Full Transcript for Zam Zam

cut oblong window looking in. 00:03:09.919 --> 00:03:13.280 When you walk inside, however, it is very different. 00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:15.360 It's a beautiful warm red. 00:03:15.520 --> 00:03:26.159 There is this incredible half-circle bar that takes up most of the front room, a golden dome above the bar, and behind the bar, sort of scalloped into the back of the bar. 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:34.240 There is a beautiful mural that shows a man on horseback, a woman chastely bathing, dipping her toes, really, into a river. 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:37.199 There's a pair of rabbits in the underbrush. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:43.039 There's another beautiful pointed archway that has this incredible design of green diamonds. 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:48.080 It leads into a small back room with a couple lanterns and a couple tables. 00:03:48.479 --> 00:03:52.960 There's a jukebox that doesn't have anything more recent than the 1950s. 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:57.599 And above, there is a photo of New Year's Eve, 1948. 00:03:58.080 --> 00:04:01.919 It shows a group of impeccably dressed people with party hats. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:04.479 And there are two men behind the bar. 00:04:04.800 --> 00:04:06.400 It's Sam and Bruno. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:11.120 The father and son who originally owned and operated the bar. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:13.599 And we're here to hear a story. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:20.560 It's a story about a particular personality that's definitely made his mark on the neighborhood while he was alive. 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.959 And may be doing that still, even though he's passed. 00:04:33.699 --> 00:04:35.779 Uh my name is Cundan Baedwan. 00:04:36.339 --> 00:04:41.860 I am a bartender at Zamzam uh on Hate Street in San Francisco, California. 00:04:42.100 --> 00:04:42.500 Excellent. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:44.240 And that's where we are right now. 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:46.319 How long have you worked here? 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:49.120 Longer than I originally intended. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:54.639 I started 14 years ago as a temporary fill-in. 00:04:55.360 --> 00:04:59.680 So yeah, this was not this was not what I envisioned. 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:11.600 But you know, sometimes sometimes the world takes you in a direction and it's it's the the direction you need to go, not necessarily the direction you thought you should go. 00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:12.959 Sure, yeah, absolutely. 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:19.439 I started here, like I said, 14 years ago, temporary felon, um, a dear friend of mine. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:40.879 Well, now dear friend, uh she lady that was working here when I moved to San Francisco however many years ago, 18, 19 years ago, uh, I came in here to Zam Zam with a friend who was intimidated by this very uh unique, small, uh charming bar. 00:05:41.439 --> 00:05:46.240 Uh and I'm not intimidated because I've been in the service industry for so long. 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:53.279 And so we came in and the bartender just seemed so similar, I mean familiar to me. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:06:00.720 And Cundin takes one of those fingertip spray bottles from behind the bar and sprays a fine mist over each drink. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:06.959 Sorry, that's just the um spraying the 1,000 to 1 ratio amount of vermouth. 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.160 That is the recipe uh here at Zan Zan. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:14.480 That is the ratio for your vermouths to gin. 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:20.720 So Tay and this lady that was working here, I thought she looked familiar. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:22.240 We couldn't put our finger on it. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:32.079 I hadn't uh found an apartment yet when I'd come first come here, and then I ended up getting an apartment in the neighborhood and started coming here more frequently. 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:35.360 And lo and behold, we figured it out. 00:06:35.600 --> 00:06:38.959 Because we started to make jokes, like it must have been another lifetime. 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:44.800 You know, Tay was Cleopatra and I was her handmaiden because we somebody's gotta be somebody famous. 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:48.000 And it was kind of a past life. 00:06:48.079 --> 00:06:49.839 It was when we both bartended in New York. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:50.879 Oh my goodness. 00:06:51.040 --> 00:07:02.160 Oh, that's and again, the universe, maybe we weren't ready to be friends then, but put us back together and yeah, we became friends while I was hanging, like come becoming a regular patron here. 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:07.360 And then when she found out she was pregnant, she was like probably gonna need to take some time off. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:10.879 And that's when she asked if I wanted to be a fill-in here. 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:15.279 Uh, and then I said if I still don't have a job, oh, I was unemployed at the time too. 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:19.519 Uh if I still don't have a job when you go on maternity leave, great. 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:23.600 And then the boss ended up falling and I think messing up his knee. 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:29.600 And um, so he had to take a little break, and so they needed to fill in a little sooner than expected. 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:32.079 Um yeah, February 3rd. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:33.920 Wow, wow, that's cool. 