Rugby World Cup Sevens Makes US Debut in San Francisco, July 20-22

 

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 will be played by the 40 best men's and women's international teams at AT&T Park on July 20–22, 2018. Rugby fans from around with world – many of whom will be outfitted in colorful costumes and country colors – will experience rugby sevens, a faster-paced format that features 15 minute matches and seven players from each team.

 

This is the first time the Rugby World Cup Sevens will be held in the United States of America.  Rugby sevens has proven to be a major factor in America's rapidly growing interest of the sport, which was kick-started by rugby sevens inclusion in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

 

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to the largest rugby market in America and will be in the spotlight as global media outlets descend here in July for coverage. Rugby is one of the most popular team sports in the world and is the fastest growing sport on U.S. college campuses today.  For more information, visit www.rwcsevens.com.

 

San Francisco Restaurants Take Top Honors in James Beard Foundation Awards

 

Four San Francisco chefs and restaurants were winners at the James Beard Awards, the top culinary accolades in the United States.   Dominique Crenn, creator of Atelier Crenn, Petit Crenn and Bar Crenn, was named Best Chef: West, which includes California, Nevada and Hawaii.  Belinda Leong and Michel Suas of B.Pastisserie in San Francisco were named Outstanding Baker.  Zuni Café was honored for Outstanding Service.  The award for Outstanding Restaurant Design (76 seats and over) went to In Situ, the new restaurant inside SFMOMA.

 

San Francisco has been home to Best Chef: West several times.   Traci Des Jardins of Jardiniere, who won it in 2007. Prior winners of the regional award include Corey Lee of Benu (2017), Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski of State Bird Provisions (2015), Daniel Patterson of Coi (2014), Michael Tusk of Quince (2011) and Nancy Oakes of Boulevard (2001).  The Slanted Door was named Outstanding Restaurant overall in 2014.

 

San Francisco is also richly endowed with globally-recognized Michelin stars.  In fact, there are more Michelin three-star restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area than in New York City, and a total of 55 stars awarded throughout the region.  Of the 2018 James Beard Award winners, Atelier Crenn has two stars and In Situ has one star.

 

San Francisco Welcomes New Hotels with More to Come

 

• The Lodge at the Presidio (105 Montgomery St.) is now accepting reservations and will open in June 2018.  Located in a national park, the Lodge at the Presidio will provide unparalleled views of the Golden Gate Bridge, the park's lush 300-acre forest, San Francisco Bay and the iconic city skyline. The 42-room lodge will be housed in the historic Montgomery Street barracks built by the U.S. Army in 1895-1897. It will celebrate the area's past with artisan details and memorabilia, complemented by modern finishes and furnishings, and will include a courtyard garden with a fire pit, front porches with rocking chairs, a large dining room lounge, and more.   

 

• Virgin Hotel San Francisco (250 Fourth St.)  will open in August 2018.   The second U.S. hotel in the lifestyle hotel brand by Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson, the San Francisco property will be managed by Virgin Hotels and developed by Paradigm Hotels Group.  The new building will feature 196 Chambers and Grand Chamber Suites; multiple dining and drinking outlets, including the brand's flagship space, The Commons Club; a coffee shop; numerous meeting spaces; and a rooftop bar.

 

• Yotel San Francisco (1095 Market St.) will open in Fall 2018.  This is the first brand's first West Coast hotel.  Together with Yotel's majority shareholder IFA Hotels & Resorts and its partners, New York based real estate developer Synapse Capital is currently converting the historic Grant Building into 203 cabins. Located in the vibrant mid-market neighborhood, Yotel San Francisco will be at the heart of the tech-driven office, residential and retail resurgence of this rapidly transforming area which is home to companies such as Twitter, Yammer, Zendesk, Spotify, Square, Uber and Benchmark Capital.

