Day Five

Rim Shots

Many newcomers from the Pacific Rim have made their presence felt throughout San Francisco, sometimes in surprising places. Start out in the Tenderloin, historically the city’s underbelly. Today it bustles with family life with kids playing in the street and grocery stores well-stocked with Far East foods and within it the city’s Little Saigon.

Start with a dense, rich Vietnamese coffee at one of the bahn mi sandwich shops in the neighborhood: 53 Mong Thu (248 Hyde), 54 Kim Hoang (393 Eddy) or 55 Ba Le (571 Jones). These places specialize in bargain-priced sandwiches of thinly sliced barbecued meats zesty with fresh cucumber, carrots, jalapeño and cilantro on soft rolls. For heartier appetites go to 56 Pho Hoa Restaurant (431 Jones; 673-3163) with its 24 types of noodle soup. The ultimate contains rare steak, well-done brisket and flank, tendons and tripe packed into a steaming tureen of noodles.

Cross Market Street and you’re in lively SoMa, where Filipino newcomers, like the Southeast Asians in the Tenderloin, bring a family focus to an otherwise wild-side neighborhood. The Bayanihan Community Center at Sixth and Mission is the heart of the Filipino community. In a storefront at the Center is 57 Arkipelago (1010 Mission; 553-8185), featuring books and art by Filipinos, Filipino Americans and other Southeast Asians.

At the corner of Sixth Street and Folsom, is the 58 South of Market Rec Center (554-9532) which often displays the work of budding young neigh­borhood artists. And catch a performance nearby at 59 Bindlestiff (Off Market Theater, 965 Mission; 255-0440), the nation’s only performance venue showcasing emerging Filipino American and Pilipino artists.

For lunch, hit the ever-popular 60 Tu Lan (8 Sixth St.; 626-0927), arguably the first Vietnamese restaurant in San Francisco. This hole in the wall with a counter is packed with regulars. Spring rolls redolent with cilantro and lemon chicken salad with a peppery peanut and vinegar sauce are not to be missed.

For more varied Asian venues, you have to head south. Top off your lunch with Mitchell’s prize-winning ice cream (688 San Jose Ave.; 648-2300), including flavors from the islands found nowhere else — halo halo, macapuno, ube, and unusual domestic flavors such as cantaloupe, pumpkin and, yes, avocado. A few miles farther is the best-known Filipino venue in the Bay Area: Goldilocks Bake Shop (3535 Callan Blvd., South San Francisco; 650-873-0565), almost a community center in its popularity. This spacious food emporium features a full menu from adobo to lecho, pancit and noodles. For dessert, try leche flan, halo halo or moist mango or sponge cake. Not far is Max’s (1155 El Camino Real, South San Francisco; 650-872-2465) for crispy chicken, juicy pork and beef barbecue.

Head back to San Francisco for some shopping in stores featuring items from the Pacific Islands. The Pacific Islander Cultural Assn. (281-0221) has the best information about services, food, merchandise and events. In April, May and June, watch for the United States of Asian America Festival, a program of dance music, theater, literary readings and visual arts at various venues sponsored by the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center (864-4120). And, in August, there’s the Alcatraz Challenge Outrigger Race — competitors from around the world go round The Rock — and the Aloha Festival at the San Francisco Presidio parade grounds.

While on the Pacific side, have dinner at another of the city’s first wave of Vietnamese restaurants, for many years a lonely outpost on San Francisco’s western edge, now a popular venue most famed for its succulent roast crab: 61 Thanh Long (4101 Judah; 665-1146).

Resources

Radio and TV: KVTO 1400 AM (648-7980); Tokyo TV, Ch. 26 (650-552-9100). Newspapers: Asian Week (397-0221) weekly; Hokubei Mainchi (567-7323) daily; Manila Mail (650-992-5474) weekly; Nichi Bei Times (921-6820) daily; Philippine News (650-872-3000) weekly; Sing Tao Daily (650-872-1188).

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Festivals

There's a celebration almost every month in the Asian community, joyous events with food, music, dance: Chinese New Year Parade and Vietnamese Tet Festival in February, Asian American Film Festival in March, Japanese Cherry Blossom Festival and Cambodian New Year Festival in April, Korean Min-Sok Festival in May, Fiesta Filipina and Samoan Flag Day in June, Nihonmachi Street Fair in Japantown and Pistahan/Filipino American Arts Exhibition in August, Asian American Jazz Festival, Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival and San Francisco International Dragon Boat Festival in September, and Parol Lantern Festival and Parade in December.