Jul 18, 2023
In Part 3, we meet Mini Bar's
Operations Manager, Erin Kehoe. Erin is a
sixth-generation San Franciscan. Her uncle researched family
history, which was complicated by the fact that her grandma was
orphaned. When you consider time in the state of California, her
family history goes back here to when it was part of
Mexico.
Much like John, she was born at
Kaiser on Geary. In fact, Erin says, John's
mom could've delivered her and her twin sister. She
comes from a lineage of twins, actually. Her mom was one of four
sets of twins. Erin's dad was a firefighter with the SFFD, though
the family lived down in South San Francisco when Erin was young.
They did spend lots of time at her grandma's place in the Sunset,
the same house her dad and his brothers grew up in and which the
family sold only recently.
Erin remembers trips into The City
when she young to go to places like Ghirardelli Square, the
Emporium, and I. Magnin department store. They went to some
football games at Candlestick, but not so much Giants
games.
She says that she grew up somewhat
sheltered until, as a teenager, she and her twin sister discovered
goth and industrial music. She recalls stories of calling in to
Live 105 for ticket giveaways and how her mom would drop her and
sister off at places like Slim's. Around the time they turned 18,
the sisters started going to clubs and places like the Trocadero.
This got her into the SF nightlife scene, and she says she "never
looked back."
But her job at Mini Bar is her first
bartending gig. Erin did work in the service industry for 20+
years, at joints like the Peppermill in Daly City, B44 and Café
Bastille on Belden Lane, and then at both the original and the
current location of Bar Crudo. That restaurant's 2009 move to
Divisadero is how Erin started coming to Mini Bar.
She met John quickly and right away,
he wanted her to work at Mini Bar. Only problem was—she didn't
bartend (yet). Fast-forward to 2021, when her friend Susan was
bartending at Mini and asked Erin yet again to consider coming
on, which she did. Four months later, they asked her to manage
the bar.
Erin takes her work seriously, and
she thinks that she was someone Mini Bar could count on. She picked
up the bartending side quickly, but didn't know where to start with
curating art shows. And so, she went through archived Mini Bar
emails and found people she recognized. From there, she put
together a show, and then things started rolling. Erin soon met
Anita Beshirs (curator of the current show at Mini Bar), and
the two are good friends now. She says she's honored to be
part of art and community.
When the conversation shifts to our
upcoming show, Hungry Ghosts, Erin mentions that she
had wanted to branch out and try something different. Joining
forces with a podcast feels for her like the beginning of
something new at Mini Bar.
We end Part 3 with a chat about the
current show at the bar, which Erin says "is very SF."
"Around Town" features Jack Keating, Millie
Kwong, Missstencil, Anne-Louise Petersson, and Danielle
Bellantonio. "Anita crushed it," Erin says, congratulating her
friend. We agree.
We hope to see you all at Mini Bar
on August 17 at 6 p.m. for the opening of Hungry Ghosts. Thanks for
listening throughout our fifth season, and we'll see you
soon!