SoMa Thanksgiving Week: Pre-Dinner Races, Cocktails, Dance Parties, Carousel Lighting & More

SoMa Thanksgiving Week: Pre-Dinner Races, Cocktails, Dance Parties, Carousel Lighting & MoreThanksgiving dinner, served in a glass. (Photo: Novela/Facebook)
Brittany Hopkins
Published on November 25, 2015

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Before "turkey fever" sets in too far, here's the top news from the neighborhood this week and a handful of events to keep you festively busy over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

First, tensions are rising over at South Park as the city prepares to remove and replace 38 mature trees as part of the $2.8 million improvement project that's set to begin as early as next week.

With the annual lighting ceremony taking place Saturday evening, we shined a light on the storied vaudeville carousel that graces the corner of Fourth of Howard Streets.


For a bit more neighborhood history, take a look at this 1978 interview with a barber who spent 54 years cutting hair and watching the neighborhood evolve at Seventh and Mission streets.

Looking forward to next month, the French/Scandinavian brasserie Volta — a year in the making at Mission and Fifth Streets — will open in the next few weeks. Here's a better idea of what you can expect from the upscale eatery from the award-winning team at Perbacco and Barbacco in the Financial District.

Unfortunately, a few long-time SoMa neighbors are preparing to depart the neighborhood.

InsideScoop reported this morning that Francis Ang, the "much-respected" sous chef and pastry chef at Dirty Habit, is saying good-bye next week. He's off to travel in the Philippines with his wife for a few months before returning to San Francisco to work on his own restaurant concept, Pinoy Heritage.

And, as we previously reported, SoMa Artists Studios must vacate its Fifth and Bryant home by Nov. 30. Before artist Amy Ahlstrom could pack up her belongings, however, a fire in the building destroyed $30,000 worth of art and supplies in her studio. Those who would like to help Ahlstrom replace the tools and materials she lost are encouraged to do so through GoFundMe.

Finally, before we jump into this weekend's to-do list, some interesting Black Friday news from the CEO of Wood Thumb, Chris Steinrueck. Rather than dropping prices like most retailers, Wood Thumb is driving them up 20 percent, with the extra proceeds going to the makers behind the shop's hand-crafted wooden merchandise. "Even if you don’t end up buying something from Wood Thumb on Friday, I urge you to keep the people behind the products in mind as you look for presents this holiday season," Steinrueck says in an open letter to customers about the decision.

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