By Joe Bonadio
When I relocated to San Francisco from New York back in 2006, I was fortunate enough to choose North Beach as my new home. Having lived here a few years earlier, I knew something about the city, and I liked the vibe of this neighborhood. Everyone seemed to know everyone else, and you could walk to everything you needed. The place looked like a movie set, and there was music, great restaurants, and bars that predated the automobile. As far as I was concerned, North Beach checked all the boxes.
I was working remotely for a New York firm, so it took a while for me to make friends. But I kept at it, worked hard during the day and went out most nights. They say most of us spend our lives looking to recreate the home that we left behind as children, and I suppose that’s what I was doing.
One place that made all the difference for me in the beginning was a little wine bar called Delluva, which opened up on Green Street just a month or two after I arrived. It was at that wine bar that I would meet most of my new San Francisco friends, including Nils Marthinsen–one of the best of the lot, and the subject of this article.
Nils would end up buying that same bar a few years later, and lo and behold, I still hang out there today. Of course, these days its called Belle Cora–and somehow, this week will mark the place’s tenth anniversary. Since it’s a good story (and because it’s an anniversary we share, as you’ll see), I sat down with Nils to talk about the milestone. Lightly edited for length and clarity, our interview is below.
Joe Bonadio (JB): How are you, man?
Nils Marthinsen (NM): I’m doing well man. I feel good and I’m happy to sit down with you again after 10 years.
JB: I know, it’s kind of crazy right?
NM: It is crazy.
JB: We’re sitting right now in front of Belle Cora, which has been your place for that past ten years. And I guess the best way to start the story is this: I first met you inside, about 30 feet away from here. Right in front of the bar, back when it was Delluva.
NM: Before it was even this bar, yeah.
JB: What was that, 2009?
NM: I’ve lived in the neighborhood since 2008, 2009. So yeah, that’s about right.
JB: We got to be friends right away.
NM: Yes, we did.
Nils Marthinsen at his restaurant and bar Belle Cora in North Beach, now celebrating its tenth year. | Photo: Joe Bonadio
JB: Now jump forward to 2015, just six, seven years later. Do you remember, before you bought the place, when you and Teague came to me, and Tom and Carolyn and a few of the other Delluva regulars–to ask us if you bought the place, if we’d still come?
NM: Oh yeah, that’s right. I had forgotten that. In my mind, it was a fait accompli. Yeah, we were testing the waters. We bought the place in 2014, and we built it out and opened up in July of 2015.
So yeah, it would have been then that we talked to you guys. That was just the due diligence you’ve got to do before you open the space, to gauge what kind of goodwill is going to carry over, and what kind of clientele you can expect. And we were lucky to keep you guys.
JB: Well, there was never really a doubt. Meanwhile, at the same time you’re building out this bar, I’m busy building my website, and starting Joe Content.
NM: Yeah, and we were your first client.
JB: That’s right!
NM: And we’ve been kind of in lockstep ever since then.
JB: You were my first test client. I’m not going to mention in this interview how much you paid me, because I think we’d both be a little embarrassed.
Nils in action on a busy night at Belle Cora, which has transformed since the move to full liquor. | Photo Courtesy Belle Cora
NM: But we made it through it!
JB: Yes, we did. I was writing about the neighborhood, about the history of North Beach and our place in the city. Your blog is still there. And we’ve always shared that affinity for history, and that love for San Francisco and its past.
Okay, then we jump forward to 2019, and things in North Beach are getting a little bit dicey. If you recall, well ahead of COVID, it wasn’t looking too good around here.
NM: Yeah, the neighborhood was looking crummy. It had been in a slow decline, and we were seeing a lot of attrition. Bars were closing, and regulars, characters, bartenders….people were kind of dropping off for one reason or another. But we always had faith that things worked cyclically, and that we could come back out of it. Which is crazy, because that’s what happened with COVID.
The patio at Belle Cora, complete with the picturesque willows, has become a hub for the North Beach community. | Photo Courtesy Belle Cora
You know, when COVID first happened, I was at a base level of resignation: thinking it’s just too hard to keep this little wine bar alive.
