Day Light savings time creates the great shift for early morning risers. For about one month, all of the sudden, the sun comes up around 6:30, thus my morning walk is alight with an early dawn glow even when I start my walk at 6:00 am. Of course, as winter approaches, the sun will avoid sunrise until later and later, until around my birthday, December 23, when the days will start to get longer.
This morning I woke up fairly early, around 5:30, adjusting for the new time change. Biologically, that is 6:30, sleeping in by my weekday standards. I had planned a walk to the Mission District for coffee, and proceeded to make it to Ritual before it got too busy. On my way there along Valencia, I walked by several coffee houses that I have reviewed in the past - Javalencia, Borderlands, Tartine, Four Barrel.
Just a block north of Ritual - I saw its iconic hammer and sickle morphed coffee cup silhouette on a red background - I saw Blue Fig Cafe. I walked by this smaller store front before. It has a parklet out front and a patio in the back. I ordered a cappuccino and sat indoors. The set list that pumped through the stereo was entirely Zero 7, a late 2000s breakout jazz fusion band (big fan, I own all of their albums).
About half way through my cap, I decided to move out back. The patio is of the high walled variety, surrounded by the four story victorian flats that line most of San Francisco. Assuming the day will be in the high seventies, a scorcher by SF standards, I assumed that the patio would be just right for the t-shirt I was wearing - it is still a slight chill out of the sun. The cap was exceptional - dark roast, with chocolate overtones. I strongly suggest this location, as long as it is not raining, for the patio and parklet options.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Progressive Grounds, Cortland Ave., Bernal Heights, San Francisco
Early morning before I work the Bernal Heights Street Fair for CTA today, found Janine and me looking for a cup of coffee (writing in the passive voice makes it sound like I am not taking any responsibility for my actions - a victim of circumstances - yes). Two places were bakeries, that maybe had good coffee. But the neighborhood traditional establishment was Progressive Grounds.
The espresso drinks - a double small cap and my wife's Soy Latte - were great. The traditional brewed coffee refill I had was also exceptional. All drinks used a dark roast with berry, chocolate, and minty after tones. The back room was hosting a meeting of sorts, but the room resembled a living room with several chairs. If I make it back to this cafe again, I will have to sit back there. Not only that, but this seemingly former home also has a split level backyard patio with tables to enjoy a cup of coffee on a sunny day.
My wife and I sat in the front room. The cafe not only serves the usual bagels and muffins for breakfast, but also serves a range of lavash wraps, regular sandwiches and salads. They even serve several flavors of ice cream.
The neighborhood clientele is full of middle aged homeowners, in this traditionally working class part of town. No tourists stop here, but there must be a few artists that live here. I am sure they will be at the fair today when I ask them to stop Prop. 32 and support 30. The election is just two weeks away. When it is done, I will sleep better. Until then, more coffee, please.
The espresso drinks - a double small cap and my wife's Soy Latte - were great. The traditional brewed coffee refill I had was also exceptional. All drinks used a dark roast with berry, chocolate, and minty after tones. The back room was hosting a meeting of sorts, but the room resembled a living room with several chairs. If I make it back to this cafe again, I will have to sit back there. Not only that, but this seemingly former home also has a split level backyard patio with tables to enjoy a cup of coffee on a sunny day.
My wife and I sat in the front room. The cafe not only serves the usual bagels and muffins for breakfast, but also serves a range of lavash wraps, regular sandwiches and salads. They even serve several flavors of ice cream.
The neighborhood clientele is full of middle aged homeowners, in this traditionally working class part of town. No tourists stop here, but there must be a few artists that live here. I am sure they will be at the fair today when I ask them to stop Prop. 32 and support 30. The election is just two weeks away. When it is done, I will sleep better. Until then, more coffee, please.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Stanza Cafe, Haight east of Cole, San Francisco
There are a couple of cafés on the upper Haight that focus just on coffee. A short walk from home to Cole at Haight offers three choices in less than 50 yards from one another. I have never been to Cantata Coffee, that faces south at Cole. Cafe Cole, makes excellent coffee and breakfast bagels and sandwiches. Both of these cafés offer outside patio chair style seating. Stanza, which is owned by the same operator as Cafe Cole has the best indoor atmosphere. But more importantly, Stanza unmistakeable makes the best espresso drinks in the upper Haight, with Flywheel coming in second.
The cappuccino that I am drinking, and the soy mocha that my wife is drinking are served to spec. The coffee is a slightly sharp minty chocolate flavor with a smokey aftertaste. My wife's mocha uses the best chocolate I have tasted in a mocha, although it has been a while since I have had a mocha. All of their coffee is supplied by Auggie's Roasters from Redlands, Ca.
My only complaint with the space has to do with the barrel top tables. The table tops seem to be made from wood barrel ends. The problem with this is that the top lip of the barrel is a narrow metal edge. On top of that, and maybe this was intended, but it is impossible to use a laptop on these tables, or to write in a notebook. But I guess the table tops protect against spills. There is a coffee bar area in back, where the stereo seems to be focused.
The best cappuccino this side of town... But lose the table tops. I'll be back.
The cappuccino that I am drinking, and the soy mocha that my wife is drinking are served to spec. The coffee is a slightly sharp minty chocolate flavor with a smokey aftertaste. My wife's mocha uses the best chocolate I have tasted in a mocha, although it has been a while since I have had a mocha. All of their coffee is supplied by Auggie's Roasters from Redlands, Ca.
My only complaint with the space has to do with the barrel top tables. The table tops seem to be made from wood barrel ends. The problem with this is that the top lip of the barrel is a narrow metal edge. On top of that, and maybe this was intended, but it is impossible to use a laptop on these tables, or to write in a notebook. But I guess the table tops protect against spills. There is a coffee bar area in back, where the stereo seems to be focused.
The best cappuccino this side of town... But lose the table tops. I'll be back.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Elite Coffee Bar, Folsom at 5th St., SF
Put a new espresso machine in an old garage space, get a Blue Bottle contract, a good stereo system down the street from Moscone Center - will it work.
The urban feel is unmistakeable, just a block from a major freeway on ramp, this place might be exactly what can be afforded for a forever up-and-coming redevelopment area surrounded by new condo structures that are reminiscent of lower profile construction that is going on in every major redeveloped city that is booming with the idea that young professionals need a 900 square foot condo a ten minute walk from the downtown corporate towers that print their paychecks and pay off their student loans.
It is a brave new world in most downtowns. I even saw similar urban renewal in parts of Istanbul this summer, with designs for condo, and multi use six to eight story buildings replacing the older Ottoman tenements that seemed so common a hundred years ago. This part of San Francisco is no different, having been a hub for small workshops - glass, furniture, car repair, and a hefty number of welfare hotels that in recent years have mysteriously burned down. I end up in downtown Los Angeles about four times a year, and the scene is no different. The skid row of old is replete with 10-20 story condos - either converted apartments or newly built condos. The plan is simple - get rid of the older, 100 or so year old buildings in the low rent district and build something that seems to work for most people the first ten years of their professional life, fulfilling their dream to live in a bustling civic center, until they decide to family down. Welcome to south of Market.
The Blue Bottle Macchiatto was great. Gotta go. The constant, rhythmic hum of major traffic never ceased. A great stop if I wanted to escape Moscone for a convention day off for a quick cup of Blue Bottle.
The urban feel is unmistakeable, just a block from a major freeway on ramp, this place might be exactly what can be afforded for a forever up-and-coming redevelopment area surrounded by new condo structures that are reminiscent of lower profile construction that is going on in every major redeveloped city that is booming with the idea that young professionals need a 900 square foot condo a ten minute walk from the downtown corporate towers that print their paychecks and pay off their student loans.
It is a brave new world in most downtowns. I even saw similar urban renewal in parts of Istanbul this summer, with designs for condo, and multi use six to eight story buildings replacing the older Ottoman tenements that seemed so common a hundred years ago. This part of San Francisco is no different, having been a hub for small workshops - glass, furniture, car repair, and a hefty number of welfare hotels that in recent years have mysteriously burned down. I end up in downtown Los Angeles about four times a year, and the scene is no different. The skid row of old is replete with 10-20 story condos - either converted apartments or newly built condos. The plan is simple - get rid of the older, 100 or so year old buildings in the low rent district and build something that seems to work for most people the first ten years of their professional life, fulfilling their dream to live in a bustling civic center, until they decide to family down. Welcome to south of Market.
The Blue Bottle Macchiatto was great. Gotta go. The constant, rhythmic hum of major traffic never ceased. A great stop if I wanted to escape Moscone for a convention day off for a quick cup of Blue Bottle.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Mojo - Bicycle Shop & Cafe, 639 Divisidero south of Grove, SF
I resist coming to cafés that have a competing business shared in the same space to read or write. The restrictive space typically causes the cafe ambience to be compromised by a smaller service area, or a lack of space for customers to either line up or to wait for their orders to be delivered. I have been here in the early morning during the week and weekend in the past, and like most cafés, the early morning still allows enough air in a smaller space to enjoy a cup of coffee while waking up before the cafe starts to buzz with customers. But once a cafe like Mojo gets rolling with lines out the door and people standing waiting for tables on the adjoining parklet that is bordered by a tight sidewalk mirrored by two relatively noisy lanes of traffic in each direction on Divisidero, the energy of the cafe seems cramped. I almost feel that strange NewYork feeling (sorry to my cousins on Long Island) where customers seem to vie for each available chair, hovering in the narrow path through the shop between the row of tables on the opposite wall which dually serves as the main path to the bicycle store at the rear of the store front, having to dodge the occasional bike shop customer's repaired bicycle.
