8 The Noe Valley Voice • September 2015
Diana Barrand, Co-Owner of Le Zinc, Dies at 57 By Steve Steinberg
D
iana Barrand, who with her husband Max Braud owned Le Zinc, the popular French bistro on 24th Street, has died. Barrand passed away on June 21, a few days short of her 58th birthday, after a seven-year battle with cancer. Called the “friendly face” of the café, Barrand often served as the greeter to arriving customers. “She was the heart of the restaurant,” said her friend and fellow merchant Carol Yenne, who owns Small Frys across the street from Le Zinc. Braud said his wife had enjoyed many good relationships in Noe Valley. “She was appreciated by a lot of people,” he said. David Eiland, the co-owner of Just for Fun on 24th Street, said he met Barrand when Le Zinc first opened, and they soon became friends. “She was my favorite person, a sweetheart,” he said. “She was always pleasant, never complaining.” Eiland said Barrand always made an effort to keep up her end of the restaurant, despite her declining health. “I have to get these menus done,” she would tell Eiland. Yenne said she and Barrand got a kick out of the fact that they seemingly were the only merchants on 24th Street who liked stringing holiday lights on their storefronts all year long. They both pursued the cause as members of the Noe Valley Merchants and Professionals Association. Barrand was born in Uganda of British parents. Her father, a former soldier, had gone to Uganda in the 1950s as an adviser to the government. The family later
Video Wave
Diana Barrand on one of her many travels with husband Max Braud.
moved to Malaysia and Abu Dhabi before returning to their native England. Barrand attended high school in Wales and later graduated from Manchester University, majoring in European studies with a French emphasis. After graduation,
Photo courtesy Max Braud
Barrand left England and moved to Paris, where she found work in a French bank. While working at the bank, Barrand fell in love with Braud, a fellow employee. The two eventually married in 1992, after a 10-year relationship. Braud,
whose family had a long tradition of café ownership, decided at some point to open a wine bar as an avocation. It soon took off and Braud found himself needing help. Barrand quickly agreed to swap her job at the bank for one in the bar. “I was ready for a change,” she told the Voice in a 2008 interview. Despite the wine bar’s success, the couple became restless and decided to try out life in the United States. San Francisco beckoned as the ideal spot to live and perhaps open a café in the Parisian mold. After searching for the right location, Barrand and Braud launched Le Zinc at 4063 24th St. in late 2001. The two settled into a routine where Braud, as chef, handled the cooking at Le Zinc while Barrand was in charge of the wait staff, accounting, and table seating. In her spare time, Barrand was an avid film buff and loved traveling around Northern California. “I think we went everywhere,” said her husband. The two lived in various parts of the city, most recently on Randall Street. Barrand’s condition appeared to worsen late last year, said Eiland. She spent less and less time working at the café. At one point, Eiland asked her about her plans, given her illness. “I’ll just keep going until one day I won’t be here” was her response, according to Eiland. Besides her husband, Barrand is survived by her mother, who retired to Spain, a sister in Lake Tahoe, and two nieces in San Francisco. Barrand asked to be cremated and her ashes scattered in San Francisco Bay, Braud said. He also said a celebration of Barrand’s life might occur next year, but he wasn’t sure whether it would be here or in Europe. In the meantime, Le Zinc will continue serving its Noe Valley and other customers.
THE CROSSWORD BY MICHAEL BLAKE
is moving in with
Returns Department ACROSS
at 4027 24th Street We are excited to have new store mates and share this beautiful space! The relieved and joyful reactions we've received says it all about why we dedicate so much of our resources to keep this Noe Valley investment open and available to our customers. There is a reason why this store has continued since 1983...it's in Noe Valley, San Francisco! Many of our movies are not online, and that won't change. If some of the movies you see here are online at the moment, we hope you'll still borrow them from us. This will help us to provide all of the movies which aren't (including weekly releases).
Come and see what all of the fuss is about! We'll be at 4027 24th St. after Sept 1st! Thank you to all who have helped pack, move, and donated money during our closure; and who've been our customers for over 30 years. We have been working 7 days a week and may still need some help. Contact us to find out.
Colin & Gwen - 415-550-7577 meetforvideowave@gmail.com
1. Boy child 4. “Fantastic Four” actress Jessica 8. Erase, as a floppy disk 14. Drs.’ assn. 15. Celine of song 16. Beginning of Einstein’s equation 17. Place for writing 19. Expensive agreements, in Noe Valley 20. Where bombs sometimes burst 21. Purple hue 23. Bank deposit? 24. Drawer unit 29. Postcard sentiment 31. Blazing 32. “The ___ Squad” 33. Pound poem part 35. Sis and bro 36. 24th Street store that inspired this puzzle 41. “___ McBeal” 42. Climb aboard 43. Shot at Walgreens 44. Gravestone abbr. 47. Cote d’Ivoire’s biggest city 51. Dining place 54. Dynamic intro? 55. Sprightly 56. Breckinridge and Hess 57. Serena’s sport 60. Binge-watcher’s seat 63. State just north of here 64. Dear Abby or Ann Landers 65. “___ Sharpe’s San Francisco” (KQED series) 66. Kind of medicine or leather
67. Seductive 68. Season before automne DOWN
1. Pleasure from inflicting pain 2. Subtitle to the 1978 film “Damien” 3. Twangy speech sounds 4. Info on a mailing env. 5. Untruth 6. Red Sox, on scoreboards 7. Lower leg joint 8. Became the responsibility of 9. Short play 10. Brand of dental floss 11. “___ Doubtfire” 12. Improve, as wine 13. Baseball’s Cobb
and football’s Law 18. Like plastic pink flamingos 22. Relative of -esque 24. Moscone mtg. 25. Native Rwandan 26. Abu Dhabi VIP 27. Beverage with a lizard logo 28. Gridiron stat. 30. Ex-NBA star Ming 34. Nonprofit’s URL ending 35. When some SF streets are closed to cars 36. Scat queen Fitzgerald 37. K9 Scrub ___ on Church St. 38. “Hud” Best Actress Patricia 39. “Can ___ true?” 40. What you might be in France?
41. Astern 44. Bay Area, for one 45. Hall & Oates’s “Say ___ So” 46. Bud 48. Choreographer Robbins 49. Bygone PLO leader 50. Button on a cash register 52. “Blue Sky” Oscar winner Jessica 53. Outscores 56. A lot 57. Spinning toy 58. Stat for Bumgarner 59. Earn after taxes 61. Part of IOU 62. Repair Solution on Page 32 Note:The current Voice Crossword and all past puzzles can be found at www.noevalleyvoice.com