The SFPD’s roundup report yesterday included a burglary in Cole Valley. The report spoke of a burglary that happened in the 800 block of Cole at Carl. A call to the SFPD was unable to confirm the exact location of the business, but likely options include the Ice Cream Bar, Kezar Bar and Crepes on Cole, probably in that order.

Get more information here! 

Want to get up-to-date information about crime in Cole Valley and Haight-Ashbury? Subscribe to the SFPD Park Station's Police Report! Just email them and ask to receive the newsletter. Here the link: http://sf-police.org/index.aspx?page=832

Cole Valley Cardio opened this past weekend and boy do they have a lot of different exercise options. Great to see more choices in our little hood! Check out their website for grand opening specials and more information on classes and membership! 

Want to get involved with CVIA (Cole Valley Improvement Association?), come to their meeting this Saturday!

CVIA is having their annual general meeting this Saturday at Kezar, and they’ll be joined by former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos. On the agenda? The Warriors on the waterfront.

For anyone not up on Agnos’s politics, he’s anti-Warriors on the waterfront, although he does say he would like them to be in San Francisco. You can read his full response here, before he takes his show on the road.

The general meeting with be at Kezar Bar (Cole & Carl) from 1-4pm on Saturday the 24th, and there’s a $10 door charge. In addition to Agnos’s guest speech, CVIA will be electing new officers, talking Cole Valley Street Fair, and presenting some awards. There will be wine, beer, and appetizers, so Steve Schick & Co. ask for you to let them know if you plan to attend. Email CVIASF[at]aol[dot]com to RSVP.

Be there and get involved. That’s an order!

Article originally posted on uppercasing. 

Peet's Coffee is officially open for business in Cole Valley! Neighbors who got there at the crack of dawn yesterday, aka 5:30am, received a free Peet's tumbler as a thanks for being the first customers. Excited for all this caffeine! Come by this Saturday 11-3pm to celebrate their Grand Opening - first 100 customers get a free gift! Welcome to the neighborhood!

If you’ve had the chance to wander into Tantrum since its opening last summer, you have already experienced the peculiar feeling that you’ve been transported to a place that, at one time or another, we’ve all wanted to be. Not because the toys are unique and amazing (they are), and not because everything feels perfect and unaltered by the years. Not even because three year old Thisbe took quarters from the register and offered your kid a free ride on the mechanical seal. Its because they care, and it shows.

Because Amanda Weld and Michelle Spear dreamed up this little world near the corner of Carl & Cole where both parents and kids could enjoy themselves, take a trip back in time, or just live in the moment. Indeed I am the sentimental type, but guess what? So are you. And the beautiful toys and the vintage Beatles memorabilia cards that sit side by side remind you that we’re all kids. We all want to play, and live in the moment and remember, and be young again.

So let’s talk about where it began. Every business begins with a vision, real people, and a story. Here’s the story. Involved in performance art at the start, Amanda recalls her first creative endeavor:

“When I was five or six, I had a sleep over with two or three other girls and I made everyone stay up helping me write a puppet play. The idea was that we could surprise everyone's parents with it when they got picked up in the morning. Needless to say, it was not as well performed or received as I had imagined it would be.”

The same combination of creative talent and critical focus on quality shines through today. Tantrum is not her first business venture. She recounts her previous shop, Poe Studio, a children's clothing and gift store in Charleston, South Carolina:

I was 25 and newly married. (We marry young down south.) I had been managing a print shop that sold cheap prints to tourists and framed them in badly made frames. I quit that to make a living as an illustrator and after graduating (as a Design-illustration major at the Savannah College of Art), Poe Studio was really supposed to be my studio with some kick-knacks up front (if anyone bothered to wander in). I was painting portraits, mostly, and then I heard about such a thing as a "gift show" and with credit card in hand-went to the NY international Gift Show. I hated to shop but had a blast shopping for others! Before I knew it the 300 ft space was filled and the illustration business (or lack thereof) was buried for another day.

The move to San Francisco came a few years later. During a west coast tour of her husband Richard’s  band, A Decent Animal, she decided a more permanent relocation was in order and in 2007, Amanda sold Poe Studio to one of her long-time employees and moved to SF, into a two bedroom apartment above Vierra & Friends Salon.

Fast forward a bit and Amanda, now a five year Cole Valley resident with her husband Richard, 8 year old son Henry and 3.9 year old daughter Thisbe, was still known for throwing amazing vintage-themed birthday parties for her son. Between fond memories of her days at Poe Studio, and hearing friend after friend encourage her to open up a new shop, she eventually decided they were right, and began talking with others about the idea.

And then fate, (as fate does) challenged her resolve by giving her exactly what she needed  only a few months later. Occasions, the bath & body boutique literally around the corner from home, was closing up shop, leaving the perfect space. “It was a chicken before egg scenario. My husband spotted the "Going Out of Business" sign in their window before I had seriously considered opening another store. Then it was like...’Yeah right! Like it could ever happen to open something so close-so quickly!’ ”

As the momentum continued forward, one of the friends she had consulted was Michelle Spear: “Amanda reached out to discuss her opportunity and get my opinion on things. The more I heard, the more I got excited and inspired. From there, it just snowballed into this awesome creative [process] back and forth. We set up a room in my house, covered it with all of our thoughts and ideas and fully concepted the store’s vision. Amanda had an awesome core idea and together we added more and more into it to make Tantrum what it is today. (Miraculous that we did all of that in 2 months! It makes me smile thinking about it.)”

That's right folks, Peet's Coffee will be officially opening this Wednesday! We've definitely been waiting a while, since Tully's closed its door last fall. It looks like there will be some patio tables as well as a few tables inside, including the bench seat next to the window. In typical Peet's fashion, they have an array of coffee and teas, including the new craze: Matcha Lattes. Matcha is basically green tea, so be prepared to receive a green creamy drink from the barista. We're hoping that there will be free wi-fi because as of yet there is no free wifi at any of the coffee shops in the hood (Does La Boulange have it yet?).. 

To all those who wake up when the sun does, you'll be pleased to note that Peet's will be open at 5:30am M-F and 6am Saturday and Sunday. They will close at 8pm daily, which is great considering Tully's always closed so damn early. 

We're excited to welcome Peet's into our hood and happy to have them caffeinate the neighbors!

Every time I pass by the new InVino restaurant, there's always something new going on whether its painting the outside or trying to sneak a peek through the parchment covered windows. Luckily, we got the inside scoop from Tablehopper!! It sure looks a lot different from the old Hama-Ko interior. 

We got some new information thanks to an article on Tablehopper about the new Italian wine bar. Here's what you'll expect from food wise:

"But it’s not just a wine bar, no signore. This enoteca is going to have quite a number of delicioso things to eat, starting with an array of crudi, a variety of toppings on crostone and bruschette, and hello, three different presentations of mozzarella (all these items will be available as single items, or in flights for the ultimate in grazing). There will also be a couple of panini, and a choice selection of cheeses and salumi, plus two or three piatti del giorno, featuring plates like baked pastas and braised meats."

From Tablehopper's article, InVino should be opening around the end of August/beginning of September. Am I sensing a Labor Day weekend opening perhaps? They will be open everyday at 4:30pm except Mondays and look like they will be opening for lunch shortly after they open. 

UPDATE: They recently added signage and a small lamp at the entrance. Got a peek inside one day and saw staff folding napkins and stocking the shelves! Looks like it will be opening very soon!

To read the rest of the article and see some shots of the interior check it out here!