The light breakfast fair is top notch and the espresso drinks made with Ritual Coffee suffice, made with medium roast from Central America. The service staff is very friendly and immediately responsive. I would come here to eat and drink a cup of coffee if I had a half an hour before getting on a bus or bicycle to go to work during the early morning work week. Otherwise, I would choose to go to another space for that sunny morning ambience of a cafe to wake up with a quiet cup of coffee during the weekend.
The light breakfast fair is top notch and the espresso drinks made with Ritual Coffee suffice, made with medium roast from Central America. The service staff is very friendly and immediately responsive. I would come here to eat and drink a cup of coffee if I had a half an hour before getting on a bus or bicycle to go to work during the early morning work week. Otherwise, I would choose to go to another space for that sunny morning ambience of a cafe to wake up with a quiet cup of coffee during the weekend.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Sight Glass Coffee Bar and Roastery, 7th near Folsom, S.F.
On my way to Jury Duty, I was in search of coffee South of Market. There are a few cafés in the area, west of the Freeways, but only one or two flagship locations of a roastery near the courthouse. My search takes me to a large warehouse, cement and wood beamed, with the largest attraction of a industrial size roasting machine. This area, just off Folsom has shed it skid row history, but only to still be infected by the continual flood of vehicles on four lane, one way by ways that still clog South of Market for commuters.
The coffee is served to spec. The double cap that I ordered was exceptional - chocolate hints with stone fruit accents. The milk was steamed, and some slightly poured off before it was added to my cup. I the romance of listening to the roasting machine in full working makes the coffee taste better, it definitely fills the air with the slight buzz of caffeine, almost able to absorb it in your pores. But the machine and the space in genial reverberates with the sound of the whirling of the belts that must drive the machinery.
In contrast to this space, or other spaces that I have reviewed for their unique musical presentation, I sit here yearning for perhaps a quieter space, having to go face a jury selection process and fluorescent lights often court house that I do not find relaxing. The coffee is great, but this morning the whirling of the machine is too much.
I will order a cup of coffee to go as well, and review that while I wait with all of the other jurors, police, lawyers and suspects to get into the court house. I will report on this on this out of review - the paper cup to go cup to see how this coffee stands up. The roasted bags of coffee here do look more appealing, since I can see the bags literally being filled right behind me as I look out at the street through this cafe's large windows.
The coffee is served to spec. The double cap that I ordered was exceptional - chocolate hints with stone fruit accents. The milk was steamed, and some slightly poured off before it was added to my cup. I the romance of listening to the roasting machine in full working makes the coffee taste better, it definitely fills the air with the slight buzz of caffeine, almost able to absorb it in your pores. But the machine and the space in genial reverberates with the sound of the whirling of the belts that must drive the machinery.
In contrast to this space, or other spaces that I have reviewed for their unique musical presentation, I sit here yearning for perhaps a quieter space, having to go face a jury selection process and fluorescent lights often court house that I do not find relaxing. The coffee is great, but this morning the whirling of the machine is too much.
I will order a cup of coffee to go as well, and review that while I wait with all of the other jurors, police, lawyers and suspects to get into the court house. I will report on this on this out of review - the paper cup to go cup to see how this coffee stands up. The roasted bags of coffee here do look more appealing, since I can see the bags literally being filled right behind me as I look out at the street through this cafe's large windows.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Where I drink coffee when and why
The goal of any survey is ultimately to develop a taxonomy, a classification, of the different items surveyed based on specific functions or characteristics using a standardized set of criteria. That definition comes to me from my ninth grade biology teacher, Frank Arena, who was the first teacher I ever had that lectured in class four days a week, with one lab a week. I took pride in the notes that I took, that I still have my biology notebook to this day. When I took biology in college as part of my general Ed in college, I used this same notebook to earn an A.
Coffee is an animal that has been in my life before I ever drank it, being the drink of productive Americans, including my mom who left for work as a nurse every morning at 7 am. She taught me how to make coffee probably by the time I was 12, but I never really liked it until I had a cappuccino at Rutabegorz the summer after my freshman year in high school at the age of 15. It was that summer that I realized that coffee could be a different animal than the brown bitter water my mom scooped out of a can of Yuban.
Thirty three years later, I must have consumed a few thousand gallons of coffee by now, from dark roasted regular coffee to a good amount of steamed milk and espresso.
Before I decided to find as many good cafés in my neighborhood and beyond last summer, I had settled for a relatively mundane existence of two or three cafés, all within three or four blocks of each other. I almost never veered off course, meeting good friends, many of which that I met at the very same cafés for years. Some coffee houses came and went, but from one year to the next I went to the same cafés until one closed and I moved on to the one down the street. But last year, I decided to walk east from my apartment instead of west, walking to the warmer part of the city, where fog does not regularly frequent.
After the past year and a half then, here is my best of list of cafés that I would go to for specific purposes, while still flitting around to new cafés in search of the next great espresso or cool environment for my next review. I will qualify, that unless I mention it, all of the cafés below make excellent to awesome espresso and coffee drinks.
Best 15 minute morning walk with a seat in the sun (also best place for an afternoon $2 pot of loose tea):
Bean There Cafe, Waller at Steiner. With at least 16 seats on a a wide sidewalk, not to mention the long corner walls with full sized windows facing East, this cafe is the best place to enjoy a lingering coffee experience on a weekend morning. The music plays low in the background and the staff is very friendly and serves a quality cup and a few bagels and egg sandwiches to go along with my second cup of coffee after a cappuccino served to spec.
Best early morning, opens at 6 am, place to wake up to in the cold morning:
Coffee, Tea and Spice on Central and Hayes. Besides great coffee, the mostly college aged staff here has played a number of differ new bands that I have wondered, "what is that soothing sound that I am half consciously now aware of?" as I still sit there half asleep at 6:30 writing in my journal. I have also gotten to know a couple of the regulars of the place, as well as a few clients that speak really loudly in the morning, who I think they must speak loudly to either be heard or to try to wake each other up. The other great advantage of this location is that it is the best coffee I can find two blocks away from my house.
Best place to sit in the afternoon sun if I get home early enough, when I want to take a fifteen minute walk: Matching Half Cafe at Baker and McAllister. This corner cafe is smaller than Bean There, but situated on a corner with its long windowed wall faces West. The espresso here is served to spec and the coffee is slow drip. The small menu is also excellent for a light meal. The music here is also well played, the staff, likewise being mostly college aged. Like Coffee, Tea and Spice, the music helps me calm down from a busy day and ground myself as I write in my journal.
Best place for a 15 minute walk if I want to go shopping for food afterwards: Flywheel Coffee on Stanyan south of Page. The espresso is served to spec, while the coffee is slow dripped. But on a warmer day, this roaster/cafe also makes a cold drip iced coffee that is extracted out of a truly incredible chemical sculpture of glass that is worth investigating. Being a newer cafe, it still has a couple of nuances, especially fickle wifi, but I have seen constant improvements as this owner operated cafe continues to grow into its large space. It is next to Whole Foods on Stanyan, which I never go to, since I prefer Gus and Georgia's Haight Street Market near Ashbury which is closer to my house.
Best Overall cafe space (still): Cafe Trieste, on Grant in a North Beach. Old timer coffee Brahmins, hipsters, tourists, people going to work, neighbors, sidewalk seating, sunny morning window seats, dark area in back for computer users as well as a place to see a small band play at night.
Best Espresso (this month): Four Barrel on Valencia and 15th Street.
Friendliest staff: Four Barrel.
Most annoying clientele because they think they are so cool for drinking the coffee there: Ritual on Valencia near 22nd St. It is not everybody there, just a few. The coffee is excellent, and if the hipsters who think they were artists would disappear, then the space would not so much strange energy as you were waiting in the long line for your precious ounces of espresso while the hipsters stared you down for wearing jeans and a t-shirt to a coffee house in the morning.
Best Cafe east of Folsom in the Mission: Atlas Cafe on Florida at 20th.
Best Cafés in other neighborhoods not mentioned: working on it.
What is missing from my list that is hard to find...
A late night cafe open till ten pm: since I cannot drink coffee that late anymore (I wish I could) I might try to find one, but I won't go there much unless I needed a place to grade papers.
A cafe that turns into a wine bar at night. I will review Vinyl on the corner of Divisidero and Oak soon.
A cafe that hosts a poetry reading, book club, or writers group, just like the good old days. I'll get back to you.
Coffee is an animal that has been in my life before I ever drank it, being the drink of productive Americans, including my mom who left for work as a nurse every morning at 7 am. She taught me how to make coffee probably by the time I was 12, but I never really liked it until I had a cappuccino at Rutabegorz the summer after my freshman year in high school at the age of 15. It was that summer that I realized that coffee could be a different animal than the brown bitter water my mom scooped out of a can of Yuban.
Thirty three years later, I must have consumed a few thousand gallons of coffee by now, from dark roasted regular coffee to a good amount of steamed milk and espresso.
Before I decided to find as many good cafés in my neighborhood and beyond last summer, I had settled for a relatively mundane existence of two or three cafés, all within three or four blocks of each other. I almost never veered off course, meeting good friends, many of which that I met at the very same cafés for years. Some coffee houses came and went, but from one year to the next I went to the same cafés until one closed and I moved on to the one down the street. But last year, I decided to walk east from my apartment instead of west, walking to the warmer part of the city, where fog does not regularly frequent.
After the past year and a half then, here is my best of list of cafés that I would go to for specific purposes, while still flitting around to new cafés in search of the next great espresso or cool environment for my next review. I will qualify, that unless I mention it, all of the cafés below make excellent to awesome espresso and coffee drinks.