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:36.399 It was my first crazy fill-in shift here. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:37.360 That's incredible. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:45.279 Um, yeah, so I made you uh the house special cocktail, uh, which is the classic dry gen martini. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:46.079 Yeah. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:47.040 Should we cheers? 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:49.519 Yeah, thank you so much for sharing all of that. 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:50.079 We love that. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:51.040 Cheers. 00:07:51.920 --> 00:07:52.399 Cheers. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:53.439 Cheers. 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:57.680 Yes, that's correct. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:07:59.199 That is lovely. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:00.959 That is so

lovely. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:15.759 Uh so the former owner of Zam Zam, Bruno, uh, was likened to the martini Nazi, aka the soup Nazi from uh from Seinfeld, where if you ordered anything other than, then you immediately got kicked out. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:18.800 Um you could get kicked out for other reasons though, too. 00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:21.040 He had a myriad of them. 00:08:21.759 --> 00:08:28.720 Uh he, so the bar, uh to go back to the history of the bar, the bar opened in 1941. 00:08:29.199 --> 00:08:34.000 And uh it was Sam Moucher, Bruno's father, uh, who opened the bar. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:38.000 Him and I believe it was his cousin, Malik, who bought the building. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:41.120 Um, and you know, they had a classic immigrant story. 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:50.960 They moved out to the to California, and uh they were Assyrians, so the Christian ethnic group from Persia, uh, and or that once ruled Persia rather. 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:59.360 And uh, so they moved out here, they had a lunchonette counter on the street, they worked hard, saved their money, pooled their money, and then were able to buy this building. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:02.879 And this was an old coffee shop, and they gutted the coffee shop. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:12.159 Um, and because Sam wanted to have this little cocktail lounge um that was, you know, like kind of a classier joint, not necessarily like a saloon. 00:09:12.320 --> 00:09:18.720 Um, and he wanted it to have his, you know, his roots represented. 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:25.919 Uh and so he had this idea for this Persian cocktail bar called Abzamzam, which is the holy well in Mecca. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:37.279 Um and uh the Assyrian community being so tight-knit, they had met um an architect who had recently moved up from, I believe, the Long Beach area named John Oshana. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:46.480 And uh being Assyrian and you know, he really understood the aesthetic uh and was able to marry it with the 40s Art Deco vibe. 00:09:46.639 --> 00:09:54.000 So this bar has all these amazing archways and this like semicircle dome over the bar. 00:09:54.080 --> 00:10:00.159 It's a semicircular bar with this massive mural behind uh the register. 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:08.320 It's it's like it's it's a museum piece in of itself, um, without all the awesome history on top of it. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:11.360 Um but yeah, John's the one who actually painted the mural as well. 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:21.679 Yeah, and that the mural is depicting a scene from a very famous tale of Koshro and uh Shireen. 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:29.200 Uh Sam was able to buy this building, build his bar, and 11 days before they opened Pearl Harbor. 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:35.120 So the US was finally forced to uh participate in World War II officially. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:38.559 And so San Francisco just kind of switched on a dime. 00:10:38.879 --> 00:10:45.759 City is like now teeming with sailors along with the you know requisite drunks of San Francisco because it's always been a drinking town. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:48.960 And um, Bruno did serve in World War II. 00:10:49.039 --> 00:11:03.519 He was a medic in the Navy, and then uh he came back and he worked with his dad as a bartender until his father retired in 1950, and he ran the bar basically as he saw fit until 2000. 00:11:03.679 --> 00:11:14.559 Um and Bruno, like I said, he was nicknamed like the Martini Nazi, but Herb Kane, legendary uh uh writer, he always dubbed this the House of the Martini. 00:11:14.639 --> 00:11:15.919 This is Bruno's house. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.240 Uh he was a big fan, obviously. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:29.440 Um but as I think as Bruno got older, the rules got more and more um a little maybe outlandish or quick to be executed, depending on how you look at it. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:33.600 Uh somebody did come up with an entire pamphlet for the house rules. 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:34.159 Wow. 00:11:34.399 --> 00:11:36.000 Um, that's amazing. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:36.639 Yeah. 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:40.320 If you order a drink with too many syllables that can get you kicked out. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:41.279 Like there was lots. 00:11:41.679 --> 00:11:44.080 The pamphlet is titled And Stay Out. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.879 Publish for the 40th anniversary of the bar. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:53.039 Some of the other rules include never ask if the bar is a lobby for a hotel. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:55.759 Never ask to sit in the horrible room. 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.399 But if you do, get a table for two. 