Pasta, Not Pot 義大利粉，不是大麻

February 23, 2023

(Chinese translation below / 中文翻译如下)

Dear Friends & Neighbors,

Are the DiGrande brothers going to convert our beloved Gold Mirror Italian restaurant into a high-end pot shop? We are slowly learning that Gold Mirror owners Roberto & Domenico DiGrande, along with business partners from the Fig &Thistle Apothecary in Hayes Valley, have serious plans to start serving cannabis instead of canoli. We don't know the precise reason why: perhaps better profit margins, restaurant burnout, desire to try something new? We are only speculating as to their exact motivation, but we do know the following facts:

1) The Planning Commission recently approved unanimously a conditional use permit to sell cannabis and cannabis related products at 800 Taraval St (the Gold Mirror address).

2) The cannabis dispensary is expected to open on the 2nd floor mezzanine level of the restaurant with its own private entrance on 18th Ave, own staircase, elevator for disabled customers, restroom, security guard, etc. In other words, it is supposed to be a completely separate structure and business apart from the Gold Mirror restaurant.

3) The proposed name for the dispensary is "Green Mirror," however, the proposed address is 800 Taraval St, same address as Gold Mirror. Why?

Again, we are only speculating, but what we are hearing from close friends of the DiGrande brothers is that the 2nd floor dispensary is only a trial run. If the Green Mirror fails, no big deal. But if it is successful, and the pot customers outnumber the pasta-buying ones, then the brothers will most likely convert the entire building into a high end dispensary, which explains why they filed their conditional use permit application under 800 Taraval St. This way they do not have to go through the process a second time, which is expensive and time consuming.

Please click on the links below to see the public hearing notice and architectural plans that were already approved by the city.

Public Hearing Notice

Architectural Plans

Of course, we are not happy with the city's decision to approve the conditional use permit, and so we are appealing it. Not only do we not want to lose the Gold Mirror restaurant, which has been a neighborhood gem for more than 50 years, we are also concerned about the impact of a dispensary on parking, congestion, crime, and safety of children, teens, and seniors who frequently use the busy intersection at Taraval St & 18th Ave.

You can read more at: Will a Dispensary Benefit our Neighborhood?

We are holding a peaceful rally outside the Gold Mirror restaurant on Saturday, Feb. 25th, 4-6 pm to voice our concerns. Please join us!

親愛的朋友和鄰居，

DiGrande兄弟會把我們心愛的金鏡義大利餐廳改造成高級大麻店嗎？我們慢慢意識到，Gold Mirror的老闆Roberto&Domenico DiGrande以及Fig &Thistle的商業夥伴有認真的計劃，開始提供大麻而不是瑞可塔起司捲甜點。我們不知道確實的原因：也許是更好的回報率，厭倦餐廳生意，渴望嘗試新事物？我們只是推測他們的真正動機，但我們確實知道以下的事實：

1）規劃委員會最近一致批准了在Taraval街800號（金鏡地址）銷售大麻和大麻相關產品的有條件使用許可證。

2）大麻藥房預計將在餐廳的2樓(閣樓)開業，在第18大道有自己的私人入口，自己的樓梯，殘疾顧客電梯，洗手間等。換句話說，它應該是金鏡餐廳之外的一個完全獨立的結構和業務。

3）藥房的提議名稱是「綠鏡」，但是，提出的位址是Taraval街800號，與金鏡餐廳位址完全相同。為什麼呢？

同樣，我們只是猜測，但我們從DiGrande兄弟的密友那裡聽到的是，二樓的大麻藥房只是一個實驗嘗試。如果綠鏡失敗了，也沒什麼大不了的。但如果成功了，並且大麻顧客的數量遠超過了購買義大利粉的顧客，那麼兄弟倆便可能將整棟建築改造成高級大麻店，這就解釋了為什麼他們使用Taraval街 800 號提交了有條件使用許可證申請。這樣，他們就不必再次經歷這過程，既昂貴又耗時。