Best 15 minute morning walk with a seat in the sun (also best place for an afternoon $2 pot of loose tea):
Bean There Cafe, Waller at Steiner. With at least 16 seats on a a wide sidewalk, not to mention the long corner walls with full sized windows facing East, this cafe is the best place to enjoy a lingering coffee experience on a weekend morning. The music plays low in the background and the staff is very friendly and serves a quality cup and a few bagels and egg sandwiches to go along with my second cup of coffee after a cappuccino served to spec.
Best early morning, opens at 6 am, place to wake up to in the cold morning:
Coffee, Tea and Spice on Central and Hayes. Besides great coffee, the mostly college aged staff here has played a number of differ new bands that I have wondered, "what is that soothing sound that I am half consciously now aware of?" as I still sit there half asleep at 6:30 writing in my journal. I have also gotten to know a couple of the regulars of the place, as well as a few clients that speak really loudly in the morning, who I think they must speak loudly to either be heard or to try to wake each other up. The other great advantage of this location is that it is the best coffee I can find two blocks away from my house.
Best place to sit in the afternoon sun if I get home early enough, when I want to take a fifteen minute walk: Matching Half Cafe at Baker and McAllister. This corner cafe is smaller than Bean There, but situated on a corner with its long windowed wall faces West. The espresso here is served to spec and the coffee is slow drip. The small menu is also excellent for a light meal. The music here is also well played, the staff, likewise being mostly college aged. Like Coffee, Tea and Spice, the music helps me calm down from a busy day and ground myself as I write in my journal.
Best place for a 15 minute walk if I want to go shopping for food afterwards: Flywheel Coffee on Stanyan south of Page. The espresso is served to spec, while the coffee is slow dripped. But on a warmer day, this roaster/cafe also makes a cold drip iced coffee that is extracted out of a truly incredible chemical sculpture of glass that is worth investigating. Being a newer cafe, it still has a couple of nuances, especially fickle wifi, but I have seen constant improvements as this owner operated cafe continues to grow into its large space. It is next to Whole Foods on Stanyan, which I never go to, since I prefer Gus and Georgia's Haight Street Market near Ashbury which is closer to my house.
Best Overall cafe space (still): Cafe Trieste, on Grant in a North Beach. Old timer coffee Brahmins, hipsters, tourists, people going to work, neighbors, sidewalk seating, sunny morning window seats, dark area in back for computer users as well as a place to see a small band play at night.
Best Espresso (this month): Four Barrel on Valencia and 15th Street.
Friendliest staff: Four Barrel.
Most annoying clientele because they think they are so cool for drinking the coffee there: Ritual on Valencia near 22nd St. It is not everybody there, just a few. The coffee is excellent, and if the hipsters who think they were artists would disappear, then the space would not so much strange energy as you were waiting in the long line for your precious ounces of espresso while the hipsters stared you down for wearing jeans and a t-shirt to a coffee house in the morning.
Best Cafe east of Folsom in the Mission: Atlas Cafe on Florida at 20th.
Best Cafés in other neighborhoods not mentioned: working on it.
What is missing from my list that is hard to find...
A late night cafe open till ten pm: since I cannot drink coffee that late anymore (I wish I could) I might try to find one, but I won't go there much unless I needed a place to grade papers.
A cafe that turns into a wine bar at night. I will review Vinyl on the corner of Divisidero and Oak soon.
A cafe that hosts a poetry reading, book club, or writers group, just like the good old days. I'll get back to you.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Four Barrel Coffee, Valencia at 15th, SF - Second review
(Read my first review from the beginning of the month here: Four Barrel, Sept. 3)
It is time for round two of the Four Barrel's main store. The last time I sat here, I came by myself, early on Labor Day, which hosted longer lines, dogs on leashes and neighbors chatting it up, that otherwise would be at work. I enjoyed the medium roast and the record player. But the last time I came here, I showed up with my wife after the half hour walk at about 10:30 to a packed hipster mob scene - every table was taken, the seats in the parklet were filled and the line was out the door on a Saturday morning.
With an up and coming cafe, the latest new roaster that is opening up actual stores elsewhere or at least getting more distribution across town, as it gets better press, it is only natural that its main flagship store would be a mob scene. So, this morning, I decided to get here by 8 am, before the crowds and the must be seen types show up around 9:30 or so. In fact, I came here to watch the morning transformation and report on that very phenomena, since the atmosphere of a cafe is as important to this blogger as amazing coffee - it is the combination that makes it a cafe worth drinking at. As I have reported in the past, the lack of wifi should create a different flavor of clientele, but if that forces the cafe to turn into a place with a rock and roll after tone, in contrast to a laptop morgue, then is this is place to come and read the invisible or even digital newspaper or book?
As part of my preview of a cafe that is at least a half hour walk, I usually follow a macchiato up with a cup of black coffee so I can taste the average mix of coffee drinks that most people might get here - an espresso with some milk and a straight cup of coffee. The last time I was here, I had the straight cup of $2 brewed coffee (which was very smooth and exceptional), but this time I decided that the stand alone coffee bar, that has a cash register was worth a visit, although the specialty beans here run around $3.50 - $5 a cup.
I spoke with the coffee bar specialist here for some time, where most people went straight to the main service area, I had a great one-on-one, ten minute conversation with Bradley. He ran through the coffees, told me about what he is drinking from the selection these days, and was able to discuss a couple of the growers' backgrounds to help me make my selection. We spoke about the new store opening up closer to my house, on Divisidero, and the bakery that is part of the operation with its own grain mill. We spoke of other cafés and roasters, and how this cafe offers a great space. Every single person that has helped me the two times I have been here have been extremely personable and friendly. Bradley is no exception.
If I could join the coffee club here, I might. It seems that the staff who works here have a real enthusiasm about serving the best cup of coffee to customers, in a neighborhood with wall-to-wall, hip coffee hangouts.
I have to say, I am still entranced by their record selection. As I have gotten older, instead of clinging to the music that I heard in my high school and early college days as so many Americans fall victim to, I have broadened my musical tastes considerably, buying old-timey country, blues, 1950s country standards and R&B, as well as a few dollars spent on music from Africa and India, not to mention being able to preview all of the amazing Middle East and Central Asian music that my wife has collected over the years as part of her dancing career.
The most important distinction that listening to records has with the modern age of digital mixing, is that one side of a record is about 22 minutes long or so, of music from one band in a moment in time when the order of the songs was carefully formulated to keep the record playing all the way through to the end. In the days of the automatic record player, which is not used here, and was never considered high fidelity, I would stack up four or five records on the spindle, and each side would play, 22 minutes each, then the next record would drop down by the next artist. Contrast that today with the digital equivalent of a three-and-a-half minute song, then flipping to another totally random song by an artist has removed the idea from many listeners and artists that a 22 minute stretch of six or seven songs actually make up a composition, a collection, that should be arranged and listened to in its entirety. Gone are the days. Right now I am listening to the first side of a Greatest Hits Album by Fleetwood Mac, an album by the band that I actually never owned until I had an iPod. Except for listening to Fleetwood Mac on KMET in Los Angeles in the late Seventies, I have never heard an entire side of Fleetwood Mac, ever, of which my iPhone will not distinguish, unless I decided to set it to play the entire album of Rumors in order. Maybe there is something to listening to the entire album. There must be a way to capture that record listening format that is lost on the shuffle button and a half crafted set list in iTunes.
So, I come back to my original purpose of observing the long stay at Four Barrel, but before I start, I must say that a good cafe sets the mood to enjoy coffee. Since the record player has taken me back, and allowed me to lose myself in a time many years ago, I am a fan of the atmosphere at 9:15 in the morning. The line has edged out the door and the main service bar is in full swing, while only one to two customers are engaged by Bradley's magic at the coffee bar. A good half of the clientele are ordering coffee to go, and many do not appear to be the hipper than thou cafe goers that congregate at several of the cafés down the street.
On the coffee itself - incredible. I ordered a cappuccino, which made to spec is what is often mistakenly served at most cafés as a macchiato, was exceptional. Compared to the last time I was here,the roast was darker, more to my liking for espresso drinks. It had a minty after taste and a berry flavor that met my tongue for the entire 45 minutes that I nursed it. The drip coffee, which I drank black, which was from Ethiopia had an exceptional flavor from the first sip through the most recent about a half hour after the first sip hit my lips. That is truly the test of good coffee, that its flavor does not die after it cools down. I learned this many years ago with a large cup of good dark roast of Peet's Coffee that could literally be nursed from morning until lunch with just enough cream to maintain that rich chocolate flavor as I ushered my students off to lunch, a reward for the finish line of having made it through two thirds of the day. Four Barrel passes the long cup of coffee test.
As 9:30 approaches, more families with children stand in line and more cell phones are now out by the lone coffee drinkers which is countered by that magic of coffee houses in the pre-laptop, pre-cell phone days, real life conversation. From the friendly service by employees that is engaging, to the random friends and couples that are waking up, the place is buzzing with conversation. This is not a place where the middling types would be afraid to inhabit, who seem to frequent the line and tables, sitting alongside folks like myself who are in awe of an up and coming cafe, enjoying a true expression of crafting fine coffee (notice I will not use the word artisanal, which has been co-opted by a Jack-the-Box commercial, and in my opinion should not used to discuss food, unless there is a reason to be pretentious about the type of cheese or bread you want to spend extra money on).
Well, the line breathes denser now, and the cafe is in full swing. I am full of two coffee drinks and definitely awake. It is time to hit the bathroom and make the half hour trek home as a very satisfied customer. Next stop, soon, Four Barrel on Divisidero.
