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Sunset Beacon – Canvas Cafe Shuts Doors, Seafood Restaurant to Open
Offering $3 pints of beer and other drink specials along with DJ-hosted music all night long, the Canvas Cafe had its going out of business party on April 28. “It has been a seven-year run, and we had a wonderful time” said Canvas owner Matt Blair. He has no plans to reopen elsewhere in the Sunset.
Occupying what once had been an empty lot in the Sunset District at Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way, the Canvas Cafe was designed to accommodate art installations and serve as a performance venue. Blair said that many artists got their start at the Canvas, “and that is an accomplishment I am most proud of.” Working as the Canvas’ general manager and promoter, Marcus De Jong often hosted music parties at the cafe, such as the After-The-Parade Party this past March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day. Serving as a DJ, he provided various mixes of music from club beats to international music.
Blair apparently had greater ambitions for the Canvas as a venue, hoping to draw in more of the 20- to 30-year-old crowds who frequent the Inner Sunset area at night. “It is not easy managing a business in San Francisco as costs keep rising,” said Blair. “People enjoyed the place and I am happy to have been there.”
Pacific Catch Restaurant, operated by president and part owner Aaron Noveshen, will be taking over the space and anticipates opening late summer. ”We are San Franciscans, locally based and we want to offer a high quality, affordable place to eat that is kid-friendly and part of the neighborhood,” he said. Noveshen lives in the Sunset with his family. He said Pacific Catch has two other locations, one in the Marina District and the other in Corte Madera. “We are popular as we have been featured in write ups online with Citysearch, in the SF Chronicle and the Marin Independent Journal,” he said.
Specializing in seafood of the Pacific, hence the name Pacific Catch, Noveshen and his staff are “extremely excited about opening up at Ninth and Lincoln,” he said. “The new locale will have a full bar and be able to accommodate more people,” Noveshen said.
Jonathan Farrell
The Sunset Beacon
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