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:01.679 Never try to match wits with the bartender. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:06.159 And curiously, never ask to meet the gorilla in the basement. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:21.440 The most consistent story that I still hear people like just last week, um, had some folks in and they were reminiscing of the days of Bruno and how they never got kicked out, but the friend that they brought in who didn't follow the rules got kicked out, you know. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:22.480 Like That's amazing. 00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.919 So did they did they stay or did they say sorry, friend? 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:27.039 You were on your own. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:32.399 I think, I think they they bounced with their friend that they were like, Great, you got us kicked out. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:34.159 But like they still don't consider it being kicked out. 00:12:34.399 --> 00:12:34.960 But yeah. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:38.000 Uh I mean badge of honor to not get kicked out. 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:40.240 Oh, badge of honor to get kicked out as well. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:41.440 Oh, okay, yeah. 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:48.159 I mean, people even the owner, uh, current owner, Bob, he I'm pretty sure he got kicked out at least once. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:50.960 Um, yeah, nobody was immune. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:55.440 I think even when I mean, I like I said, I've been

hearing these stories for years. 00:12:55.759 --> 00:13:00.240 And you would think it would get tiresome after 14 years, but it doesn't. 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:09.519 Because it just adds like another thread to the tapestry that is this persona of Bruno and the history of the bar. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:14.399 That people I mean, I had a guy come in and tell me about the first day he was in San Francisco. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:20.639 There's there's these really pivotal moments when you step into a special place and there's an energy to it. 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:25.600 And I think San Francisco is riddled with that, sometimes in good ways and sometimes in bad. 00:13:26.159 --> 00:13:35.840 But um, yeah, really fortunate that this this establishment has continued to operate since 1941 in its original location because you can't recreate this. 00:13:36.080 --> 00:13:37.759 Some people seek this place out. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:42.480 Um, and some people, you know, they've heard the legacy of it, they've heard the history. 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:50.879 Uh, and they we know we we come up on these like martini, top martinis in San Francisco lists like that, date nights or whatever the article be about. 00:13:51.039 --> 00:14:00.960 But sometimes it's I love it when people just kind of like, I didn't know what I was walking into, but I heard the music, or I needed to use the bathroom, and then I ended up staying for three hours. 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:13.279 You know, those those are my favorite stories, is when I often joke with people that or people that haven't come in, like I've lived in this neighborhood for however many years, and like you just weren't ready to come into the bar yet. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:17.039 Because this is a like I said, there is a an energy here for sure. 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:24.879 Um, even if you're not tapped in and tuned in, it like yeah, I think it kind of expels the the not not right element for it. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:30.639 And I've I have had friends tell me that like I brought a girl on a date here and she was like, I can't, that place has too much going on. 00:14:30.960 --> 00:14:36.159 It feels like it's energetically like it's existed forever. 00:14:37.759 --> 00:14:38.720 Like it was always meant to be here. 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:40.879 Like it was always meant to be here, and that's what I mean. 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:50.960 When you walk, when you walk in, it you feel kind of like like very comfortable here, and also like I've very promptly forgotten that the world outside exists. 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:53.279 It's like its own, its own thing. 00:14:53.440 --> 00:14:54.159 It's really cool. 00:14:54.559 --> 00:14:57.039 It's a little slice outside of time for sure. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.519 Yeah, in the in a really cool way. 00:15:00.080 --> 00:15:12.559 Yeah, and you can really feel like it's there is something about that that like you said, like a slice, it's just it feels like, oh, I can go back decades and kind of kind of like almost close your eyes and imagine what it was like. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:14.320 And there's no screens. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:16.159 There's no television. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:22.000 So you know, you don't get sucked into whatever is being pumped in from the outside world in here. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:23.279 This is a safe haven, right? 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.120 You can kind of cross the threshold. 00:15:25.600 --> 00:15:31.120 There's nothing from the last I'm gonna say like 50 years on the jukebox, you know? 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:35.759 Like uh, you know, it's it's the music is sets a tone, the lighting sets a tone. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:37.600 Um, like I said, the screen free. 00:15:37.759 --> 00:15:46.240 You you don't get lost like staring at a at a you know into the void, into the abyss that is, you know, just whatever's uh flashing on the screen. 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:52.879 Uh so before you worked here, did you have any sort of connection to the supernatural? 