It is time for round two of the Four Barrel's main store. The last time I sat here, I came by myself, early on Labor Day, which hosted longer lines, dogs on leashes and neighbors chatting it up, that otherwise would be at work. I enjoyed the medium roast and the record player. But the last time I came here, I showed up with my wife after the half hour walk at about 10:30 to a packed hipster mob scene - every table was taken, the seats in the parklet were filled and the line was out the door on a Saturday morning.
With an up and coming cafe, the latest new roaster that is opening up actual stores elsewhere or at least getting more distribution across town, as it gets better press, it is only natural that its main flagship store would be a mob scene. So, this morning, I decided to get here by 8 am, before the crowds and the must be seen types show up around 9:30 or so. In fact, I came here to watch the morning transformation and report on that very phenomena, since the atmosphere of a cafe is as important to this blogger as amazing coffee - it is the combination that makes it a cafe worth drinking at. As I have reported in the past, the lack of wifi should create a different flavor of clientele, but if that forces the cafe to turn into a place with a rock and roll after tone, in contrast to a laptop morgue, then is this is place to come and read the invisible or even digital newspaper or book?
As part of my preview of a cafe that is at least a half hour walk, I usually follow a macchiato up with a cup of black coffee so I can taste the average mix of coffee drinks that most people might get here - an espresso with some milk and a straight cup of coffee. The last time I was here, I had the straight cup of $2 brewed coffee (which was very smooth and exceptional), but this time I decided that the stand alone coffee bar, that has a cash register was worth a visit, although the specialty beans here run around $3.50 - $5 a cup.
I spoke with the coffee bar specialist here for some time, where most people went straight to the main service area, I had a great one-on-one, ten minute conversation with Bradley. He ran through the coffees, told me about what he is drinking from the selection these days, and was able to discuss a couple of the growers' backgrounds to help me make my selection. We spoke about the new store opening up closer to my house, on Divisidero, and the bakery that is part of the operation with its own grain mill. We spoke of other cafés and roasters, and how this cafe offers a great space. Every single person that has helped me the two times I have been here have been extremely personable and friendly. Bradley is no exception.
If I could join the coffee club here, I might. It seems that the staff who works here have a real enthusiasm about serving the best cup of coffee to customers, in a neighborhood with wall-to-wall, hip coffee hangouts.
I have to say, I am still entranced by their record selection. As I have gotten older, instead of clinging to the music that I heard in my high school and early college days as so many Americans fall victim to, I have broadened my musical tastes considerably, buying old-timey country, blues, 1950s country standards and R&B, as well as a few dollars spent on music from Africa and India, not to mention being able to preview all of the amazing Middle East and Central Asian music that my wife has collected over the years as part of her dancing career.
The most important distinction that listening to records has with the modern age of digital mixing, is that one side of a record is about 22 minutes long or so, of music from one band in a moment in time when the order of the songs was carefully formulated to keep the record playing all the way through to the end. In the days of the automatic record player, which is not used here, and was never considered high fidelity, I would stack up four or five records on the spindle, and each side would play, 22 minutes each, then the next record would drop down by the next artist. Contrast that today with the digital equivalent of a three-and-a-half minute song, then flipping to another totally random song by an artist has removed the idea from many listeners and artists that a 22 minute stretch of six or seven songs actually make up a composition, a collection, that should be arranged and listened to in its entirety. Gone are the days. Right now I am listening to the first side of a Greatest Hits Album by Fleetwood Mac, an album by the band that I actually never owned until I had an iPod. Except for listening to Fleetwood Mac on KMET in Los Angeles in the late Seventies, I have never heard an entire side of Fleetwood Mac, ever, of which my iPhone will not distinguish, unless I decided to set it to play the entire album of Rumors in order. Maybe there is something to listening to the entire album. There must be a way to capture that record listening format that is lost on the shuffle button and a half crafted set list in iTunes.
So, I come back to my original purpose of observing the long stay at Four Barrel, but before I start, I must say that a good cafe sets the mood to enjoy coffee. Since the record player has taken me back, and allowed me to lose myself in a time many years ago, I am a fan of the atmosphere at 9:15 in the morning. The line has edged out the door and the main service bar is in full swing, while only one to two customers are engaged by Bradley's magic at the coffee bar. A good half of the clientele are ordering coffee to go, and many do not appear to be the hipper than thou cafe goers that congregate at several of the cafés down the street.
On the coffee itself - incredible. I ordered a cappuccino, which made to spec is what is often mistakenly served at most cafés as a macchiato, was exceptional. Compared to the last time I was here,the roast was darker, more to my liking for espresso drinks. It had a minty after taste and a berry flavor that met my tongue for the entire 45 minutes that I nursed it. The drip coffee, which I drank black, which was from Ethiopia had an exceptional flavor from the first sip through the most recent about a half hour after the first sip hit my lips. That is truly the test of good coffee, that its flavor does not die after it cools down. I learned this many years ago with a large cup of good dark roast of Peet's Coffee that could literally be nursed from morning until lunch with just enough cream to maintain that rich chocolate flavor as I ushered my students off to lunch, a reward for the finish line of having made it through two thirds of the day. Four Barrel passes the long cup of coffee test.
As 9:30 approaches, more families with children stand in line and more cell phones are now out by the lone coffee drinkers which is countered by that magic of coffee houses in the pre-laptop, pre-cell phone days, real life conversation. From the friendly service by employees that is engaging, to the random friends and couples that are waking up, the place is buzzing with conversation. This is not a place where the middling types would be afraid to inhabit, who seem to frequent the line and tables, sitting alongside folks like myself who are in awe of an up and coming cafe, enjoying a true expression of crafting fine coffee (notice I will not use the word artisanal, which has been co-opted by a Jack-the-Box commercial, and in my opinion should not used to discuss food, unless there is a reason to be pretentious about the type of cheese or bread you want to spend extra money on).
Well, the line breathes denser now, and the cafe is in full swing. I am full of two coffee drinks and definitely awake. It is time to hit the bathroom and make the half hour trek home as a very satisfied customer. Next stop, soon, Four Barrel on Divisidero.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Aroma Cafe, Santa Rosa
I felt yesterday's coffee experience deserved a more valiant effort to find a real independent coffee house in a part of Santa Rosa that had not undergone a major bulldozer job of its history. Thus, the old main train station area of Santa Rosa is the host to Aroma Cafe. This large cafe is situated in the luggage claim area, with an adjoining ice cream shop also run by the cafe as well. The main cafe room is probably 50 feet long by 25 feet wide, with ample counter space along the walls and 60 chairs. A industrial size roaster sits in the corner nearest the service area. Ceiling fans, and bright lights hang from the open rafters. Coffee is the focus, but breakfast and lunch items are available as well. The store front is lined with a long row of outside tables facing a huge parking lot.
This is a great space. Besides being a great place to read a book, several patrons came her to talk over a coffee drink. The report from the counter regarding wifi is that it really works best in the ice cream room. So, here again, as in my recent visits to Trouble and Four Barrel Cafés, is that wifi and setting up a laptop morgue is not the focus here.
As is the case in much of the North Coast, starting in Sonoma, the sixties never really died here, they just moved away from the Bay Area. Crosby, Stills and Nash played over the speakers, softly lilting through the room in the background, not overpowering the continual chatter of friends engaged in conversation. I think I could fall in love in a cafe where people spoke to each other across the room, at every table. The other thing that makes the North Coast distinct from the Bay Area, is a generally low level of image consciousness - people in Sonoma County are much more mellow and low key than their Bay Area cousins. The crowd here is in fact a number of college aged students, a couple of young family types and a few others, like myself in their forties or so.
The coffee here is adequate on first sip. But as it cooled, the coffee flavor grew on me as I finished my macchiatto. Maybe as I listened to the hum of conversation, my coffee started to taste better. I may have to stop here again in a couple of months when I return for my next regional teachers union meeting in Santa Rosa.
This is a great space. Besides being a great place to read a book, several patrons came her to talk over a coffee drink. The report from the counter regarding wifi is that it really works best in the ice cream room. So, here again, as in my recent visits to Trouble and Four Barrel Cafés, is that wifi and setting up a laptop morgue is not the focus here.
As is the case in much of the North Coast, starting in Sonoma, the sixties never really died here, they just moved away from the Bay Area. Crosby, Stills and Nash played over the speakers, softly lilting through the room in the background, not overpowering the continual chatter of friends engaged in conversation. I think I could fall in love in a cafe where people spoke to each other across the room, at every table. The other thing that makes the North Coast distinct from the Bay Area, is a generally low level of image consciousness - people in Sonoma County are much more mellow and low key than their Bay Area cousins. The crowd here is in fact a number of college aged students, a couple of young family types and a few others, like myself in their forties or so.
The coffee here is adequate on first sip. But as it cooled, the coffee flavor grew on me as I finished my macchiatto. Maybe as I listened to the hum of conversation, my coffee started to taste better. I may have to stop here again in a couple of months when I return for my next regional teachers union meeting in Santa Rosa.
Location:Wilson St,Santa Rosa,United States
Friday, September 14, 2012
The battle at the old town mall - Pete's Coffee, Fourth and D, Santa Rosa, Calif.
We have been in that strange place, out of our element, in a place we have driven by a hundred times on a highway, and maybe stopped for a dinner with some local friends, carefully following their directions. But this time, I have driven through the town myself, in need of a coffee stop, with limited time, on the way to a meeting at a local office. I have to deposit a couple of checks at my mega-bank's local branch, and with the help of a gps unit, I land in Downtown Santa Rosa.
