By Linda Parker Pennington
On Tuesday, June 12, First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, visited a packed and jubilant house at Manny’s, to support her husband’s presidential reelection bid.
It was Biden’s second time at Manny’s, at 3092 16th St., having stopped in during Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.
Founder Manny Yekutiel introduced the First Lady. “Dr. Biden chose to visit Manny’s today because San Francisco matters,” he said. “We are the crucible of civic life in this country. We make s–t happen.”
The atmosphere inside was euphoric, those assembled charmed by the First Lady’s warmth and grace.
“I am here in San Francisco because San Francisco matters” said Biden at the fundraiser where individuals paid from $100-$250 a plate to attend.
“Remember how hard it was last time? This time, it’s going to be even harder. The fight for freedom doesn’t end. This is the most important election of our lives.”
Manny’s is a social gathering space with a restaurant-cafe, bookstore and event space that opened in November 2016. In the run-up to the 2020 election, the venue hosted each of the 22 Democratic presidential contenders.
Yekutiel has hosted town halls with local civic leaders from Mayor London Breed to City Assessor Joaqin Torres; congressional representatives such as Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee; state leaders like Secretary of State Shirley Webber and national leaders like U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (N.J.); House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield; and most recently actress and activist Jane Fonda.
Yekutiel is the 33-year-old son of an Afghani father and Brooklyn-born mother, raised in Los Angeles, a practicing Jew and gay.
Before creating his wildly successful civic engagement salon, he served in a variety of civic and political advocacy roles, including Organize for America (Obama’s campaign), Hillary for America and FWD.us, a coalition of technology and business leaders to politically activate the tech community.

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