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:54.399 Did you believe in ghosts? 00:15:54.879 --> 00:16:00.879 I think there's a belief there, just because I think, you know, we we do not understand so much. 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:06.639 And I've I've definitely had like weird woo-woo moments. 00:16:06.799 --> 00:16:11.840 Um I think we're kind of trained to ignore them to stifle our intuition. 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:32.240 So I think and of course, you know, in your kids, everybody's playing with the Ouija board or you know, doing like the Bloody Mary in the Mirror and like all these like silly, like you know, I I grew up watching scary movies and uh, you know, like I don't want to go down the dark hallway, you know, by myself at night and you know, all that stuff. 00:16:32.399 --> 00:16:36.960 And even when I started here, you know, just like I said, you feel an energy. 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:44.000 And before I really knew much about Bruno, uh you know, like I remember just closing on a Tuesday night. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:17:02.399 You know, if the transom was open, um, you know, the voices from outside when you're closing up can sometimes bounce off the interiors, and you know, it's an old bar, drafty, so sometimes a door will slam, and you're like, and I've said it multiple times when I was closing when I first started working here, like Bruno, please don't mess with me. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:04.480 I'm just trying to keep your bar open. 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:07.440 I'm just trying to restock the beer. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:17.279 Um, yeah, I think I think I whenever I did have an inclination towards picking up on anything, it was just kind of got stifled and didn't press it. 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:17.759 Yeah. 00:17:18.000 --> 00:17:33.440 Um, but I've I've had a couple of occurrences in my life where I've I've definitely I feel like there's so much more that we just that our simple brains can't absorb, we couldn't take in the energies and the

the spirits that are that are around us. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.000 We wouldn't our brains wouldn't be able to process. 00:17:37.039 --> 00:17:39.279 Yeah, I think that that is very likely. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:40.559 That makes a lot of sense to me. 00:17:48.799 --> 00:18:04.319 In the moments when you would be here and um talking to Bruno and uh, you know asking him to just let you work, um is there a part of you that that feels nervous? 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:08.640 Do you feel like what level of spooked out do you think you get? 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:37.519 I think also if it is somebody if it if you suspect it's somebody that is familiar to you and not a random, you know, Victorian child, um, I'm sure there is also a level of comfort of like, hey, you know, but I'm but I'm curious your level of like how in those moments were you like, oh, this is like super spooky, I don't want to see anything, or are you just kind of like moderately nervous about it? 00:18:37.759 --> 00:19:04.799 I think I don't think I was super spooked out because again, we you know, we convince ourselves that what we see is what we see and what we don't isn't like these this is this is real and this is not so it was like okay, maybe you're just saying it to placate yourself, you know, but you know, maybe Bruno wasn't trying to be you know untoward towards me, but like was kind of wondering who I am and needed to needed to make sure I I was I was here for the right reasons. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:13.920 I don't know, but I think also like you know, like I said, coming into this space, this is it's steeped in a lot of you know history. 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:17.920 And Bruno lived upstairs and so his energy is here. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:23.440 Um and yeah, I think I don't think I was too spooked out. 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:27.920 Like I said, it was more enough just to like just get the like let's get it straight. 00:19:28.079 --> 00:19:28.880 I'm on your side. 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:29.440 Yeah, yeah. 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:36.480 Like, you know, I'm I'm I'm here to to preserve the bar and to you know invite hopefully the right people in. 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:38.880 There was a vibe he wanted to create here. 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:56.400 He didn't want it to get too raucous, he wanted you to be able to listen to Carmen Caballero playing on the on the jukebox, you know, and um and so whereas a lot of people just saw him as a curmudgeon, and if you looked like a hippie, because the hippies, far as far as he was concerned, they moved to his neighborhood and ruined it. 00:19:56.720 --> 00:19:57.519 Sure, yeah. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:01.359 Um, because after the summer of love, this neighborhood got really rough. 00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:09.759 And uh I think there's only so many times you can have somebody passed out some heroin in your bathroom to just not be like so welcoming anymore. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:17.680 Um, so yeah, he was often like if people walked in and they looked too hippie-ish, she would this I got from one of the guys that used to work at the free clinic. 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:21.920 He said Bruno would yell, There's no loud music, no ferns, and no pinball. 00:20:22.079 --> 00:20:23.359 Go to the bar on the corner. 00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:25.680 So he sent a lot of people to the bar on the corner. 00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:26.799 Amazing. 00:20:27.200 --> 00:20:34.799 Yeah, rough neighborhood to um be anti-hippie, but you could also understand how that would build up the. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:40.160 And that's when Bruno was born, right? 00:20:40.240 --> 00:20:40.400 Yeah. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:50.720 So he and the luncheon net counter, it was it was blue-collar workers, you know, like they were just families trying to live their lives and run a business. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.240 And as far as Bruno was concerned, like this was his street. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:59.119 And I don't know when you guys all just showed up, but this has been my neighborhood. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:01.759 He was very San Francisco through and through. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:02.240 Yeah. 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:11.519 Well, yeah, you had um said earlier too, it seemed like he would he was very keen on maintaining a certain energy and vibe, as as you would say now. 00:21:11.680 --> 00:21:15.920 And so yeah, he had a vision of what he wanted this space to be in maintaining that. 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:27.440 So it yeah, it makes sense that perhaps even after his physical body is gone, that there's still uh a commitment to maintaining that here. 00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:28.000 Yeah. 00:21:28.400 --> 00:21:29.839 When did Bruno pass? 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:30.799 In 2000. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:32.000 Okay, yeah, gosh. 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:36.079 So he had been diagnosed with uh, I believe it was prostate cancer. 00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:43.039 And uh I guess when he was kind of told that get your affairs in order, that's when he started to really figure out what to do with the bar. 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:51.440 I mean, I guess you think you're just gonna live forever and run the bar forever, uh, until you know, reality reminds you that that's not the case. 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:55.359 Uh and that's when um Bob's name kind of, I guess. 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:59.759 There were several friends of Bruno's that that definitely obviously wanted to see the bar because. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:02.400 They knew that was his that's his legacy, right? 00:22:02.559 --> 00:22:08.799 It was his father's creation, but he really carried it and nurtured it for most of the time it had been open. 00:22:09.039 --> 00:22:18.480 Um and so it was it was lovely that it went to somebody that Bruno loved and trusted because Bob was a tenant in the building as well. 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.839 Um yeah, so they they got to be really good friends. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:23.279 Uh Bob was a nurse at St. 00:22:23.519 --> 00:22:24.079

Mary's. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:31.279 Uh and so, you know, Bruno, as much of a curmudgeon and he as he would want to like pack up early. 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:36.079 Uh he was known to turn the lights off on people with full drinks because he was like, it's time for dinner. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:37.039 I don't care. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:47.759 Um yeah, he like Bob was his friend that he was like, it's Bob had to work a late shift, he's gonna need a martini after this, right? 00:22:47.839 --> 00:22:51.839 You know, it's like so I think there was, I always tell people the Grinch had a heart. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:56.480 Um you know, they wasn't all just piss and vinegar. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:05.839 Um and so, and to answer your question from earlier about like how was I spooked out, how much did I like, I think there was a part of me that was like, there must be something here. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:25.759 I'm or maybe it's all in my head, but um, I didn't really give it much more of a thought until further down the line when um there was a cleaning lady that came on board, lovely woman, uh named Lucy, and she was super into like numerology and all of it. 00:23:25.920 --> 00:23:33.920 Like she, whereas, like I said, someone like myself is like, maybe we'll just ignore those um those weird little spidey senses tingling. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:37.039 She like she ran headfirst in for that stuff. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:46.079 So yeah, Lucy, she would, you know, she would we would overlap when I'd come in and open, she would still be finishing up the cleaning, and she was like, Oh, I heard the ghost today. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:48.240 And I was like, Okay, Lucy, sure. 00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:56.960 Like, you know, if you think you hear the ghosts, again, like there's so many voices that could be coming from in the basement, you hear the shop next door. 00:23:57.119 --> 00:23:57.599 It's weird. 00:23:57.680 --> 00:24:01.759 Like, you know, again, like I said, the voices from outside sometimes bounce off. 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:04.319 And so, okay, sure, Lucy. 00:24:04.480 --> 00:24:07.039 Took it with a grain of salt or maybe a bucket, but yeah. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:18.319 Um, and then she brought it up a couple more times, and I think it was the second or third time that she brought up she said, Oh, this time he's fighting with a different woman. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:20.319 And I was like, Oh, okay. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:24.160 Um, and again, I'm just getting the bar set up and letting her ramble. 00:24:24.400 --> 00:24:33.519 And she said, Yeah, this time, this woman, she yelled back, don't speak to me like that, I'm not your child, or don't speak to me like that, I'm not a child. 00:24:33.839 --> 00:24:36.880 And that's when I like put the bucket of ice down. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:40.160 I was like, put my own judgmental bucket of salt down. 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:42.880 So that's when I was like, Lucy, say that again. 00:24:43.039 -->