Many years ago, this beautiful town's downtown added a freeway and a mall with its own off ramp. I ended up here, in the completely redeveloped downtown area in which some number of older family operations were probably forced to close while the larger corporate restaurants and other retail establishments have attempted to settle in to this region that has been hit hard by the banking collapse of 2008, much of the new house owners underwater in debt. These economic cycles wreak havoc on the smaller businesses, pushing them out as leases come up, allowing the corporate restaurants, bars, and coffee chains to move in with their economic muscle.
At this very corner, sit three coffee houses... sort of. Arrigoni's sits on the NE corner, but has been in the business of breakfast and lunch for many years, with its checkered tablecloths, and large eating area filled with round tables for four. Pete's Coffee, a SF Bay area original, has been here for at least 12 years, probably much longer, before it became a publicly traded company, and a much larger corporate entity than its original roots ever were laid.
The last cafe, is actually a Starbucks, in a Barnes and Noble Bookstore, that at one time was a real independent bookstore before the rise of Amazon and the old, brick-and-mortar mega store, Borders, dominated the market, pushing smaller independents into oblivion. The other mega store, Barnes and Noble, with it's former emphasis on best sellers, bargains, pulp fiction and coffee table gift books, is what Santa Rosa was stuck with. Perhaps Barnes has changed since it is the only brick and mortar chain left standing. My half brother, Daniel Rodgers, 27, actually worked in more than a couple of bookstore cafés on Cape Cod and in Los Angeles, slinging Starbucks espresso at a B&N a few years back. It was a job. Pleasant, clean, do they offer insurance? But Starbucks Coffee has become the post Modern equivalent of Winchell's donuts or McDonalds for the coffee industry, one step up from the one pound can of coffee that my parents drank from for years.
If I had to choose one of these places, I ended up at Pete's pleading brand loyalty from an earlier day when Pete's was that proud small chain of 10-15 Bay Area stores that made deep rich, chocolate flavored dark roast that kept you up all day on just 12 ounces. I ordered a macchiato, and I must report that their espresso drinks are always better than Starbucks, and even stand up well to a number of cafés that I have explored in my neighborhood in the City. The problem with Pete's and another chain out of Seattle, Tully's, is that they have been forced by their shareholders to compete with Starbucks by creating a homogenized cafe experience that makes each of their interiors indistinguishable (more on this issue later - and why I absolutely have come to deplore Starbuck's culture marketing in so many ways). The saving grace, at least, is the coffee at Pete's is far superior.
Many years ago, this beautiful town's downtown added a freeway and a mall with its own off ramp. I ended up here, in the completely redeveloped downtown area in which some number of older family operations were probably forced to close while the larger corporate restaurants and other retail establishments have attempted to settle in to this region that has been hit hard by the banking collapse of 2008, much of the new house owners underwater in debt. These economic cycles wreak havoc on the smaller businesses, pushing them out as leases come up, allowing the corporate restaurants, bars, and coffee chains to move in with their economic muscle.
At this very corner, sit three coffee houses... sort of. Arrigoni's sits on the NE corner, but has been in the business of breakfast and lunch for many years, with its checkered tablecloths, and large eating area filled with round tables for four. Pete's Coffee, a SF Bay area original, has been here for at least 12 years, probably much longer, before it became a publicly traded company, and a much larger corporate entity than its original roots ever were laid.
The last cafe, is actually a Starbucks, in a Barnes and Noble Bookstore, that at one time was a real independent bookstore before the rise of Amazon and the old, brick-and-mortar mega store, Borders, dominated the market, pushing smaller independents into oblivion. The other mega store, Barnes and Noble, with it's former emphasis on best sellers, bargains, pulp fiction and coffee table gift books, is what Santa Rosa was stuck with. Perhaps Barnes has changed since it is the only brick and mortar chain left standing. My half brother, Daniel Rodgers, 27, actually worked in more than a couple of bookstore cafés on Cape Cod and in Los Angeles, slinging Starbucks espresso at a B&N a few years back. It was a job. Pleasant, clean, do they offer insurance? But Starbucks Coffee has become the post Modern equivalent of Winchell's donuts or McDonalds for the coffee industry, one step up from the one pound can of coffee that my parents drank from for years.
If I had to choose one of these places, I ended up at Pete's pleading brand loyalty from an earlier day when Pete's was that proud small chain of 10-15 Bay Area stores that made deep rich, chocolate flavored dark roast that kept you up all day on just 12 ounces. I ordered a macchiato, and I must report that their espresso drinks are always better than Starbucks, and even stand up well to a number of cafés that I have explored in my neighborhood in the City. The problem with Pete's and another chain out of Seattle, Tully's, is that they have been forced by their shareholders to compete with Starbucks by creating a homogenized cafe experience that makes each of their interiors indistinguishable (more on this issue later - and why I absolutely have come to deplore Starbuck's culture marketing in so many ways). The saving grace, at least, is the coffee at Pete's is far superior.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Sugarlump Cafe - 24th bet. Florida and Bryant
Usually when I do a review of a café, I enter by myself and leave by myself, drinking my coffee and writing in absolute solitude at my table... I enjoy the morning ritual and quietude of being at a cafe after it has just opened its doors, the music reverberating off of the high ceilings and art hanging from the walls; the sunlight diffused through the morning clouds follows my slow rise of consciousness as the caffeine hits my frontal lobes.
Recently a friend read my blog and offered to join me sometime for coffee in the Mission. She arrived at the idea of Sugarlump Cafe, a place I had never heard of before. I met her after work at a table near the back. I ordered a cappuccino and sat down to discuss drama exercises, writing activities, archetypes and story telling and her newest interest, personal coaching. We talked for quite sometime. I showed her my archetype list in my journal that I was working on, and she broke out her current art journal. We talked about work a bit, she being one of the resident artists for our districts art grant.
We had a lot to talk about. I had to feed my parking meter again, and she took a phone call and a couple of texts as we talked on. It was a good time. After about 90 minutes she had to go for an appointment.
Then I sipped the last third of my cap. It was great. Even after 90 minutes, the coffee flavor was an aromatic dark roast, with a rich chocolate middle. But I have to say, the conversation was so good, that I realized that I wasn't paying attention to the cafe, or even my coffee. There was plenty of space in this warm, slightly dim long store front. The stereo belted out 1950s R&B, but my friend tells me that the music varies every time she has been here. A few people had laptops, but others read. I would recommend he space and its exceptional coffee.
I wonder if I can come here again by myself and write a better review. Perhaps this is the best review that can be written, since I actually met a friend at a cafe. The coffee was great. The space was relaxed and woodsy. I would come her again.
Recently a friend read my blog and offered to join me sometime for coffee in the Mission. She arrived at the idea of Sugarlump Cafe, a place I had never heard of before. I met her after work at a table near the back. I ordered a cappuccino and sat down to discuss drama exercises, writing activities, archetypes and story telling and her newest interest, personal coaching. We talked for quite sometime. I showed her my archetype list in my journal that I was working on, and she broke out her current art journal. We talked about work a bit, she being one of the resident artists for our districts art grant.
We had a lot to talk about. I had to feed my parking meter again, and she took a phone call and a couple of texts as we talked on. It was a good time. After about 90 minutes she had to go for an appointment.
Then I sipped the last third of my cap. It was great. Even after 90 minutes, the coffee flavor was an aromatic dark roast, with a rich chocolate middle. But I have to say, the conversation was so good, that I realized that I wasn't paying attention to the cafe, or even my coffee. There was plenty of space in this warm, slightly dim long store front. The stereo belted out 1950s R&B, but my friend tells me that the music varies every time she has been here. A few people had laptops, but others read. I would recommend he space and its exceptional coffee.
I wonder if I can come here again by myself and write a better review. Perhaps this is the best review that can be written, since I actually met a friend at a cafe. The coffee was great. The space was relaxed and woodsy. I would come her again.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Trouble Cafe
Since my last time here over a year ago, the "parklet" that have expanded in one or two parking spots on sidewalks near cafés and restaurants across the City have really taken off. When I was here in the summer of 2011, Trouble Cafe had a weather worn wooden bench on this wind swept beach avenue, and a small bench that still exists around the sidewalk tree in front of the business. But since then, a beautiful log lies two thirds of the length of the two car long parklet that serves well as a beautiful outside bench. On a sunny day like today, it is well worth the seat.
Trouble Cafe makes coffee, but everyone will tell you it is all about a huge slab of cinnamon toast which tastes almost like cake. Add a coconut milk and meat shavings served in a shell and the four basic food groups are pretty much covered on a sunny day. Of course they serve coffee as well. About half of the small store front's length is covered by the coffee service area, which has a customer bar that runs along towards the back of the store. The front half has raw wood finished bar height counters and stools that are about ten inches deep. It is a pleasure to see that the focus here is on drinking coffee, and not on pounding a laptop keyboard, since they do not offer wifi, nor the counter space to really spread out.
The logo, the distressed wood, coupled by what sounds like an am radio size stereo punching out the distorted guitar tracks, give this place a real punk rock feel. The 20-30 somethings that are enjoying their coffee and visiting really add a flare to the neighborhood feel.
The macchiato used a dark roast blend with a taste that grew on me as I sipped away in the custom, handmade Japanese style tea cup - a spec sized macchiato. And the toast was practically a dreamy piece of cinnamon toast, that ends diets with plenty of butter and sugar. When I have time for this out of the way cafe for me, I'll be back.