 

• Hyatt Place (701 3rd Street) will open in October 2018. This 230 room, 103,000 square feet full service hotel is located near AT&T Park in San Francisco.  The LEED Platinum project includes vegetated roofs, a grey water system, and highly sustainable mechanical systems.  There is a public courtyard at the ground level and roof decks for hotel guests on the 9th and 12th levels.

 

• Grand Hyatt at San Francisco International Airport will open in July 2019. This new luxury hotel is located on airport grounds.    Grand Hyatt at SFO will feature 351 rooms, 15,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, a selection of full-service and casual restaurants, a Grand Club lounge and an extensive fitness center.  The hotel is being designed to achieve both a four-star designation and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for environmentally sustainable design and operation. Located at the entrance to SFO, the 4.7-acre hotel site is close to terminal buildings and parking garages and enjoys direct access to the AirTrain light rail system. 

 

• AC Hotel by Marriott (425 Mason St.) will open in September 2019.  Plans include converting the former headquarters of the San Francisco Water Department into a 77-room AC Hotel featuring a rooftop bar and ground-level restaurant and bar, while retaining all historic elements.   The site is located one block away from Union Square, which is world-renowned for shopping, restaurant, hotel, and entertainment offerings.

 

Two San Francisco Museums Exhibitions Explore How Fashion Affects the Wearer and the World

 

Aug. 30, 2018–Jan. 6, 2019: “Veiled Meanings: Fashioning Jewish Dress, from the Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem” at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

 

 “Veiled Meanings: Fashioning Jewish Dress from the Collection of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem” showcases a sumptuous array of apparel from over twenty countries on four continents offers an exceptional opportunity for American audiences to experience many facets of Jewish identity and culture through rarely seen garments.  An extraordinary range of textile designs and clothing illuminates the story of how diverse global cultures have thrived, interacted and inspired each other for centuries. The featured clothing represents Jewish communities from Afghanistan, Algeria, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, Germany, Georgia, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, Israel, Italy, Libya, Morocco, Poland, Romania, Tunisia, Turkey, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Yemen. Foregrounding color, texture, function, artistry, and craftsmanship, “Veiled Meanings” also offers an incisive and compelling examination of diversity and migration through the lens of fashion.

 

Sept. 22, 2018–Jan. 6, 2019: “Contemporary Muslim Fashions” at the De Young Museum

“Contemporary Muslim Fashions” is the first major museum exhibition in the US and globally to explore the complex and diverse nature of Muslim fashions and current modest dress codes. Organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, this pioneering exhibition will examine how Muslim women have become arbiters of style within and beyond their communities and, in so doing, have drawn attention to the variations and nuances of their contemporary lives.  Spotlighting places, garments, and styles from around the world, the exhibition will traverse different religious cultures and interpretations - ranging from high-end fashion, to street wear and commissioned couture from emerging and established designers - in order to consider how Muslims define themselves and are defined by their dress.

 

Moscone Center Expansion Nears Completion

 

The completion of the $551 million expansion to Moscone Center will be celebrated in January 2019, bringing the center's total exhibit space to more than 504,000 sq. ft.

 

The location of the Moscone Center continues to be an asset in itself, just a few minutes' walk from 22,000 of the city's 33,000-plus hotel rooms, world-class dining, shopping and cultural venues including museums, galleries and theatres.

 

About 40 percent of the expansion opened in September 2017 and has been in active use.  

 

The expansion project will add more than 157,000 gross sq. ft. of flexible meeting space to Moscone North and South on Howard Street.  The addition creates more than 504,000 gross sq. ft. to be used as contiguous exhibition space or flexible meeting space.  There will be the ability to have over 80 meeting rooms.

 

Expanded lobbies in Moscone's North and South buildings will total approximately 60,000 sq. ft.  Two new floors of column-free meeting space include a 50,000-square-foot ballroom.