00:24:45.440 And she said, Don't speak to me like that, I'm not a child. 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:47.119 And I was like, Have you heard about? 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:50.000 Did you know about Bruno's second wife? 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:05.359 Lucy didn't know Bruno was married at all, let alone twice. 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:10.160 And um, yeah, first marriage, I think, was kind of arranged to an Assyrian woman. 00:25:10.240 --> 00:25:12.319 It didn't work out, whatever. 00:25:12.480 --> 00:25:18.799 Later in life, he met a woman much younger than him, I want to say over 20 years younger than him, fell in love, got married. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:26.000 And she would actually come in here in the evenings uh after she did her office job, and she would kind of be the cocktail waitress. 00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:32.079 And uh, so you know, Bruno was used to being able to yell at everybody in the bar. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:40.160 She was the one who would fight back and be like, and that was one of the things she would say is when he had gone too far, it was don't speak to me like that. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:40.960 I'm not your child. 00:25:41.119 --> 00:25:45.920 Like, you might be old, but that doesn't mean I'm that I'm a kid. 00:25:46.160 --> 00:25:54.880 Um and so that's when I was like, Ruth, Lucy, did you So at this point we hear the sound of the door latch closing? 00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:58.559 The door had already been closed the whole time, mind you. 00:25:58.880 --> 00:25:59.680 That's Bruno. 00:25:59.759 --> 00:26:00.880 Just closing the door. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:02.480 Don't let my secrets out. 00:26:02.799 --> 00:26:13.519 Um definitely made like the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and she had no idea about it, but she's like told me she had conversations with him, and I'm like, okay, again, taking with a grain of salt. 00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:18.720 Um, but yeah, she when that when she told me that quote, that was when I was like, oh, it's real. 00:26:18.880 --> 00:26:20.960 He's here, he's here, and is his wife. 00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:22.640 And he hasn't changed a bit. 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:23.599 Apparently not. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:26.079 And apparently she is still so. 00:26:26.160 --> 00:26:31.839 I guess the first woman that Lucy believes she heard was Bruno's mom. 00:26:32.240 --> 00:26:42.240 Um and then um, obviously Bruno, and then the second woman was probably his second wife who pushed back, and so yeah, the whole family's here, I guess. 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:43.839 They've all stuck around. 00:26:44.319 --> 00:26:45.440 Still a family establishment. 00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:49.440 Well, if you can't pass it on, then I guess you keep it after you pass on, that's maybe the deal. 00:26:49.920 --> 00:26:50.160 Yeah. 00:26:51.039 --> 00:27:04.319 This might be a weird question, but did Lucy get the sense that any of those spirits that she heard speaking, or Bruno or his mom or his wife, had any awareness that she was also aware of them? 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:10.400 I think that she believed her and that Bruno was aware of her because she felt like she could converse with Bruno. 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:10.960 Wow. 00:27:11.200 --> 00:27:15.839 I wish she were still with us, but yeah, unfortunately she lost her battle with cancer a couple years ago. 00:27:16.079 --> 00:27:20.079 But yeah, she was, like I said, she was so in tune with that stuff. 00:27:20.240 --> 00:27:30.240 And and yeah, you can take it, you can write her off as just a kook, but that just having that almost direct quote, it's that's a receipt you can't make up. 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:31.440 You can't make that up. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:32.079 Yeah. 00:27:32.559 --> 00:27:34.000 That's powerful. 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:38.160 But like I said, she never knew he was married, uh, let alone twice. 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:45.200 The circumstances of and unfortunately that Bruno's set much younger wife unfortunately did pass away rather young. 00:27:45.519 --> 00:27:59.279 Um so you know, I think there's something to maybe because her time was not long enough that she still stuck around for a little while, and Bruno, I guess, wants to stick around because this is this is his legacy, you know. 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:08.319 He loved his his father, his family, and and this, and he didn't want it to just get, you know, sold to the highest bidder and then gutted. 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:09.279 And yeah, you know. 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:10.000 Wow. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:13.680 Yeah, just such a common story in the city these days. 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:14.400 It's not all. 00:28:16.160 --> 00:28:30.559 And and we're just really fortunate that Bob, that Bruno recognized Bob as somebody who would really be a caretaker for the history of the bar, hire nerds like me who love the history of the bar, uh, and love to regurgitate it too. 00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:34.240 Did his second wife pass before him? 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:34.799 Yes. 00:28:34.960 --> 00:28:35.119 Yeah. 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:35.599 Yeah. 00:28:35.680 --> 00:28:39.279 She unfortunately passed away, I think only after a couple years of marriage. 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:40.079 It was very yeah. 00:28:40.319 --> 00:28:40.799 Oh wow. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:44.000 Um were they still living above the bar at the time? 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:44.400 Yep. 00:28:44.559 --> 00:28:46.160 I think he lived here until his dying days. 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:46.720 Oh wow. 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:47.519 Yeah. 00:28:47.839 --> 00:28:57.759 That's the I think all three of the people that that Lucy talked to or communicated with or heard, um, I think they all passed away in this building. 00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:14.960 The other clear time where I everybody that works here, even I think the guys that are a little bit more naysayers are when um is when we were having the bathrooms renovated. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:20.799 Um, random stuff started to like not function

