Planning Unanimously Approves Restaurant For Former LaundromatNichole Accettola (second from right) and Joachim Majholm (far right) are the couple behind the Scandinavian restaurant coming to 1906 Marketkk St. | Photos: Kantine SF/Facebook
Shane Downing
Published on September 08, 2017

Yesterday, the Planning Commission voted unanimously against a Discretionary Review that would have prevented a Scandinavian restaurant from opening in the property formerly occupied by Little Hollywood Launderette (1906 Market St.).

In order to open the smørrebrød-slinging eatery called Kantine, owner and chef Nichole Accettola and her husband and business partner Joachim Majholm filed for a change of use permit to convert the space from a laundromat into a restaurant.

Accettola has been selling her smørrebrød—topped with an array of thinly-sliced cheeses, meats and fish on homemade sprouted rye bread—at pop-up brunches, dinners and the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market.

However, YIMBY activist and SoMa resident Sonja Trauss, along with Michael Petrelis, filed a Discretionary Review (DR) of the project, citing the decreasing number of neighborhood serving laundromats around San Francisco.

(Correction: Michael Petrelis did not file the DR. He made Trauss aware that Little Hollywood was closing and that a Change of Use was being considered. Trauss filed the DR alone.)

Had commissioners voted in favor of Trauss’ DR, 1906 Market St. would have continued to be zoned solely for laundromat services.

Although community members on both sides of the issue spoke at yesterday afternoon’s Planning hearing, the Commission’s unanimous support to approve Kantine’s change of use application (and to vote down Trauss’ DR) means that the restaurant owners can focus on opening their restaurant.

Kantine's sprouted rye bread.

We reached out to Accettola to get an idea of when work will begin on the space and when neighbors might expect to see Kantine open; however, she preferred not to comment.

“Preparing for the hearing has been our number-one priority for the past many months,” Accettola wrote in an email to Hoodline. “I’m not able to make a comment about the situation as it looks on this side of the hearing.”

That said, Accettola said she’s happy her restaurant is moving forward.

“We believe it is in everyone’s best interest that the space be activated as soon as possible,” she wrote.