 

The project also includes two new pedestrian bridges across Howard Street, the East Bridge and West Bridge. The East bridge will allow event attendees to access the upper levels of Moscone North and Moscone South without returning to ground level.  It will also feature a public art piece designed by Leo Villareal, who also designed the iconic Bay Lights on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

 

The project also includes the addition of a San Francisco Visitor Information Center staffed by San Francisco Travel, open to attendees and all visitors.

 

Chase Center - A Unique Sports-Entertainment Complex – Coming in 2019

 

A first-of-its-kind in San Francisco, Chase Center will serve as a world-class sports and entertainment destination; one that's home to a championship basketball team – the Golden State Warriors - a tremendous culinary scene, engaging retail and some of the world's most innovative companies.  The venue will seat more than 18,000 people and host more than 200 events per year including sporting events, concerts, conventions and more.   For more information, visit www.chasecenter.com.

 

San Francisco International Airport

San Francisco International Airport (SFO), the western gateway to North America, continues to upgrade and expand its facilities with the redevelopment of Terminal 1, slated to be completed in 2024. The work will not affect service at the airport. In fact, SFO will continue adding routes throughout the year:

 

• Interjet service to Guadalajara and Cancun (March)
• Hong Kong Airlines service to Hong Kong (March)
• Iberia service to Madrid (April)
• Air Canada service to Edmonton (May)
• French Bee service to Paris Orly and Papeete (May)
• Icelandair service to Reykjavik (June)
• United service to Zurich (June)
• Qantas service to Melbourne (September)
• United service to Papeete (October)
• El Al service to Tel Aviv (November)
• LATAM service to Lima (January 2019)

 

Anniversaries to Note:

 

2018 – 100th anniversary of the founding of Save the Redwoods League, https://www.savetheredwoods.org/

2018 – 75th anniversary of the National Liberty Ship Memorial/SS Jeremiah O'Brien,  www.ssjeremiahobrien.org

2018 – 60th anniversary of the Giants baseball team moving to San Francisco, www.mlb.com/giants 

2018 – 55th anniversary of Alcatraz Island's closure as a federal prison, www.alcatrazcruises.com 

2018 – 50th anniversary of the film “Bullitt,” with the famous car chase over the hills of San Francisco. (1968)

2018 – 40th anniversary of Carnaval, May 26-27, www.carnavalsanfrancisco.org/

2018 – 40th anniversary of the Ethnic Dance Festival, July 14-15 and 21-22, http://worldartswest.org/main/edf_index.asp

2018 – 25th anniversary of the weekly Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, https://cuesa.org/markets/ferry-plaza-farmers-market

2018 – 10th anniversary of Sunday Streets, transforming up to four miles of city streets into car-free spaces for community health and connection. http://sundaystreetssf.com

2019 – 50th anniversary of the Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu

2019 – 50th anniversary of Old First Concerts, www.oldfirstconcerts.org

2020 – 30th anniversary of the sea lions' arrival at PIER 39

2020 – 150th anniversary of Golden Gate Park

 

 

The San Francisco Travel Association is the official destination marketing organization for the City and County of San Francisco. For information on reservations, activities and more, visit www.sftravel.com, read The San Francisco Traveler or call 415-391-2000. 

San Francisco Travel operates Visitor Information Centers at Hallidie Plaza, 900 Market St. at the corner of Powell and Market streets, and on the lower level of Macy's Union Square.  San Francisco Travel is also a partner at the California Welcome Center at PIER 39.  For more about San Francisco, follow www.facebook.com/onlyinSF, www.instagram.com/onlyinsf and https://twitter.com/onlyinsf.

 

American Express® is the official Card partner of the San Francisco Travel Association.

 

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) offers non-stop service by 41 international carriers serving 49 international cities and connects non-stop with 83 cities in the U.S. on 13 domestic airlines.  SFO offers upgraded free Wi-Fi with no advertising. For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit www.flysfo.com. Follow SFO on www.twitter.com/flysfo and  www.facebook.com/flysfo.