Category: Burlingame’s Best

  • B’game Panthers at Oracle Park…Again!

    This year we get some advance notice of the BHS Panther baseball team playing on the Big Field again. A sharp-eyed reader remembered the post from last April and alerted me to this year’s extravaganza at Oracle. Here’s how the deal works. You buy a ticket to any of ten select Giants game listed here and you get a ticket to the high school game. The Panthers got the top of the card slot at 6pm. From the team:

    Our very own Burlingame HS Varsity Baseball is playing at the Giants stadium! Our baseball program has worked hard to prove we deserve the opportunity to play on the big-league field. We need to sell 1,000 tickets and need your help. Buy your tickets NOW… Here are the details:

    BHS v. Capuchino When: April 11, 2026 at 6PM at Oracle Park

    The corresponding Giants games are sprinkled in May, June and July. The team has a headstart since BYBA has bought tickets for each of their players, so the goal is about 600 more. Again, the link is San Francisco Giants (same as above). Play ball!

  • A bit of the Bit of England

    In another Only-On-The Voice moment, my sleuthing has uncovered rare pieces of Burlingamia that merit being shared with the old timers in town. At the current site of Stella on the Avenew was a local pub called the Bit of England. Very English. Real English ales on tap (I seem to recall it had my favorite, John Courage, and Watney’s). It was far from upscale and that’s what we loved about it.

    It closed about 30 years ago (looking for fact checking help here, old timers. Sir Paul? Mark Lucchesi?) Our buddies Jeff and Barbara Moore were long time B’gamers who eventually decamped for Maui. Jeff had managed to procure the original Bit bar stools and used them with his Tiki Bars in B’game and on Maui. They slipped through his fingers during a move, but he has reacquired them. At his recently completed Tiki bar he and I enjoyed a tipple and a seat on the original Naugahyde Bit of England stools. Anyone with memories of the Bit, please weigh in here. I’ll be chatting with the Historical Society to get a photo or two to add to the Tiki bar.

  • RIP: Pat Giorni

    If you were paying even a little attention to city council and various commission meetings over the last twenty-plus years, you would recognize Pat Giorni by her gravelly voice, fluorescent vest and informed comments made to one and all. Pat passed away on December 7th after being bedridden for several years. That had to be hard for her since she was a ball of energy hosting parties, biking around town and button-holing people to offer her opinion(s).

    I often find council and commission meetings to be like watching paint dry, but Pat had the patience to sit through them and offer public comment that was always very much on point even if it was ignored. She was a true activist and a motivation for many others to get involved to one extent or another. Count me among them. And if I wasn’t too involved, I trusted her take on things.

    It wasn’t just B’game stuff either–Pat had an equal amount of insight on county issues. For all I know, she might have been a regular at county supervisor meetings as well. Transit, planning, parking, public funding, local businesses and helping them (she was a chef for years and it showed at her massive house parties) were all in her wheelhouse.

    If she liked you, you knew it. And if she didn’t you could probably figure it out pretty quickly. She liked my wife and hosted her campaign kick-off party in 2009 (shown here with Jerry Deal in the background). It was something as being around Pat always was. RIP, dear.

  • Interfaith choirs ring true

    Although I am a huge music fan I don’t listen to much choral music outside of church. Upon hearing that there would be an interfaith choir concert at St. Catherine’s on Sunday, I was intrigued and had nothing else to do during our second rainfall of the Fall. What a pleasant surprise the concert proved to be! It was a delight from the opening, somewhat atonal (in a good way) organ solo emanating from the big pipes in St. Cat’s choir loft to the four-choir rendition of Oh Happy Days as the closer.

    I learned that this was the 16th annual concert by the North Peninsula Interfaith Choir. They underestimated how many people would show up such that they were out of programs when I entered so pardon the inexact names of the choirs. St. Paul’s Episcopal church and St. Catherine’s Catholic church represented B’game. San Mateo was represented by the Congregationalist church and the Church of Latter-Day Saints’ choirs. Here’s what it looked like when they all combined for the closer.

  • B’way: John Kevranian resigns from the BID

    Broadway was buzzing today with the announcement that the long-time, tireless BID president is stepping down. John’s letter notes:

    After deep reflection, I am formally resigning from my position as volunteer President of the Broadway Burlingame Business Improvement District, effective November 30, 2025. For 25 years, I have proudly served on the Board — including the past 11 years as President.

    Unfortunately, I can no longer continue in this role in good conscience due to a series of troubling developments that have significantly undermined Broadway’s future and my ability to serve with integrity.

    He notes three reasons that I will include here verbatim, so you get the full impact:

    First, the City of Burlingame’s decision to terminate the Broadway Specific Plan — which was intended to guide development and investment over the next 5, 10, and 20 years — reflects a concerning lack of vision and long-term commitment to Broadway’s prosperity.

    Second, the City Council’s continued refusal to support the reopening of weekday Caltrain service at the Broadway station further demonstrates a lack of understanding of the essential role of transit in our district’s history and future. The station, opened in 1910 as Easton Station in what was then known as Buri Buri, was the very reason the Broadway business district and surrounding apartments were built. When weekday service was removed over 20 years ago, the negative impact was immediate and profound. Restoring service should be a priority — not a political inconvenience.

    Third, in late 2023, I opposed efforts by a City Council member and a Beautification Commissioner to weaken Burlingame’s flavored tobacco laws to benefit a personal associate. In retaliation, on October 8, 2023, both individuals called the Burlingame Police Department and falsely claimed I had threatened the commissioner. These fabricated allegations were clearly intended to intimidate and silence me. This misuse of public authority and law enforcement was not only inappropriate — it crossed a line, both legally and ethically.

