and overturned SUVs. Garbage washed up on beaches. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their mudslide-threatened homes. And on one particular Tuesday afternoon, in the Mission District of San Francisco, the ...

Umberto Gibin, always impeccably turned out in a suit, crisply starched shirt and often a tie, was making his rounds during a recent meal at Barbacco, which is next to his other restaurant, Perbacco. He almost defies the idea that you can't be two places at...

The steep hills, crisscrossing streets and clustered shops and restaurants in North Beach all reflect the urban delights that make San Francisco distinct. Yet, the level of comfort here reminds one of home, found simply by walking around the neighborhood, sitting in Washington Square or dining in a favorite quiet Italian restaurant.

Bay Area restaurants, bars and bakeries are celebrating the green this week with St. Patrick's Day specials. In San Francisco, Bacar serves a three-course prix fixe dinner ($36) ending with a sundae of Guinness ice cream and Jameson whisky caramel. 448...

The following are shortened versions of recent full-length restaurant reviews. The date the original review ran and its overall rating is in parentheses.

Call it kismet. Restaurateur Michael Mina is coming home. Less than a month after Bacchus management 86ed a deal to take over Aqua, San Francisco's famous but floundering seafood restaurant, Mina stepped in. He has signed a lease to take over the space where...

Walking beneath Gordian-knot tangles of drooping overhead wires, past apartment windows draped with laundry, I enter a 1920s building and wedge myself into a tiny elevator. Seconds later, I emerge into the hidden elegance of M on the Bund restaurant and its... Shanghai - Bund - China - Asia - Business and Economy

In some quarters, do-it-yourself butchery has become a popular phenomenon as Americans seek a better connection to their food.

Arline Bronzaft served on a committee that helped shape today's subway map. (Photo by Dave Sanders) It was a dash of Italian style for gritty New York, with the 1972 subway map being so fashionable, that it became the pattern for designer dresses.

Compiled from the pages of The Mendocino Beacon by Debbie L. Holmer 125 Years Ago March 7, 1885 Captain Peter Robinson, formerly of the schooner Alfred but later of the Lilliebonne, died in San Francisco on the 26th ult.