that had nothing to do with the repair. 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:28.960 Like the soda gun that we don't use often, um, like it just started to spray and leak out of nowhere. 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:32.319 Like this, I it was just possessed. 00:29:32.400 --> 00:29:33.200 It literally was. 00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:36.480 Like I was like, oh my everyone's like, man, Bruno's pissed. 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:44.000 He does not like that they're uh digging up the bathrooms, like, you know, um weird little things like that for sure. 00:29:44.240 --> 00:29:47.440 Um we had like yeah, little electrical things that'll happen. 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:54.079 I know it's an old building and wiring, but um yeah, when the electrician comes out and is like, no, the wiring's fine. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:55.200 I don't know why this happened. 00:29:55.440 --> 00:30:00.319 Like, okay, so just mystery ailments of the bar, I guess you could say. 00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:00.559 Yeah. 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:02.720 But you don't really can't really account for. 00:30:02.880 --> 00:30:04.640 The soda gun was really nuts. 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:08.240 Like that was like literally just spring. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:16.079 Yeah, because obviously that's not connected to I mean it's connected to the water, it's connected, but it's just we don't really use it very often. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:19.039 So you'd think if anything's gonna break, it's gonna be the one we use more often. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:19.359 Yeah. 00:30:19.680 --> 00:30:20.160 Sure, yeah. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:24.160 But like I said, and this was on the far end of the bar from where the renovations were happening. 00:30:24.559 --> 00:30:27.599 So none of this plumbing had anything to do with that was going on over there. 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:38.640 Cundin told us off mic that the reason the electrician in question was looking at anything is that during the remodel, she was alone in the storeroom when a light bulb suddenly exploded. 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:40.480 But Bruno needed to be heard. 00:30:40.799 --> 00:30:49.039 There's an energy here that I that feels undeniable in just that it has a strong energy even just being in here. 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:52.160 Uh is there anybody here that's like this is all hogwash? 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:53.039 Is there is everybody? 00:30:53.680 --> 00:30:54.640 Everybody's on board. 00:30:55.039 --> 00:30:59.920 I I want to say everybody that's on staff has probably said, Oh, there's Bruno at one point. 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:04.160 Like, if something just random happens, you know, it must be Bruno. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:44.720 Like it's and I'd say there's a couple people that are full one one bartender will not um listen to her earbuds when she's when she's setting up because I like to listen to like my podcasts or whatever, or um, and uh she's like, no, I want to be able to hear if Bruno like she wants, and I don't know if Bruno speaks to her, but I think she wants to be

open for Bruno's energy that like yeah, so and not it not in a nervous way, because sometimes I feel like shutting off a sense, uh, you know, your your safety, human survival self is like, I want to feel safe, I want all senses on guard. 00:31:44.880 --> 00:31:59.519 She just really wants, she's just like, if something's gonna happen, I want to be able to whether, yeah, whether, you know, she'll turn on the jukebox, she might have music going, but she just wants to be able to, like, if Bruno's in a bad mood that day, um, she she wants to be able to know what the energy she's walking into. 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:02.160 Lucy used to greet Bruno when she would come in. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:02.640 Wow. 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:11.519 Um, but yeah, like I I think everybody in here, it's just undeniable when you when you and again, maybe some people are more skeptical. 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:14.240 And I was, you know, when I first started working here. 00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:17.440 Well, particularly when Lucy was telling me about talking to them. 00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:25.359 I was super skeptical, but then things happen and then she just saying one thing to yeah. 00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:27.680 How long did Lucy work here for? 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:28.960 Oh gosh. 00:32:29.200 --> 00:32:35.359 Um I'd say about like six years? 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:37.039 Yeah. 00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:40.319 I think she passed away in 2002. 00:32:40.799 --> 00:32:41.359 Yeah. 00:32:41.759 --> 00:32:49.200 So well that's a long time for also for her to be here and to um have her own relationship with. 00:32:49.759 --> 00:32:55.599 And she was in here for hours by herself, you know, so it really was just her and the ghosts. 00:32:55.759 --> 00:32:56.400 Yeah. 00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:58.880 Um while she's while she's cleaning the bar. 00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:06.400 And you know, she she put a lot of love and and energy into fixing up like just other things that maybe got glossed over. 00:33:06.559 --> 00:33:12.079 She, you know, like shined the brass on the jukebox, or you know, she she took a little extra care. 