    I’m hoping BPD did the minimum perfunctory “investigation” of that last item. Item 1 reminds me of the sentiment on B’way that it is the poor stepchild of the Avenue. John has been a leading advocate for said refresh. I like Broadway a lot and actually spend more time there than on the Ave, but it could use a refresh and that takes help from the city. You have to wonder if moving to tiny district elections has narrowed the focus of city councilmembers.

    It’s a shame John is stepping down, but he will always have a prominent voice in all things B’way. You can listen to Mark Lucchesi interview John here as well.

  • B’game Live on the Ave

    Yesterday was the second of four consecutive days of music on the Avenue with three bands each day. I stumbled upon the stage yesterday morning and that lead me to figure out what was happening later in the day. I wasn’t alone in my serendipitous listening as I watched Sheryl and the Pretenders and Red Hot and the Saltines perform. About a dozen friends stopped by to say hi and most of them also stumbled into the event either that day or the prior day. So here’s your PSA about today and tomorrow. The event is hosted by the City and the Chamber of Commerce whose Event calendar is here.

    In chatting with Mayor Peter Stevenson, we agreed that by next year the “town square” should be complete and we can move the stage off the street and get better acoustics than the solid wall of the Apple store. Both bands were very good. Red Hot is a female singer from Millbrae and she and the Saltines covered everything from Seals & Croft to The Who. Here’s them near the end of their set as dusk set in.

    bgame live

  • Maloufs expand to EssEff

    It was fun seeing the half page spread in the SF Examiner about local luxury clothier Malouf's adding a San Francisco location on Sacramento Street focussed on womenswear.  The journalist asked a nice set of personal questions that are enlightening even to locals who know Sam and Gloria.  Just one example:  at seven years old, Gloria wanted to be a doctor and Sam wasn't thinking about any profession, but knew he loved clothes even before he knew is dad owned a clothing store.

    From Texas to B'game to EssEff.  Congrats.  It takes some grit and confidence to expand brick and mortar retail these days and we wish them the best.  You can download this photo and zoom in for more insights.

    Maloufs SF

  • On the Avenue 2025: Another fun event

    Our annual summer event which a regular reader and I both still call the Art & Wine Festival but is officially Burlingame on the Avenue was another great success.  The crowds both days were just right–enough to have energy and not too many to feel cramped.  As usual my focus was on the bands.  Mike Annuzzi Band was good and Santana tribute band Caravan was outstanding.  Emcee extraordinaire who handled the duties at the Main Stage, Jeff Tateosian, thought it was the best band we've ever brought in for the festival–and he would know.  Terrie Odabi got everyone dancing to a soul-blues mix and the local parents' band, Edgehill California, made the best of a shorter set than their usual.

    The lobster roll truck appeared to do the most business although I never did find the paella booth that is usually my fav.  The Old Post Office space that will eventually be an upscale restaurant is just sitting empty, but people made ample use of the steps and the nice new lawn to watch the bands.  Here's Jeff T. introducing Caravan.

    Bgame on the Ave 2025

  • “A Walk With Wine” draws a huge crowd

    With lovely B'game weather on a Friday afternoon, wine lovers and those who just like a good party were out in force for "A Walk With Wine".  The DBID is to be congratulated on a huge success.  30 merchants poured wine and chatted up the attendees all of whom were in fine spirits.  I went into several establishments that I pass all the time but had never visited.  That's the point.  Penflora Designs, Margaret O'Leary and Del'Oliva all made positive first impressions.  There were bands at Coconut Bay for the check-in and under the pergola across from the Apple store.  That band, called Edgehill, was composed of all local parents who live on or around Edgehill Dr. and apparently have kids at BIS.  They were good and I would have loved to hear more, but the clink of wine bottles called further up the Avenew.  Seeing lots of locals gave me a "It's still a small town" boost.  Here's Edgehill.  If anyone knows more about them, please add a comment.

    Edgehill band

  • B’game: At least we have nice weather

    I get a fair amount of "What's up with California?" messages from my East Coast friends.  Much of what they are asking about I am unable to explain without a grimace.  But the standard closing text is "At least we have nice weather".  There is another episode of me with "Mark at the Mic" Lucchesi coming soon.  We recorded it last week and as Mark and I were commiserating about some of the same things my Eastern friends poke at, you will get a chance to hear me say "at least we have nice weather".

    And we do.  I would go so far as to say that being someone who likes things a little on the cool side, we have spectacular weather.  We are on track for the coldest first half of summer either since 1965 or in the last thirty years, depending on who one listens to.  I love it.  Remember.  Weather is not climate so draw no conclusions of any kind about that.  I love daylight savings time and the Golden Hour before sunset.  Here was the sight last night around 7:30 during a spectacular B'game evening.

    Clouds in July

The Burlingame Voice

Dedicated to Empowering and Informing the Burlingame Community

RECENT COMMENTS

RECENT POSTS

CATEGORIES

ABOUT THE VOICE

The Burlingame Voice is dedicated to informing and empowering the Burlingame community.  Our blog is a public forum for the discussion of issues that relate to Burlingame, California.  Opinions posted on the Burlingame Voice are those of the poster and commenter and not necessarily the opinion of the Editorial Board.  Comments are subject to the Terms of Use.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All content subject to Copyright 2003-2026