After losing a number of high-profile tenants, including the Slanted Door, the historic Ferry Building is on the upswing, adding everything from Cambodian noodles to Roman-style pizza.
The latest addition to the culinary destination: Bernal Cutlery, which has signed a lease to open a second location in the former home of The Gardener. The beloved knife shop — a go-to for professional chefs, serious home cooks, and gourmet oglers — will offer a limited selection of Japanese, French, German, Catalonian, English, and American knives, as well as cookware, kitchen tools, and sharpening services.
A true mom-and-pop shop, owned by Kelly Kozak and Josh Donald, Bernal Cutlery opened in 2010 in Bernal Heights and in 2019 moved to Valencia Street in the Mission. Since then, the store, which has a Japanese bent, has expanded its stock to include cookbooks, stylish aprons, and coveted pantry items, such as $8 bags of Rancho Gordo beans, $22 jars of imported Japanese matcha, and $32 tins of Alalunga hake cheeks.
Donald said the owners initially considered expanding to the Ferry Building just after the onset of the pandemic. But the deal didn’t work out due to the high number of vacancies at the time. “It definitely didn’t have the energy that it has right now,” Donald said of the marketplace. “The flow and rhythm of life is back.”
With the stall’s small footprint, filling the shelves will be “an exercise in being disciplined,” Donald said. But he plans to stock some unique items, including vintage and historical knives he purchased and has yet to restore. Sharpening services will be handled at the Valencia Street shop, but customers will be able to drop off and pick up their knives at the Ferry Building location.
Also coming soon to the Ferry Building is a taste of Nopa. In early 2025, owner and chef Laurence Jossel will join forces with Joe Conte, owner of fish distribution business Water2Table, to open a restaurant called Nopa Fish, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Meanwhile, the massive Slanted Door space will sit empty no longer. Chef Alex Hong of Michelin-starred restaurant Sorrel has signed a 15-year lease, the Chronicle reported in mid-July.
Recent openings at the Ferry Building also include Nite Yun’s Cambodian restaurant Lunette and A16 La Pala, a casual spinoff of the Marina district Italian restaurant that serves hearty, cheesy pizza al taglio.