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Vol. 46 • No. 50 • December 15-21, 2016www.ebar.com V www.bartabsf.com

On the Town Save Our Stud Update Shining Stars

{ THIRD OF THREE SECTIONS }

We three queens

Finally, Finn TownCastro restaurant opens with style

Jackie Beat, Alaska Thunderfuck, and Courtney Act at Oasis

by Jim Gladstone

Three wisecracking queens are making their way to Oasis, bear-ing the gifts of gab and song. In something of a Christmas coup, the club has booked solo holiday shows from a troika of

tinseled drag queens in a single week. See page 24 >>

by Sari Staver

Rick Hamer’s long-time dream to open a restaurant in the Castro was much more expensive, time consuming, and difficult

than he expected.See page 25 >>

Left to Right: Jackie Beat, Alaska Thunderfuck, and Courtney Act each perform holiday-themed shows at Oasis.

Finn Town co-owners Ryan Scott and Rick Hamer.

Sari

Stav

er

From delays and obstacles in getting building permits from the city to a tight job market, it took Hamer more than a year to build out the space at 2251 Market Street where Finn Town Tavern opened on December 2. The space was for-merly occupied by Barracuda Sushi and, very briefly, ManDu and Janchi Korean.

But one week after the restaurant opened, the 55-year-old Castro resi-dent said that despite the frustra-tions, he is “very happy to have the chance to bring my neighborhood something that was missing: a com-fortable place to hang out. With great comfort food with a twist.”

Before it was known as the Castro and Eureka Valley, the neighbor-hood was known as Finn Town, said Hamer, because it had been popu-lated with Finnish people.

A year ago, Hamer and busi-ness partner Ryan Scott, a Top Chef alumni, signed a lease on the store-front, hoping they’d be open in sev-eral months, but it took more than ten months longer than expected.

But on Friday, Dec. 2, after a friends and family soft opening a week earlier, the partners opened the doors of their sumptuous tavern to a full house of diners, most from the neighborhood. It is now open seven nights a week for dinner with late bar bites as well as weekend brunch.

The first week, said Hamer in an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, was “thankfully, great,” he said. “We’ve been slammed the entire time and the reception from the neigh-borhood has been great.”

Hamer describes the food as “contemporary comfort food with a twist” and says the menu is “completely up to Ryan,” who began his career at the upscale restaurant Gary Danko and had previously owned Market and Rye, which is now closed.

Already, said Hamer, the restau-rant has begun to attract “regulars.” Several people have already been back four or five times, and another has grabbed the bar stool on the end as his “regular spot.”

Feedback from customers has been very positive, Hamer added. “You can’t imagine how satisfying it has been to hear people say how much they have enjoyed their eve-ning,” he said.

There have been a few mishaps, Hamer admitted. Because the crowds were larger than expected, the restaurant ran out of a few items.

“A few customers told us that their food had been a bit too salty,” he said, “and that’s just the kind of feedback we want to hear so we can make adjustments.”

And on other occasions, a cus-tomer appeared to have had too much to drink, “but we made sure they got home safely,” he said.

Special events will happen regu-larly at Finn Town, promised Ham-er. During week one, the restaurant had its largest crowds when it an-nounced that it would be broad-casting the premier of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and on another evening, two versions of the movie Hairspray, both screened on the large TV above the bar.

Next on the calendar is “Santa’s Little Secret” on Christmas Eve, when dinner guests wearing red will get a complimentary Fireball

cocktail. Plans for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day will be an-nounced soon on the restaurant’s website, www.Finntownsf.com.

Cheers in the CastroFor the time being, Hamer is in

the restaurant every night until clos-ing, greeting customers and making sure everyone is comfortable. As he watches the interactions at the res-taurant’s two bars, “I think we’ve got a Cheers in the Castro.”

A self-described “foodie,” Ham-er said opening a restaurant was a dream he’d wanted to fulfill for many years. Although he’d been a silent investor in several other res-taurants, Finn Town was his first hands-on experience.

After two decades in corporate marketing (“I was the oldest prod-uct manager at Yahoo,” he noted), Hamer decided to make a career change into property management, a field he learned from his family, and a business that he still operates. As a child, he notes, weekends were often spent “cleaning apartments and eating at KFC.”

After moving into the Castro six years ago, Hamer said he realized that the neighborhood was underserved when it came to good restaurants.

“I mean, c’mon, don’t gay people like nice things?” he asked rhetori-cally. Hamer is openly gay.

Several years earlier, Hamer had met Ryan Scott, and the two became quick friends, trading ideas about opening a restaurant together some day. In the meantime, Hamer got involve in fundraising events where, on several occasions, he led a group of volunteers who prepared dinners for over 500 people. He also took a 12-week cooking class “to learn some of the basics.”

When two of Hamer’s favorite neighborhood restaurants –2223 Market and Home– closed, his vi-sion for a niche came into sharper focus.

“I didn’t have a place to hang out where I could get really good com-fort food,” he said.

When a number of financial backers expressed enthusiasm for backing Hamer, “I got serious about researching the neighborhood.”

He looked at a dozen available locations before he saw 2251 Mar-ket, “which I knew immediately was right.” Several investor “parties” yielded the five-figure capital he knew would be needed.

“The money was never a problem. I wish I could’ve said that about the

city. For all they say about help-ing small business, they cer-tainly threw a lot of roadblocks in our way. Thank goodness for the Castro Merchants’ As-sociation and all the help they provided to us to navigate the sometimes rocky waters.”

As construction progressed, Hamer realized that the res-taurant job market “was even tighter” than we’d thought. Ironically, he noted, he has been flooded with resumés since the restaurant opened. “Now we’re totally staffed,” he said.

Opening Finn Town has been an “exhausting process,” said Hamer. With barely time to catch his breath, Hamer intends

to start work to open another res-taurant in the Castro by next spring. Earlier this year, he signed a lease on the storefront at 544 Castro, previ-ously occupied by Dante’s Table, and before that, Nirvana.

Hamer and Scott, his partner in this venture as well, intended to begin renovation and planning as soon as Finn Town had opened. “That’s all I’m able to say about it right now,” Hamer said. t

Finn Town Tavern and Restau-rant, 2251 Market Street. 626-3466. Sun-Wed 5pm-12:30am. Thu-Sat 5pm-1:30am Sat. & Sun. brunch 10am-2pm. www.finntownsf.com

December 15-21, 2016 • Bay area reporter • 25t Read more online at www.ebar.com

<< Finally, Finn Town From page 23

MARKET ST

NO

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16TH ST

CASTRO

ST

17TH ST

15TH ST

Serving the Castro since

1981

Cafe | Restaurant | Catering

288 Noe Street, SF(415) 431-7210lamednoe.com

@LaMedNoeLa Mediterranee Noe

288 Noe Street, SF • (415) 431-7210 • lamednoe.com

CAFE | RESTAURANT | CATERING

Serving the Castro since 1981

㐀㔀 ⴀ㔀　　 ⴀ㈀㘀㈀　

Beet blini with caviar, cured salmon and creme fraiche at Finn TownLara Hata

Above: Pot Roast, truffled celery, mashed potato, gravy and vegetables. Below: Lobster cioppino for two with grilled foccacia.

Both Photos: Lara Hata