- Posted by Mr. Rodgers
Trouble Cafe makes coffee, but everyone will tell you it is all about a huge slab of cinnamon toast which tastes almost like cake. Add a coconut milk and meat shavings served in a shell and the four basic food groups are pretty much covered on a sunny day. Of course they serve coffee as well. About half of the small store front's length is covered by the coffee service area, which has a customer bar that runs along towards the back of the store. The front half has raw wood finished bar height counters and stools that are about ten inches deep. It is a pleasure to see that the focus here is on drinking coffee, and not on pounding a laptop keyboard, since they do not offer wifi, nor the counter space to really spread out.
The logo, the distressed wood, coupled by what sounds like an am radio size stereo punching out the distorted guitar tracks, give this place a real punk rock feel. The 20-30 somethings that are enjoying their coffee and visiting really add a flare to the neighborhood feel.
The macchiato used a dark roast blend with a taste that grew on me as I sipped away in the custom, handmade Japanese style tea cup - a spec sized macchiato. And the toast was practically a dreamy piece of cinnamon toast, that ends diets with plenty of butter and sugar. When I have time for this out of the way cafe for me, I'll be back.
- Posted by Mr. Rodgers
Location:Judah near 45th Ave, SF
Monday, September 3, 2012
Four Barrel - Valencia at 15th, SF
There is always something beautiful about an empty cafe in the early morning. The bakery delivery has just arrived, the new beans are in the industrial sized roaster and the sound of records (yes, good old vinyl) fills the space as the upbeat, smiling cashier wishes you a happy morning as you leave a tip. I have heard of such places in the City, and some combination of these features exist in some cafés, but rarely in the same universe that I inhabit. Of course several of my favorite cafés have that one distinguishable feature that makes it grand or tolerable depending on my mood or often my available time.
I have heard about Four Barrel from several people since I started my search for the perfect café since last year. I have searched long and far, and perhaps I have found El Dorado - or maybe I am stuck on the island of the lotus eaters (see Odyssey) and have not quite become fully conscious as I sip my cappuccino and nibble at the exquisite croissant. Maybe I am so delighted that my expectations are exceeded by the reality of this place. Let's work on that basis, and maybe I can come back to reality before I order a regular coffee here.
The sidewalk in front of the store is a parklet with a huge bicycle rack and outside wood tables that resemble the three seat wide 4 inch thick by 15 inch deep table bars that seat six, closer to the front of the store, followed by smaller tables of similar construction that line the wall across from the service area all the way to the elaborate roastery area.
Cut to the line, almost out the door at 8:25 am. There are four patrons waiting in line to order with midsized dogs on leashes (is there a dog park around here somewhere - I think I am in it). There apparently is a flyer somewhere around here where the patrons sit outside that bans annoying hipster talk. Coupled with no wifi offering here, the magic of the days of yore when people that drank coffee actually engaged in conversation... Folks, listen carefully. They are not talking to their dogs, but to each other. This large cavern of delight I described above is also a real neighborhood place, where the patrons are engaged with each other as they wait to order coffee. This not a silent laptop morge that has transformed so many cafés into the home office with a cup of coffee. No. Maybe it is the slightly distorted warmth of analog music. Maybe it is the magic of the drip coffee bar near the front of the store, separate from the main count and service area, that is manned by an alchemist with a long, lovely blonde beard (this is not some hipster beard, this is the Whitman style beard of inner harmony and transcendence).
Did I mention the coffee yet? Wait, until the Eric Clapton solo is over. I have not listened to a record in quite sometime. I know that an mp3 recording is rather compressed, but until I walked in here this morning , I was used to the difference. It is a question of fidelity. The mid range is meatier and the bass is fuzzier. Maybe the highs dissipate a bit after a record has been played a few times, but there is something about the sound of real hi-fi pre-digital era. Between Mark Obermeyer and his endless record collection and Tim Magg and his collectible tube amp collection, I should know better, but I bought an iPhone and I have settled for ear buds for some time.
Coffee. I was at Tartine (see post - on Guerrero at 18th) a bit over a month ago, where Four Barrel is served. Here too, I was served what tasted like medium roast blend for my cappuccino. To be sure, they serve their espresso, macchiato, and cappuccino drinks in the regular size Nouva Point porcelain for each of these drinks. I asked for less milk in the cap, so in essence I received the equivalent of a wet macchiato served at many other establishments that I frequent (maybe they know what I really want, whereas some actually make a milky cap and call it a macchiato). The flavor was smooth, with a subtle oak taste, tinged with a minty after taste. I followed this up with a cup of coffee, that runs for two dollars for a regular mug, which also was a medium roast and very smooth. I must say that I like a darker roast or at least a medium with a wider bouquet (as found at Blue Bottle).
The question is, after a 35 minute walk would I come here again? Based on the coffee alone, no. But I would come here on a drive home to listen to records and drink a mellow cup of afternoon coffee. And maybe, just like an mp3 recording, the subtleties of a medium roast are a question of fidelity in a dark roasted world. Most cafés cater to the darker palette, satisfying with rich berry or chocolate flavors that follow an apricot bias, or some combination of brightness that makes the compression of electronic music so appealing in a pair of earbuds plugged into an iPhone. Just as the analog record spinning in the background reminds me of my youth sitting in front of a stack of records in the corner of my bedroom, the needle skipping over that scratch my best friend added to my favorite Brian Eno record at the last party we had, I may be in need of a re-education of what a cup of coffee is. I am still in love with the chocolate aftertaste of a Mr. Espresso roasted cup; maybe I need to learn to understand the medium roast.
Ultimately, I am destined to return to this high fidelity analog paradise of coffee to face a deeper mid range and a fuzzier bass, slightly distorting as I sip a medium roast blend, that reminds me of the fidelity of youth, and sit next to a patron that I may strike up a conversation with, as in the days of the pre laptop cafe, where neighbors mattered, and people read these things called books and newspapers (as I finish typing this on my iPad).
I have heard about Four Barrel from several people since I started my search for the perfect café since last year. I have searched long and far, and perhaps I have found El Dorado - or maybe I am stuck on the island of the lotus eaters (see Odyssey) and have not quite become fully conscious as I sip my cappuccino and nibble at the exquisite croissant. Maybe I am so delighted that my expectations are exceeded by the reality of this place. Let's work on that basis, and maybe I can come back to reality before I order a regular coffee here.
The sidewalk in front of the store is a parklet with a huge bicycle rack and outside wood tables that resemble the three seat wide 4 inch thick by 15 inch deep table bars that seat six, closer to the front of the store, followed by smaller tables of similar construction that line the wall across from the service area all the way to the elaborate roastery area.
Cut to the line, almost out the door at 8:25 am. There are four patrons waiting in line to order with midsized dogs on leashes (is there a dog park around here somewhere - I think I am in it). There apparently is a flyer somewhere around here where the patrons sit outside that bans annoying hipster talk. Coupled with no wifi offering here, the magic of the days of yore when people that drank coffee actually engaged in conversation... Folks, listen carefully. They are not talking to their dogs, but to each other. This large cavern of delight I described above is also a real neighborhood place, where the patrons are engaged with each other as they wait to order coffee. This not a silent laptop morge that has transformed so many cafés into the home office with a cup of coffee. No. Maybe it is the slightly distorted warmth of analog music. Maybe it is the magic of the drip coffee bar near the front of the store, separate from the main count and service area, that is manned by an alchemist with a long, lovely blonde beard (this is not some hipster beard, this is the Whitman style beard of inner harmony and transcendence).
Did I mention the coffee yet? Wait, until the Eric Clapton solo is over. I have not listened to a record in quite sometime. I know that an mp3 recording is rather compressed, but until I walked in here this morning , I was used to the difference. It is a question of fidelity. The mid range is meatier and the bass is fuzzier. Maybe the highs dissipate a bit after a record has been played a few times, but there is something about the sound of real hi-fi pre-digital era. Between Mark Obermeyer and his endless record collection and Tim Magg and his collectible tube amp collection, I should know better, but I bought an iPhone and I have settled for ear buds for some time.
Coffee. I was at Tartine (see post - on Guerrero at 18th) a bit over a month ago, where Four Barrel is served. Here too, I was served what tasted like medium roast blend for my cappuccino. To be sure, they serve their espresso, macchiato, and cappuccino drinks in the regular size Nouva Point porcelain for each of these drinks. I asked for less milk in the cap, so in essence I received the equivalent of a wet macchiato served at many other establishments that I frequent (maybe they know what I really want, whereas some actually make a milky cap and call it a macchiato). The flavor was smooth, with a subtle oak taste, tinged with a minty after taste. I followed this up with a cup of coffee, that runs for two dollars for a regular mug, which also was a medium roast and very smooth. I must say that I like a darker roast or at least a medium with a wider bouquet (as found at Blue Bottle).
The question is, after a 35 minute walk would I come here again? Based on the coffee alone, no. But I would come here on a drive home to listen to records and drink a mellow cup of afternoon coffee. And maybe, just like an mp3 recording, the subtleties of a medium roast are a question of fidelity in a dark roasted world. Most cafés cater to the darker palette, satisfying with rich berry or chocolate flavors that follow an apricot bias, or some combination of brightness that makes the compression of electronic music so appealing in a pair of earbuds plugged into an iPhone. Just as the analog record spinning in the background reminds me of my youth sitting in front of a stack of records in the corner of my bedroom, the needle skipping over that scratch my best friend added to my favorite Brian Eno record at the last party we had, I may be in need of a re-education of what a cup of coffee is. I am still in love with the chocolate aftertaste of a Mr. Espresso roasted cup; maybe I need to learn to understand the medium roast.
