This week: peak magnolia season, a library in the woods, fashion-forward utility wear, and the ethereal art of Christopher Burch. Also, local designers partner up with the NFL, the artist behind the Super Bowl 60 art, the return of Falafelland, and commemorating beans.

Field-ready type

Prior to kickoff, local artist Erin Fong’s hand‑printed artwork sets the tone for Super Bowl 60. Her bold letterpress designs now anchor the game’s official theme art, from digital tickets to printed programs, alongside a larger suite of hand-printed works honoring 60 years of Super Bowl history.

Fong produced the pieces by hand on a vintage Vandercook press, layering vivid color with wood type that carries its own quiet lineage. The full collection is on view at Moscone Center North during the Super Bowl Experience, running through Saturday. — 7x7

From trunk to sidelines

Nostalgia, the Bay Area streetwear brand co-founded by Jaden Yo‑Eco and Humbert Lee, is collaborating with the NFL for its Origins collection, timed with Super Bowl LX festivities. The duo went from selling T‑shirts out of a car trunk to designing pieces that reflect their Asian American heritage and Bay Area upbringing, blending cultural symbols with modern streetwear.

The collection highlights just three local brands. A handful of the new pieces will be available through the NFL Shop and pop-up events around San Francisco. — KPIX

Many-eyed stories

Christopher Burch’s portraits sit in a space between realism and folklore, grounding the viewer before slipping in something uncanny — extra eyes, symbolic hands, moments that feel both personal and mythic. Working across drawing, painting, sculpture, and music, the San Francisco artist uses these figures to explore shared memory, spirituality, and lived Black experience.

His new show, I’ll Be Back This Way, opens Saturday at Arcana with live music by The Revenge of the Four Fives, and his murals can be found around the city, including near Turk and Leavenworth and the African American Arts and Cultural Center. — Broke-Ass Stuart

Utility and craft

Shopping at Paloma SF in the Outer Richmond (formerly Hayes Valley) feels like stepping into someone’s well‑curated closet. Founder Laureano Faedi handcrafts leather goods under the SF Breakers label and designs the Gangs of San Francisco line, while also showcasing his favorite Japanese denim, workwear, and home goods pieces.

One standout includes a chore coat from the brand Tellason with a pocket that fits a full wine bottle — it definitely caught SFist’s eye on Instagram! Stop by the shop to see the pieces in person or explore custom items and accessories made on site. — Paloma SF/Instagram

Tenderloin homecoming

Billy Alabsi has worn many hats—limousine owner, blockchain developer, and restaurateur—before landing back in the Tenderloin with a new Falafelland. After losing his first restaurant and spending years traveling the country, taking odd jobs, recovering from car accidents, and even staying in a Los Angeles shelter with his family, he returned to San Francisco to open a small storefront.

His menu blends old favorites, like avocado-blueberry falafel, with new experiments, including a Dubai-inspired chocolate he’s been refining all morning. The shop carries ieces of Yemen and Alabsi’s boundless energy, while a city grant helped make this comeback possible. — Mission Local

Legumes as a lifestyle

In Berkeley, Madeline Schapiro, who goes by Bean Supporter online, has turned a nine-year obsession with beans into a public experiment. From her apartment kitchen to social media, she tests recipes ranging from red-lentil “gut bowls” to beanut butter cups, sharing both results and self-deprecating humor with her followers.

Her focus is practical, consisting of affordable, fiber-rich meals that support health and sustainability. Schapiro also hosts bean-centric meet-ups in Willard Park and partners with local organizations to encourage more plant-based eating, including work with Berkeley schools. — The Oaklandside

Magnolia season in bloom

The San Francisco Botanical Garden has entered its most colorful stretch of winter, with more than 200 magnolia trees flowering across the grounds. From the Himalayas to Mesoamerica, the garden’s collection spans dozens of species and cultivars, including rare and historic specimens like the Magnolia campbellii planted here in 1940.

Visitors can wander through the Camellia, Moon Viewing, and Garden of Fragrance areas while catching peak bloom, which the Gardens expect to last through early March. Sketching workshops and field guide sessions are happening this weekend and next for those who want to linger among the petals. — Secret San Francisco

Literary refuge in the redwoods

Tucked into the Big Sur forest, the Henry Miller Memorial Library feels like a place out of time. Visitors move from the art-lined path outside to shelves filled with books that were once smuggled into the country, settling into velvet chairs or petting the resident cat while the world slows down.

Sculptures like the “Technological Crucifixion” jolt you out of scrolling habits before you even reach the stacks, and inside, the quiet of reading takes over. The library welcomes families and travelers alike, offering a chance to linger among Miller’s works and the surrounding redwoods. — Travel Realizations/Instagram

Top image: Christopher Burch

Previously: Field Notes: Free Trinkets, Wild Garlic Season, Oscar Grant, and ‘Taking a Knee’ During the Anthem

According to CQ Politics, the FBI combed through customer data collected by SF and Bay Area grocery stores in 2005 and 2006. Why? To see what amount of Middle Eastern food products were purchased, with the hopes that this info would lead authorities to the sweet spot: Iranian terrorists.

"The idea was that a spike in, say, falafel sales, combined with other data, would lead to Iranian secret agents in the south San Francisco-San Jose area," says CQP. But what about us here in north SF? We feel left out. We're just as good a spot to harbor terrorists as South-SF. Hrumph.

They go on to say that the ethnic foods-cum-terrorist study was conceived by FBI counterterrorism officials Phil Mudd and Willie T. Hulon. But the investigation was shot down right-quick by the head of the FBI's criminal investigations division, Michael A. Mason, who reasonably thought that the idea of placing someone on a terrorist list for they food they buy was inane -- "and possibly illegal."

FBI spokesman Paul Bresson wouldn't say whether or not the bureau ran such an investigation. “It sounds pretty sensational to mes" he said. And tasty, too. Heh.