JB: I remember that last get-together right before the citywide shutdown. It did feel a bit like a wake.
NM: Yes. And it was interesting, because at that point there are no assumptions and it gives you a chance to start almost fresh. And after that we just took one step after another. First, I didn’t want to sell the business with a cellar full of wine during the pandemic. So we opened the window, and we were selling all bottles at 50 percent off.
JB: I’ve had friends who spend a lot of time in Italy say that when they came back to San Francisco after the change, it reminded them of being there.
NM: And a lot of people don’t realize, North Beach was the first neighborhood to do parklets. My business partner Teague was the one that orchestrated the first round of parklets in North Beach. He did a deal with a semi-pro baseball team somewhere in California, whether it was San Jose or Sacramento, I forget. But we bought this AstroTurf that’s still here at Belle Cora now. There were 12 different bars that got on board, and we got 17 rolls of the stuff.
They dropped it off with a flatbed truck, and when it arrived, they said all right: Take it off. We didn’t realize that each roll weighed 800 to 1,000 pounds. So we had 8 or 10 of us moving each roll off the truck. Because so many bars had this AstroTurf, we were all saying Green Street is green again.
And we did all this before there was any sort of legislation or permitting. It was sort of beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission, and it really put North Beach back on the upswing. Like I said before, things are cyclical, and that brought the cycle around for us. Other neighborhoods seemed to wait and see if this COVID restriction thing was a fad, or if it was going to go away. And we kind of just came out guns blazing. I think that really helped put North Beach back on a positive trajectory.
JB: Everybody came back to North Beach. All of a sudden, it was the place to be again.
NM: Yeah. Since then, they’ve figured out the code and the legislation, and we’ve adapted and followed all those codes and rules. But it really was a spark that reignited a lot of business in the neighborhood. It definitely changed the face of the neighborhood.
JB: North Beach has always been a quaint and lovely place, so why wouldn’t we be outside? Outside is our best side.
NM: Absolutely. We’re so lucky here with the great willow trees that we’ve got, and being able to do live music on the street. The live music helped a lot too, and I think it helps a lot of the businesses around us, because the music kind of permeates the whole area. People sitting outside at the other businesses can still listen in. Sometimes they’ll walk over from across the street to tip the band.
North Beach is known for its live music and its innovation, and its heart, really. It’s so great to see that heartbeat going strong.
JB: Thanks, Nils. And congratulations again.
NM: Thank you, Joe.
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If anything, Nils understates the extent to which the parklet addition–and the subsequent purchase of a full liquor license–changed the outlook for Belle Cora, and for what the place offered to the community. On one hand, the extra outdoor space converted what were unsightly parking spots into an idyllic performance space. With the change, the shaded area under the willow trees came into its own as the perfect spot to relax and listen to live music.
On the other, the step up to full liquor changed the demographic at Belle Cora. While you still see kids who definitely should be carded coming in, there are also plenty of parents with their adult children–and others with their little ones, some still in carriages. And of course, this being North Beach, lots and lots of dogs. Belle Cora has become the place for everyone.
After speaking with Nils, I had the chance to speak with his partner Teague Kernan for just a moment at his other bar, Tupelo. I asked him: What does it take to make it to ten years?
“Running a bar in San Francisco, or anywhere, is a never ending job. You always have to be diligently working to improve your place,” the veteran barman told me. “And you’ve got to understand the changes in your neighborhood, and the city….and the world.
“It’s exhausting. Anybody in this industry knows how difficult it is to even make it three years. So I’m super proud of Nils, and of everything we’ve accomplished there,” Kernan said. “But the work’s not done. We still have to get up earlier than we should to stay alive. But we love the work, so we do it.”
Meanwhile, be sure not to miss the party this Saturday. Teague will be playing live starting right at 2:00 pm, and in a great treat for longtime regulars, San Franpsycho will be live printing custom Belle Cora t-shirts from 4:00-6:00 pm. Don’t miss it!
Congratulations to both Nils and Teague on this impressive milestone.
Now….on to the party. Details are below–and I’ll see you there!
Belle Cora’s Tenth Anniversary
565 Green Street
Saturday, July 26th
2:00 PM – Close