Dear Sabah People,
We opened Sabah House Haight Street in San Francisco in October 2019. It was, at the time, our most ambitious project yet -- the complete renovation & transformation of a former Cuban restaurant, a 1800 square foot space plus backyard, into our West Coast outpost. It took us about 6 months to complete -- the result: it may just be our most charming Sabah House yet. Unfortunately, the positive energy following our opening was cut short by the pandemic in March 2020. So many of our customers, collaborators, neighbors and simply passersby were not introduced to the space.
So now, a little over two years later, we're excited to introduce you to a revitalized & refreshed Sabah House Haight Street -- our Sabah Sundays, wine tastings, backyard hangs and residencies are back. Whether you're a neighbor or simply passing through town, we hope you'll pay our cozy, tucked away Sabah House on Haight Street a visit.
And if you don't have the opportunity to visit, we've compiled some photos and words below so you can visit from afar... enjoy!
Sabah House Haight Street is located at:
663 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
Open Wednesday to Saturday, 11AM to 7PM;
Sunday, 11AM to 6PM.
Originally built in 1938, the building which houses Sabah House Haight Street has lived many lives -- private home, bagel shop, Cuban restaurant... and now Sabah.
We were originally drawn to 663 Haight Street for three reasons. First, we loved the neighborhood... neighborhood being a critical word. The Lower Haight isn't a shopping district, rather a neighborhood with a vibrant & supportive community of residents & local merchants, slightly off the beaten path -- reminding us of our original NYC location in the East Village. Second, the building and space -- full of character & history, delightful details and unexpected touches, and an unassuming entrance that allows for a bit of mystery. And let's not forget the backyard! Finally, an opportunity. The space needed a little TLC... and we love a chance to make a place our own at Sabah, while honoring & preserving it's history & original details, and hopefully creating value for the neighborhood and everyone who may enter our space. You're always welcome -- whether you're wanting a new pair of sabahs, or just to have a tea & read in our backyard.
In this renovation, we leaned into the historic Mission style of the home -- giving every corner a smooth plaster curve, building in a bench made of plaster, and adding niches & highlighting the bar with a turquoise Zellige tile. We opened up the solarium and have spent a lot of time & effort to revitalize and bring the backyard to life too -- certainly the most magical part of Sabah House Haight Street.
When you enter, you'll likely notice our plants -- mostly purchased from the local garden shop, Flora Grub. We're quite fond of our big cactus, which has made a home in the planter we designed and built into the space. Another signature element within our Sabah Houses is our incense gardens, where we likely have our Incausa Incense Sabah Blend burning.
In every Sabah House you’ll find our signature Sabah shoe wall, along with a comfortable space to sit and chat over a glass of wine and a pile of Sabahs in your size.
At the heart of the shop is our tea bar. We always have our special Bellocq Sabah Traveler's Blend brewing throughout the day. Enjoy a cup while you're browsing the store, or just sitting & relaxing in the backyard. In the evening, the tea bar often becomes a wine & cocktail bar -- depending on the occasion.
We really enjoyed designing the bar space -- which features tiles from Heath Ceramics, hand cut & carved oak shelving giving us plenty of room to display our tea blends, incense collections, Monsoon Monsoon chocolates, Luv House ceramics and fresh arrangements sourced from the SF Flower Market. Many of our market items are specially curated for Sabah House Haight Street, meaning you won’t find these elsewhere or online.
What truly sold us on the space was the solarium and back patio.
When you wander toward the back of Sabah House Haight Street, you'll enter the solarium through our hallway, or "portal" as we like to say. Our solarium is home to plenty of Sabah Market Goods. You'll find apparel and accessories like 11.11 Kaftans, Yaltch Hats... plus our Sabah Leather Goods collection, including Backgammon and Chess Boards. There's always something for everyone.
We're very happy to be hosting events again -- residencies with local makers, wine tastings with our favorite vineyards, and good ol' fashioned Sabah Sundays with music, food, and good people. Our most recent event was hosting a week-long artist residency with glass-blower Maria Enomoto. The residency brought great energy into the space; many visitors were excited to discover an artist from the Bay area. Just what we intended -- for our space to be a platform for others as well. Send us a note if you'd ever like to collaborate: thedealer@sabah.am.
One of our intentions with the Haight Street location was to create a place for collaborators, friends, and artists to gather.
Other collaborators of late include Chef Manny McCall of Pickle Pana who took over our back patio to sell his custom pickles, chef Gabriella Camara, MADRE Mezcal (who makes a tasty Sabah Paloma) and DJ True North. We look forward to more gatherings in the future. When we're not hosting friends, the space serves as a spot for a little R&R.
All that to say, we hope you find some time to visit. And if you do so, make sure to stop by some of our favorite local businesses. Our go-to spots for a morning coffee are Cafe Réveille and Sightglass Coffee. If you're into records, we're big fans of Groove Merchant Records -- followed up by a beer from Wood's Lowside. Lastly, be sure to check out the nearby famous Painted Ladies -- five charming Victorian homes facing Alamo Square Park that have incredible views of the SF skyline.
And that's all for now, folks! If you'd like to be on our local email list, sign up here and we'll make sure you're kept in the loop of our regular activities.
Thank you for reading along and see you around soon.
Sincerely,
The Sabah Dealer
