There's a real lack of acceptable bagels in this town.  Wise Sons was a step in the right direction, but their bagels are only sold on Saturdays.  Luckily, now there's Schmendricks, who'll be having their bagels sold out of local cafes (beginning with Fayes on 18th) STARTING TOMORROW:

So, how about we finally let you taste some bagels? This Sunday (February 26, 2012), we'll be selling some Schmendricks outside of Fayes Video & Espresso Bar on 18th Street in the Mission. We're viewing this as a sort of baby step in the direction of our official launch, but we hope a few of you will be able to come out and join us. A fresh bagel with a schmear and a cup of Faye's coffee should be a pretty good way to start your Sunday.

There's a really long SF Weekly article if you want to know more about their roots.  Or, you could just show up tomorrow morning and START STUFFING YOUR FACE.

These guys have been stenciling the Mission in anticipation of their big show, and now they're ready to grace Public Works with a giant, beautifully cultish celebration of all things Bowie:

Experience David Bowie's love this Sunday, 2/26 at Public Works featuring a special service from the Mission's own Bowie worship band The First Church of the Sacred Silversexual.  After a year in the making based out of a garage on Florida and 25th, we're ready to share with our neighborhood a musical, theatrical, sparkly spectacle of a show that tap dances the line between religion and revelry, beatitude and blasphemy, rock show, and revival.

And here's what they they sound like covering Ziggy Stardust:

If that's not enough to get you in the door, they're promising $3 “Stardust shooters” (??? !!!) until 10pm and $3 beers all night.

Tickets are only $5 if you get 'em early, so head over to Eventbrite and slap down your credit card.

Following up on the rumors we posted about Wednesday alleging that Bay Area bakery chain La Boulange was slated to move into the i/o Ventures space formerly occupied by The Summit, both i/o and La Boulange have issued responses denying the bakery is slated to move into 780 Valencia.

i/o Ventures partner Ashwin Navin responded to a press inquiry from Mission Local, denying the story outright and reaffirming that Jose Ramos is scheduled to open up 780 Cafe this week:

“As long as we’re in the building,” Navin said, “we’ll always try to give the start-up entrepreneur a chance, and right now we’re happy to see Jose Ramos take the torch. Let’s show him the love and support he has offered the whole community in the Mission over the last 10-plus years.

“Jose Ramos and his family subleased the space from the Summit and will operate under the exact same rental figures, which are below what other businesses pay their landlords on Valencia Street. If Jose can keep his payroll and operating costs under control, we are confident he can turn a profit.”

However, La Boulange's owner Pascal Rigo statement to Uptown reveals that La Boulange, in fact, looked into moving into The Summit, suggesting that Navin's statement that i/o is “always [trying] to give the start-up entrepreneur a chance” was disingenuous:

We are very focused on serving and giving back to our communities and the neighborhoods we operate in. We did look at the space last year, but we were not interested in moving forward with it. We really appreciate the energy and the diversity of the Mission and we receive a lot of requests from La Boulange customers to open one of our bakery/cafés in this part of the city. We would love to do it if the right opportunity arises.

Ashwin's statement on Jose “keeping payroll” and “[turning] a profit” is also consistent with the rumors we've heard that Jose—who has no formal business experience—and 780 Cafe is being propped up to fail so i/o can assert that local businesses were unable to make the space profitable and they need a corporate entity to come in turn it around.

Another interesting statement from Ashwin was “as long as we're in the building, we'll always try to give the start-up entrepreneur a chance.”  Perhaps, given the rumored financial instability of i/o, they're looking to sell the space?  Given the real estate boom along the Valencia corridor, i/o could sell their building and easily turn a profit.

[Note: i/o Ventures and Ashwin Navin have both so far declined to respond our inquiries thus far]

UPDATE: We've posted a follow-up to this story, with responses from i/o Ventures and La Boulange.

We've been hearing a lot of rumors lately about the location formerly occupied by The Summit on Valencia at 19th.  A couple weeks ago, “Chicken” John Rinaldi dropped us a note telling us that a realtor friend of his had learned that Bay Area bakery chain La Boulange was slated to move into The Summit early this Summer.  Of course, Chicken John has a, ahem, “controversial” reputation around these sorts of matters, so we weren't sure what to make of it.

But then on Feb. 2nd, Mission Local published a story about 780 Cafe replacing The Summit, once again repeating the rumor that La Boulange was supposed to move in, giving the rumor another dose of credibility.

Finally, a board member of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association recently told us that the organization is holding an “emergency meeting” on March 5th to discuss La Boulange, “'formula retail' moving into The Summit,” and the fact that the rent on that space is being raised to $30,000/month.

If all this sounds highly questionable, it's because it is. SF's Dept. of Building Inspection's database shows that no building permits have been filed at 780 Valencia St. in 11 months—and neither i/o Ventures (the owner of the building) nor La Boulange have returned our phone calls or emails.  But when three individuals and organizations repeat the same rumor, it gives us pause.

What we have managed to learn makes the situation sound very sketchy.  We're told that i/o Ventures ran into some “financial trouble” and responded by doubling monthly rent for The Summit and the desks rented to start-ups and freelancers; the monthly cost of a desk rose to $500, while The Summit’s rent was increased to an unbelievable 30 grand. Allegedly the only businesses interested in paying that much for a Valencia Street coffee shop was Starbucks and La Boulange.  i/o Ventures ended up choosing La Boulange.

Under 2006's Proposition G, any retail business with 11 or more locations is classified as “formula retail” and subjected to a significantly more rigorous approval process—the same process that brought a proposed Valencia St. American Apparel to its knees in early 2009.  La Boulange already operates 17 locations in the Bay Area, with 11 shops in San Francisco, and they plan to have 25 open by the end of the year.  Owner Pascal Rigo even told the SF Business Times that he intends La Boulange to be a chain that is “too big.”

“We actually are trying to be ‘too big.’ People want us, and we are going to try to give it to them,” said Rigo, who founded Bay Bread in 1995. “I say, there are good chains and there are bad chains. We are going to be a good chain.”

This, of course, is not sitting well with Valencia business.  They're concerned that if one chain moves onto Valencia and pays $30,000 a month in rent—an amount no small entrepreneur can pay, but a bakery with $60-90 million in revenue can—landlords will refuse to renew the leases of local businesses hoping to hike up the rent. This lease to La Boulange could set a dangerous precedent that would jeopardize the futures of many Valencia merchants.

And then there's that Mission Local article about 780 Cafe opening up, which is shaping up to be an even sadder story. We're told the owner, Jose, is being given use of the space rent-free for the months until La Boulange moves in, just to help keep the place afloat. Then he’s being kicked out, despite fronting money for permits and having his entire family quit their jobs to help run the cafe.

As we said, we're maintaining this is all speculation until someone can give us a definitive answer on this (and we're encouraging anyone who can provide us with more info to drop us a note).  But, rest assured, Valencia merchants and activists are already gearing up for a fight.