A prom inside San Quentin, vintage treasure maps, librarians turned rock stars, trans quilts and immersive theater, pupusas in the Tenderloin, and a family recipe cook-off — this week’s Field Notes rounds up joy, art, and memory from San Francisco and beyond.

Pupusas, family roots, and Salvadoran art in the Tenderloin

What began as a Mission street cart is now Estrellita’s Snacks — a brick-and-mortar tribute to one family’s journey. Founded by Estrella Gonzalez and her son Angel, the Tenderloin shop honors Gonzalez’s mother, who once sold yucca chips outside local bars and restaurants.

Their pupusas, plantains, and pan con pollo fill a gap in the neighborhood’s food scene, while Salvadoran folk art and family photos fill the walls. — Mission Local

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Just beans, and other winners

Food critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan eats at top restaurants — but the Tenderloin Family Housing Cooking Competition is her favorite meal of the year. Families at 201 Turk dish out glutinous rice cakes, chicken masala sliders, and a Yemeni bean dish that claimed first prize. “It’s just beans,” the cook insisted. Not to the judges. — Chronicle

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Librarians by day, kids’ music icons by morning

Berkeley’s Story Time Band is turning toddler storytime into a full-fledged musical movement. Led by children’s librarian Michael Kwende (aka “Mr. Michael”), the all-librarian band fuses read-alouds with reggae, hip-hop, and global folk traditions — complete with plush animals, puppets, and dancing flamingos. — Berkeleyside

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Trans stories sewn into every stitch

Quilts, audio, and trans care come together in “Transmissions Quilts,” a multimedia exhibit at Berkeley’s Central Library, which runs through June. Curated by Cordy Joan and spanning three floors, the show honors trans lives through hand-crafted quilts, recorded stories, and collaborative art—each piece a testament to affirmation, resilience, and community. — Berkeley Public Library

Compton’s Cafeteria Riot play extends run

The Tenderloin Museum’s sold-out immersive play, Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, has extended its run through October. Set inside a recreated late-night diner, the show tells the story of the 1966 Compton’s Cafeteria Riot — a landmark moment of trans resistance. A 12-person cast brings the uprising to life with “breakfast for dinner” and a front-row seat to history. — Tenderloin Museum

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Inside Ruth Asawa’s home studio, a legacy of art and family lives on

Ruth Asawa raised six kids in a Noe Valley home where art, parenting, and community blurred together. Her grandson Henry Weverka walked DrawTogether’s Wendy MacNaughton through the SFMOMA retrospective, where a recreated living room shows how family dinners and wire sculptures shared the same table. — DrawTogether

Treasure hunting gets a digital upgrade

Krystyl Baldwin, a former tech worker turned vintage guru, has mapped out San Francisco’s under-the-radar retro scene with SF Vintage Maps—an interactive guide to 90 vintage shops across the city. From etched shower doors to rare Art Deco furniture, Baldwin’s passion for history and design is tangible in both her own North Beach showroom and this growing online resource.

Whether you’re seeking Gaultier gowns, mid-century cookware, or museum-worthy posters, the map connects vintage lovers to SF’s scattered gems — one QR code at a time. — 7x7

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San Quentin fathers reunite with daughters at first parenting prom

Back in April, a group of incarcerated men organized a powerful event at San Quentin: a prom where 17 fathers danced with their daughters — some reuniting for the first time in over a decade. With corsages, cake, and slow dances to Luther Vandross, it was a night of joy, healing, and new beginnings. — Local News Matters

Saving nature’s soundtrack, one hike at a time

Soundscape engineer Martin Sanchez treks into the Bay Area wilderness to record moments of pure quiet—birdsong, breezes, frogs—before they disappear. With mics hidden in forest crevices, he captures audio that's later used in meditation apps and films, building a library of the sounds that keep us grounded. — Bay Nature

Top image: 'Bodies of Water' by Lunilah Project

Previously: Field Notes: Bold Films, Pride Hikes, Show-Tune Karaoke, and Skateboarding Legends

Friday - after the hangover finally lifts and you realize that you already effed up your New Year's resolutions - join us at The Independent where we will be hanging out, bluegrass style, with Dan Tyminski (who usually plays with Alison Krauss) and local talent, Hot Buttered Rum (featured above). We just love us some bluegrass music (occasionally, that is). Hot Buttered Rum is often described as a rock band but with bluegrass instrumentation: fiddle, banjo, mandolin, up-right bass and acoustic guitar. Love it. You've heard Dan Tyminski's voice on the popular movie, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" He sang the Grammy-winning (and ever so popular) song, "Man of Constant Sorrow" that featured the Soggy Bottom Boys. It will be some good ole' fashion fun.

For complete listings, take the jump...

By Evan Roberts

One of the few remaining knife sharpeners left in SF these days, this is a must-listen. Why? Because it's important to get your knives sharpened. (America's Test Kitchen can't stress it enough!) But Jivano sharpens more than haughty Sur La Table cutlery. Take a listen.

If you're reading this via an RSS reader, please click through to access the sound file. And, as always, if you have or know of a bizarre occupation that cries out for SFist-y documenting, let us know. Thanks!

This week's show recommendations: Tonight Popscene presents the live world premiere of Blaqk Audio, the new collaboration between Davey Havok and Jade Puget of AFI. At Make-Out Room see a trio of local "The" bands: The Passionistas, The Happy Hollows and The Dont's. We're pretty big fans of As Tall As Lions' self-titled debut record, but we haven't had a chance to see them live yet, unless that performance we watched on Jimmy Kimmel counts. Lucky for all of us, they're playing on Friday night at Bottom of the Hill with Mae and Dear And The Headlights. At Cafe Du Nord, see some local music by Bellavista, LoveLikeFire and Rescue Me. LoveLikeFire just released a brand new EP this week called Ocean In The Air which you can listen to in its entirety on their website.

On to this week's show recommendations: Tonight see Built Like Alaska at Bottom of the Hill with Audio Out Send and The Parish. At Cafe Du Nord, hear Earlimart featuring the String Dream Team play songs from the just-released new album Mentor Tormentor along with opener Patrick Park. On Friday at Bottom of the Hill, see the lovely lasses in Au Revoir Simone along with Oh No! Oh My! and The Morning Benders. The Beastie Boys play at The Warfield on Friday and at The Greek on Saturday.

Listen to Earlimart's "Everybody Knows" [windows media player] and watch Au Revoir Simone's video for "Sad Song":

Hi, folks -- as promised, here's our very first "Top 5 Comments Of The Week Audio Podcast."

While there's a clear reason we're not in radio, we hope you'll check out this five minutes and 48 seconds where we present the editors' arbitrary favorites from the great discussions always churning in the comments sections.

Take a bow, Steve Portigal, DT, Dave (which one? There are so many . . . ), NoeValleyJim,and Matt from le blog exuberance. But which comments? From which stories?

To find out, either download the file (5.3M) or click here to access a page where you can listen through your Web browser.