Good Taste is a menu for eating well in the Bay Area. This week, it’s also a recipe for where to go for music that’s presented with as much love as the food: Side A (2814 19th Street, SF). Subscribe to our newsletters, including Good Taste, for more delicious food & drink news delivered to your inbox.
DJ and music industry vet Caroline Brown and her chef husband Parker Brown opened their restaurant-slash-vinyl listening bar Side A on May 1 in the former Universal Cafe space in San Francisco. They were met with a popular response from the public—many of whom are seeing records for the first time—and glowing reviews from restaurant critics and the DJ community alike.
Side A’s trick placing equal value on the music, which comes out of a fresh Tub sound system from New Zealand, and the food: Parker’s edible bangers, like his bone marrow-assisted cheeseburger, cheese fries dripping with smoked trout roe and caviar, and a small but mighty carrot cake with pecans, are just the jam.
“We couldn’t really ask for a better scenario with our debut restaurant,” Caroline tells Good Taste. “It’s going really well. We’re feeling the love!”
Caroline books guest DJs on Fridays and Saturdays, and it’s her mission to create a place where DJs feel respected, a joy in this era of automated playlist mush. She’s inspired by the best elements of the many local places where she’s spun vinyl, including where she got her start (and this writer also played many a wonderful DJ night), Pop’s Bar in the Mission.
“I want you to feel like a king or queen for the night,” she says of the DJs she books to play at Side A. “I want you to share your favorite records, without worrying about keeping a dance floor going—the ones that make you happiest when you play them at home. I want you to have an audio recording of your set, giving your time some extra value.
“I want to pay you fairly. I want to host you all night, and refill your water, and serve you really great food while you’re DJing. It’s really cool to see some of my DJ friends experience what we’re providing, because there’s no other experience like it in the city currently.”
Other days, she’s hitting the decks herself, hard.
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“When I’m DJing on Thursdays, Sundays, and Mondays, for the most part, they’re like seven hour sets,” she says. “And it’s just been so cool getting to really know all these records that we’ve been collecting for this purpose. Seeing and hearing and feeling how well they are playing in the room. I look forward to growing that collection, and continuing to share great music with people in this awesome and tangible way.”
Caroline’s background is in talent booking and creative programming, and hopes to increase Side A’s entertainment side as the business takes root. “At first it was going to be about just hosting DJs, but I think there’s more programming to be done,” she says. “One surprise has been how much I’m actually playing in my own booth, having that experience every night. It’s just surreal that I am doing that for a living right now.”
Monday through Friday mornings, Side A also hosts The Coffee Movement and helps the pop-up with its offerings, including coffee soft serve, donuts, and carrot cake trifles made from the previous night’s leftover cakes.
“People are in the mood for carrot cake in the morning more than I would have expected,” she says. “It’s pretty savage.”
Tamara publishes the California Eating and Food Book Club newsletters.