Ultimately, I am destined to return to this high fidelity analog paradise of coffee to face a deeper mid range and a fuzzier bass, slightly distorting as I sip a medium roast blend, that reminds me of the fidelity of youth, and sit next to a patron that I may strike up a conversation with, as in the days of the pre laptop cafe, where neighbors mattered, and people read these things called books and newspapers (as I finish typing this on my iPad).
Location:Valencia St,San Francisco,United States
Please read a second review of Four Barrel, Sept. 29.
Please read a second review of Four Barrel, Sept. 29.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Matching Half Cafe - Baker at McAllister, SF
As NOPA (North Of the PAnhandle) evolved during the late DotCom era and again rebounded around 2004-5, several of the corner storefronts have gone upscale in recent years. despite the Banking Collapse at the end of the Bush era, and the subsequent Great Recession, this little pocket of the City seems to have survived intact. The paychecks yielded by the 20 and 30 somethings that have graduated from the university to the corporate cubicle that seem to inhabit this neighborhood in all of their paycheck chic to be cool and hip, with enough cash to maintain the lifestyle that every hard working college student waited for once they graduated with a professional degree.
Thus, Matching Half Cafe has gone through several iterations over the years as well. I came here about three years ago, and their layout was different. They probably sold the store to a new owner before a total makeover - wood floors, a diner counter that runs parallel to the service wall, with a kitchen area behind this wall next to the bathroom. The real allure of the layout are the large west facing windows, and the outside table area that runs parallel to the western side of the corner. During most of the year, these window seats are exceptional places to sit in the filtered sun as a cold beach wind blows down the street pushing the cloud cover in the late afternoon. When it is. Sunny as it is today, the outside seating is magnificent, despite the slight incline of the hill. Overall, the music and the corner location across from the Hayes line bus stop are enough to bring in the morning rush as this cafe opens at 7 am. Likewise, the afternoons are equally busy, but not as rushed.
The service staff has always been the hip rocker or grunge college grad that probably finished college at one of the many universities in the City. I have always had great service here, but patience is in order. Since the cafe caters mostly to the neighborhood cubicle workers set, who seem to be a little less keen on people just hanging out with a cup of coffee, their busy schedules can push the staff to accommodate these customers, since this feels like their cafe. It has a great vibe, and the neighborhood clientele has really carved this space out as theirs, but perhaps with a little too much angst.
So, patience pays off here, and keeping your cool at the service counter will usher in the best results. The reason I bring this up is that I have had friends who have come here on more than one occasion and received bad service matched by the aggressiveness of some of the customers. Knowing what you want before you step up to the counter may help, or order something that is easily predictable - I suggest a cappuccino or a macchiato. They make amazing espresso, using Sight Glass beans. Once you have enjoyed your sunny seat and your espresso drink for a couple of visits, then I suggest you try one of their sandwiches, which are quite tasty. This cafe runs into the problem of being excellent with such a loyal neighborhood following, however, that it at times feels uncomfortable for an outsider not in the appropriate class or age of the target clientele. But once you have trained the staff to your presence, you become one of them and are accepted like any other customer.
I am sitting in the sun on a windy, yet sunny day. It is invigorating, having been in 85 degree weather about 8 days ago on the last leg of my summer vacation. My coffee is finished, and my wife is ready to go as well, the light rock music of the 2000s a bit bright for our tastes in what otherwise is a casual cafe drenched in sunlight today.
Thus, Matching Half Cafe has gone through several iterations over the years as well. I came here about three years ago, and their layout was different. They probably sold the store to a new owner before a total makeover - wood floors, a diner counter that runs parallel to the service wall, with a kitchen area behind this wall next to the bathroom. The real allure of the layout are the large west facing windows, and the outside table area that runs parallel to the western side of the corner. During most of the year, these window seats are exceptional places to sit in the filtered sun as a cold beach wind blows down the street pushing the cloud cover in the late afternoon. When it is. Sunny as it is today, the outside seating is magnificent, despite the slight incline of the hill. Overall, the music and the corner location across from the Hayes line bus stop are enough to bring in the morning rush as this cafe opens at 7 am. Likewise, the afternoons are equally busy, but not as rushed.
The service staff has always been the hip rocker or grunge college grad that probably finished college at one of the many universities in the City. I have always had great service here, but patience is in order. Since the cafe caters mostly to the neighborhood cubicle workers set, who seem to be a little less keen on people just hanging out with a cup of coffee, their busy schedules can push the staff to accommodate these customers, since this feels like their cafe. It has a great vibe, and the neighborhood clientele has really carved this space out as theirs, but perhaps with a little too much angst.
So, patience pays off here, and keeping your cool at the service counter will usher in the best results. The reason I bring this up is that I have had friends who have come here on more than one occasion and received bad service matched by the aggressiveness of some of the customers. Knowing what you want before you step up to the counter may help, or order something that is easily predictable - I suggest a cappuccino or a macchiato. They make amazing espresso, using Sight Glass beans. Once you have enjoyed your sunny seat and your espresso drink for a couple of visits, then I suggest you try one of their sandwiches, which are quite tasty. This cafe runs into the problem of being excellent with such a loyal neighborhood following, however, that it at times feels uncomfortable for an outsider not in the appropriate class or age of the target clientele. But once you have trained the staff to your presence, you become one of them and are accepted like any other customer.
I am sitting in the sun on a windy, yet sunny day. It is invigorating, having been in 85 degree weather about 8 days ago on the last leg of my summer vacation. My coffee is finished, and my wife is ready to go as well, the light rock music of the 2000s a bit bright for our tastes in what otherwise is a casual cafe drenched in sunlight today.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Flywheel Coffee Raosters - Stanyan bet. Haight and Page, SF
It is always a joy when a friend calls me to meet at a new cafe in my neighborhood. I usually have guarded expectations of such an event, however, guessing that many cafes with the new business model with targeted customers (often tourists) and in fear of the financial success of the Starbucks formula that flourishes Downtown, that any cafe that opens its doors is taking considerable financial risk in the espresso slinging economy. As I have noted before, that despite one of my favorite cafes being a comfortable place to sit, its coffee is only average, and another place on Haight, not yet reviewed has great coffee but is still working on that important aspect of any cafe - atmosphere.
So, a walk down Page to the western edge of Golden Gate Park on Stanyan, just off of the parking lot of the minimart version of Whole Foods on Haight, and I arrived at this spacious, cement floored gallery of a cafe. It doesn't have a sign out front, nor is one displayed in the store. For the last couple of visits My friend and I referred to it as the Stanyan Cafe.
On a sunny day, the window bar stool counters are an excellent place to take in a Sunday afternoon, but as one ventures in, another barstool table that seats four, and five tables along one wall are lit by low wattage incandescent art bulbs. Facing these seats is the actual service area, with a gleaming new chrome espresso machine, a drip coffee bar, and an impressive chemistry rig for cold pressed iced coffee. This area has an industrial vibe, with soft electronica groove music is heard in the background, exuding the industrial art gallery feel that often follows the design of a cafe that has just opened its doors. There are a few Mission District cafes that have this same look, full of the cool hipsters of that neighborhood. But for this vibe to actually work, a few more tables seem essential. Maybe a fee more tables closer to the roaster after the next wave of building up the back area is complete is in the works. There is also an upper deck near the back, that is newly built. I am curious to see if that will actually become more seating as well. This place still has a few surprises as the owners are able to secure financing for future upgrades as this business takes off.
Coffee. As the name of the displayed business license indicates, there is also a state of the art coffee roaster in the back, that is currently experiencing a makeover, in an predictable attempt to highlight the machine, a statement of authenticity, that the artisanal roaster is pumping out beans that will fill every delicious cup. And I am not disappointed by the final product here. I have had the cold pressed ice coffee as well as several macchiatos and cappucinos. Each one has been made with a dark roasted bean that yield a chocolate aftertaste regardless of the drink.
Fly Wheel also offers Mighty Leaf Tea,which has become a mainstay of loose leaf tea drinkers at several cafes around town, as well as carrying baked goods by Ultimate Cookies, which always satisfy many cafe goers across town. Fly Wheel is a cafe in the truest sense of the word. They do not serve sandwiches or bagels or small salads. They serve coffee, tea, and a few baked items to go with your drink. I highly recommend it for an airy cafe experience, maybe as a precursor to a walk in the park or on the way to the de Young, Science Academy or the Band Shell.
So, a walk down Page to the western edge of Golden Gate Park on Stanyan, just off of the parking lot of the minimart version of Whole Foods on Haight, and I arrived at this spacious, cement floored gallery of a cafe. It doesn't have a sign out front, nor is one displayed in the store. For the last couple of visits My friend and I referred to it as the Stanyan Cafe.
On a sunny day, the window bar stool counters are an excellent place to take in a Sunday afternoon, but as one ventures in, another barstool table that seats four, and five tables along one wall are lit by low wattage incandescent art bulbs. Facing these seats is the actual service area, with a gleaming new chrome espresso machine, a drip coffee bar, and an impressive chemistry rig for cold pressed iced coffee. This area has an industrial vibe, with soft electronica groove music is heard in the background, exuding the industrial art gallery feel that often follows the design of a cafe that has just opened its doors. There are a few Mission District cafes that have this same look, full of the cool hipsters of that neighborhood. But for this vibe to actually work, a few more tables seem essential. Maybe a fee more tables closer to the roaster after the next wave of building up the back area is complete is in the works. There is also an upper deck near the back, that is newly built. I am curious to see if that will actually become more seating as well. This place still has a few surprises as the owners are able to secure financing for future upgrades as this business takes off.
