The Dogpatch may already be on everyone's radar as a neighborhood on the rise (see last year's ), but touring the area's artisan manufacturers lends a much more tangible element to all the hype. This former shipbuilding center has attracted a new wave of craftsmen, producing everything from messenger bags to chocolates to modern backyard cabanas. Kate Sofis led us through the Dogpatch's flourishing manufacturing community, providing expertise on all things locally made.
Rickshaw Bags' Dogpatch headquarters [Photo Credit: ]
Designed and made onsite in the Dogpatch, ' customizable products have a fast production turnover, moving from design phase to market in a matter of weeks — just one of the benefits of manufacturing locally.
Nick Damner showcases his Modern Cabana [Photo Credit: ]
backyard cabins represent the fruitful partnership of an architect and general contractor: sleek, efficient structures designed to help San Franciscans maximize their limited space. Starting at 100 square feet (the largest accessory structure permitted by the building code without a permit in San Francisco), these structures can be built and installed within one week.
The Recchiuti chocolate factory [Photo Credit: ]
Opening one of many dull grey doors in a vast hallway of the American Industrial Center, Michael Recchiuti led us into his chocolate factory, . I don't know if it was the chocolate waterfall, cookie cooling tunnel or all the talk of "copulating" flavors, but I found myself wanting to pull an and jump right in there. Fortunately for everyone else, chocolate cravings were satiated before any serious contamination occurred.
Michael Recchiuti knows how to treat his customers [Photo Credit: ]