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:12.960 I love that. 00:33:13.119 --> 00:33:16.720 So yeah, you would I mean it seems like Bruno would respect that. 00:33:16.880 --> 00:33:17.039 Yeah, yeah. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:21.839 I'm hoping that she got us some good grace with Bruno. 00:33:22.319 --> 00:33:26.160 Is there anybody that works here currently that worked with Bruno? 00:33:26.400 --> 00:33:28.720 So nobody really worked with Bruno towards the end. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:31.359 I mean, they were they did have bartenders before. 00:33:31.599 --> 00:33:35.440 Um, but towards the end, it was just Bruno running it when he wanted to. 00:33:35.680 --> 00:33:40.559 And I believe part of the reason for the tables being closed was because when his wife passed away, and who else? 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:42.799 You're not gonna hire a cocktail waitress, you know. 00:33:43.039 --> 00:33:51.759 I think he just started to kind of downsize the bar and just keep it, like I said, just a handful of people that he could spend a little time chatting with. 00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:53.920 And, you know, as he got older, that's all he wanted. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:54.960 This was his living room. 00:33:55.039 --> 00:33:59.839 This is where he you had to kind of be an invited friend to be able to drink here. 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:13.440 And if you happen to sneak in, I mean, I know people that particularly towards the end, they'd be like, yeah, if you kicked him, if he kicked you out, you would just go walk around the block a couple times and then come back again and see if he remembered that he already kicked that he already kicked, I know, right? 00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:15.599 Mess up your hair or something. 00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:31.599 Um again, I never got to meet him, but I've just I still love all these, even if they're redundant, I love these Bruno stories because it just it really makes this legend, this myth of a man kind of come to life. 00:34:31.840 --> 00:34:32.159 Yeah. 00:34:32.320 --> 00:34:32.960 Yeah. 00:34:33.599 --> 00:34:39.199 What do you think a Bruno would think about us doing this as podcast and telling the story? 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:40.400 Yeah, I'm sure. 00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:45.760 I did, yeah, like I said, I I I imagine he would think this was totally ridiculous. 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:49.760 I would actually might also kind of love the the like little like 00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:51.119 I'm still getting attention. 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:53.760 We can really well he hasn't kicked us out yet. 00:34:54.639 --> 00:34:54.880 No, yeah. 00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:57.760 Although we did hear that click of the door. 00:34:57.840 --> 00:34:59.280 Um now he's locking you in. 00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:00.800 Now you're never going to lose the thing. 00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:01.840 Okay, yeah. 00:35:02.000 --> 00:35:03.920 Well, I love everything. 00:35:04.079 --> 00:35:06.239 I love that the story of Lucy. 00:35:06.320 --> 00:35:08.719 I love knowing all the history. 00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:11.119 I love how much you seem to love this place. 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:12.320 It's super cool. 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:21.280 And these are the things in San Francisco, these are the kinds of places that are so special, and people sense that immediately, you know. 00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:23.039 Um, I definitely do. 00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:36.239 Yeah, I think that's one of the reasons that we're doing this is not just because we love a good ghost story, but yeah, to respect the history of the city and these places, especially places like this that have been around for so long and weathered so many changes. 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:38.079 The city changes so much. 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:41.840 Um that to yeah, stick it out is really cool. 00:35:41.920 --> 00:35:46.320 And yeah, to have somebody that obviously cares about the history of that is really, really special. 00:35:52.639 --> 00:35:55.760 We really appreciate everything. 00:35:56.159 --> 00:36:03.360 We appreciate your this story and your time and this delicious uh martini that I sipped so slowly. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:06.719 I did not sip as slowly. 00:36:07.039 --> 00:36:14.239 Um yes, thank you so much for your time and your um generous storytelling and sharing of everything. 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:17.440 I'm yeah, I'm just fortunate enough to work here. 00:36:28.800 --> 00:36:34.400 Thank you to Kundam Baedwan and Zamzam, and a special thanks to Bruno and his family. 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:43.440 Cheers! Spirits and Spirits is written and performed by Fontaine Hernandez and Ryan Seasak, produced and mixed by Alberto Hernandez. 00:36:43.599 --> 00:36:47.199 The theme song is by Meredith Edgar, with other sound by Big Cat. 00:36:47.440 --> 00:36:50.400 Our cover art and logo are by Mary Searing. 00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:54.719 Follow us on social media at Spirits and Spirits Pod. 00:36:54.880 --> 00:37:00.480 And if you're a bartender with a ghost story, please email us at spirits and spiritspod at gmail.com. 00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:06.239 That's spirits, the letter N, Spirits Again, Pod at gmail.com. 00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:09.760 This is Cundin. 00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:13.440 I am at Zam Zam on Hate Street in San Francisco. 00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:15.280 I'm with Ryan and Fontaine. 00:37:15.599 --> 00:37:18.079 Thank you for listening to Spirits and Spirits. 00:37:23.257 --> 00:37:28.536 The graze in the darkness, a toast to the light. 00:37:29.177 --> 00:37:31.896 We thank you all hearty. 00:37:32.137 --> 00:37:36.297 May you be on your way tonight.