![]() "Al didn't want to sell it to anyone who was going to change it, and that's the same feeling I had with Ken," she said.įriedman is no stranger to historic venues. "He's got the same love of the place that I had when I first got the place," she continued, recalling how everyone in town wanted to buy Tosca Cafe when previous owner Al Landi retired in the late 1970s and handed it off to Etheredge, a longtime customer. I didn't even think about other people," Etheredge said. "When I met Ken, it was like everything else fell apart. When the dispute with the landlord went public, several potential suitors came forward, but it was Friedman and Bloomfield who made the best case. The next day, Friedman - who lived in the Bay Area for 10 years before moving to New York - hopped on a plane to meet with Etheredge. ![]() Friedman said Penn called him to tell him Tosca needed to be saved. Nonetheless, the eviction notice sparked worry among regulars, including actor Sean Penn, that the bar's days were numbered. Nevius that he had no intention of closing Tosca, but wanted it to be sold to "somebody who would run it like a business" and pay the rent on time. At the time, Forbes - a shareholder in a company that owns nine strip clubs in San Francisco - told The Chronicle's C.W. Problems with landlordĭespite Tosca's iconic status, its future looked shaky in August, when the bar's landlord, Roger Forbes, served Etheredge with an eviction notice. It dropped food service long ago, but with its signature house Cappuccino - Ghirardelli chocolate, steamed milk and brandy - along with Etheredge's spirited presence and its billing as the third-oldest bar in San Francisco, it became the watering hole for celebrities, politicos and North Beach locals. Tosca Cafe opened on Columbus Avenue in 1919, but when Prohibition hit, it morphed into an Italian restaurant. "It's a big thing to live up to, so we'll be watching," he said. They'll lose all their regulars," said Warren Hinckle, a Tosca regular and former Chronicle columnist who at one point kept the ashes of his late basset hound, Bentley, at the bar. "If they make a false step in San Francisco, it'll be a disaster. Patrons of the North Beach bar are taking the news in stride, with both curiosity and caution. I'm really happy," said Etheredge, who is expected to remain a fixture at Tosca. "I am over the moon, whatever that means.
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