Coffee. As the name of the displayed business license indicates, there is also a state of the art coffee roaster in the back, that is currently experiencing a makeover, in an predictable attempt to highlight the machine, a statement of authenticity, that the artisanal roaster is pumping out beans that will fill every delicious cup. And I am not disappointed by the final product here. I have had the cold pressed ice coffee as well as several macchiatos and cappucinos. Each one has been made with a dark roasted bean that yield a chocolate aftertaste regardless of the drink.
Fly Wheel also offers Mighty Leaf Tea,which has become a mainstay of loose leaf tea drinkers at several cafes around town, as well as carrying baked goods by Ultimate Cookies, which always satisfy many cafe goers across town. Fly Wheel is a cafe in the truest sense of the word. They do not serve sandwiches or bagels or small salads. They serve coffee, tea, and a few baked items to go with your drink. I highly recommend it for an airy cafe experience, maybe as a precursor to a walk in the park or on the way to the de Young, Science Academy or the Band Shell.
The Grove - Fillmore near California, SF
There are several cafes that over the years have developed a clientele that requires some breakfast and some lunch. I grew up in a cafe like this, the perfect place for students to meet. Of course, I am no longer a teenager, but the allure of a place like the Grove, that serves excellent coffee and offers plenty of space makes this a prime location for the upscale patrons of this neighborhood. I have read reviews of the Grove on several sites, where the reviewer focuses on the food, expecting fare from one of the many upscale eateries in the area, but those reviewers definitely miss the point. This is a place for great coffee to meet friends and have a light meal.
By day, and definitely during the weekend, this cafe, and other locations throughout the city that I have visited, caters to professionals who want to have coffee or even a glass of wine or beer on tap. Normally, I would not review a cafe such as this as a coffee house, but the coffee is exceptional, and several patrons come here primarily for the coffee.
Today, I walked in as the cafe opened at 7 am, on my way to an early 8:30 am dental appointment. I ordered a cappuccino that as usual is exceptional. A medium roast coffee with the perfect consistency of a steam foam cap. At this hour the cafe is empty, and the music plays at a soothing volume. The overcast weather damps down all the sound of the morning. As I sip my cappuccino, contemplating the peace of the morning, I am surrounded by the Woolsey interior, which offers perfect acoustics to hear the sounds of the cafe setting up for business in tha background.
After finishing my cappucino that tasted amazing a half an hour later as I sipped the last of it, I ordered a cup of coffee. The coffee is a medium roast, that goes down smooth with a slight, crisp fruity aftertaste, maybe apricot. As I have said, this is a cafe that serves food. The space is exceptional, well lit, wood furniture and wall panelling, and great acoustics. Come for the coffee, and enjoy a bite to eat. An excellent place to meet a friend, and even, to watch the people that walk up the street or cohabit in this cafe.
By day, and definitely during the weekend, this cafe, and other locations throughout the city that I have visited, caters to professionals who want to have coffee or even a glass of wine or beer on tap. Normally, I would not review a cafe such as this as a coffee house, but the coffee is exceptional, and several patrons come here primarily for the coffee.
Today, I walked in as the cafe opened at 7 am, on my way to an early 8:30 am dental appointment. I ordered a cappuccino that as usual is exceptional. A medium roast coffee with the perfect consistency of a steam foam cap. At this hour the cafe is empty, and the music plays at a soothing volume. The overcast weather damps down all the sound of the morning. As I sip my cappuccino, contemplating the peace of the morning, I am surrounded by the Woolsey interior, which offers perfect acoustics to hear the sounds of the cafe setting up for business in tha background.
After finishing my cappucino that tasted amazing a half an hour later as I sipped the last of it, I ordered a cup of coffee. The coffee is a medium roast, that goes down smooth with a slight, crisp fruity aftertaste, maybe apricot. As I have said, this is a cafe that serves food. The space is exceptional, well lit, wood furniture and wall panelling, and great acoustics. Come for the coffee, and enjoy a bite to eat. An excellent place to meet a friend, and even, to watch the people that walk up the street or cohabit in this cafe.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Caffé e Dolci - Hyannis, Mass.
About every two years I come to Hyannis to visit my father, who has lived here for over 30 years. This town hosts the largest business strip on Cape Cod that attracts tourists from Europe and typically the East Coast. There are a few coffee places that serve an actual espresso from a manual machine, where the barista must be trained to measure the coffee grounds and perform her magic.
Contrast this minimum requirement with the common knowledge in the Greater Boston area that the best coffee in the world can be found at Dunkin Donuts. They serve coffee in fine styrofoam cups. The servers add your cream and sugar for you behind the counter apparently in order to cut down on milk spoilage and decrease the chance of spreading disease between customers handling milk dispensers. I had this explained to me by a server. I also asked if I was being served half and half, milk, or some non-dairy creamer. She wasn't sure, but I imagine that creamer doesn't spoil, and probably kills germs. She told me that it's called cream and that is all she knows. I could be making this all up, since, as I was expecting the best cup of coffee ever, from this highly educated City, that a dark spell of confusion was cast over me, going into complete shock, a stunned silence, after I had my first sip of this donut swill. Coupled with a few donut holes to obliterate the bitter-sweet taste, and a few moments later, I regained my composure. I sat dumbfounded to think that as Bostonians drink this stuff en masse, that like Seattle and San Francisco, who have been thoroughly overrun by Starbucks that these corresponding liberal bastions, along with Boston had been taken over by mediocre coffee dispensaries. I started to wonder and the spell of the donut holes wore off that maybe there was a capitalist conspiracy to poison the liberal centers of intelligentsia in our country with brown swill. The only consolation for me is knowing that at least Starbucks tries to make real espresso and lets you serve your own cream and sugar.
But that bar is still far too low. A real espresso is hard to find in most parts of the world. Considering that Italians run a distant second in settlement in Massachusetts in the past hundred years or so, it is possible to find a cafe that actually knows where espresso comes from and how to make it. Caffé e Dolci is just such a place. With its air conditioned interior to beat the humidity, as well as its shady sidewalk seats (where I happily sat), the macchiato was exceptional from start to finish. A fine woodsy flavor met the back of my tongue followed by a slight dark berry after taste.
There are other places to get a good espresso on this strip, and I will visit a couple of these places before I leave. Even out of Salem, my son (from Seattle) found a great coffee house on the way to the highway. So, there is hope.
Contrast this minimum requirement with the common knowledge in the Greater Boston area that the best coffee in the world can be found at Dunkin Donuts. They serve coffee in fine styrofoam cups. The servers add your cream and sugar for you behind the counter apparently in order to cut down on milk spoilage and decrease the chance of spreading disease between customers handling milk dispensers. I had this explained to me by a server. I also asked if I was being served half and half, milk, or some non-dairy creamer. She wasn't sure, but I imagine that creamer doesn't spoil, and probably kills germs. She told me that it's called cream and that is all she knows. I could be making this all up, since, as I was expecting the best cup of coffee ever, from this highly educated City, that a dark spell of confusion was cast over me, going into complete shock, a stunned silence, after I had my first sip of this donut swill. Coupled with a few donut holes to obliterate the bitter-sweet taste, and a few moments later, I regained my composure. I sat dumbfounded to think that as Bostonians drink this stuff en masse, that like Seattle and San Francisco, who have been thoroughly overrun by Starbucks that these corresponding liberal bastions, along with Boston had been taken over by mediocre coffee dispensaries. I started to wonder and the spell of the donut holes wore off that maybe there was a capitalist conspiracy to poison the liberal centers of intelligentsia in our country with brown swill. The only consolation for me is knowing that at least Starbucks tries to make real espresso and lets you serve your own cream and sugar.
But that bar is still far too low. A real espresso is hard to find in most parts of the world. Considering that Italians run a distant second in settlement in Massachusetts in the past hundred years or so, it is possible to find a cafe that actually knows where espresso comes from and how to make it. Caffé e Dolci is just such a place. With its air conditioned interior to beat the humidity, as well as its shady sidewalk seats (where I happily sat), the macchiato was exceptional from start to finish. A fine woodsy flavor met the back of my tongue followed by a slight dark berry after taste.
There are other places to get a good espresso on this strip, and I will visit a couple of these places before I leave. Even out of Salem, my son (from Seattle) found a great coffee house on the way to the highway. So, there is hope.
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Why I go to cafes
From time to my wife or my mom mention the idea that I must spend so much money drinking coffee at cafes, that I should just drink coffee at home and save a few dollars every month. In actuality, going to cafes during the summer can run a bit more, because I tend to have a small meal at a cafe, but all things considered, a cafe meal is far cheaper than most other places that I could go out for breakfast or lunch.
It is true that I could probably drink coffee at home in the morning and not go out at all. Maybe that doesn't sound so bad. We have a nice apartment with a cafe table in the living window that overlooks the open backyards that cover our block from three stories up. We have every coffee contraption imaginable - Turkish, stove top espresso, French press, an old electric coffee maker, as well as ye trusty paper filter cone. To complement all of these amazing machines of caffeine extraction, we have two different coffee grinders and at least four pounds of coffee from various beaneries that are all quite amazing. I do drink a cup of coffee from time to time at home.
But drinking coffee by itself is not why I end up going to on average about 10 different cafes over the 30 days per month. I have my favorites, some when I am in the mood for a specific drink made by a skilled barista, other cafes when I want to work on my iPad or write, and still others when I know I will bump into friends or just to watch people at a specific location. Certain cafes are part of my morning walking routes, where a 20 - 30 minute cafe experience is the reward for a 25 - 40 minute walk. Over the years, like most people I have had that one standard cafe that satisfied all of my cafe going needs. But since I decided that life is too short to go to the same cafe everyday, I have branched out to three regular cafes, accompanied by my never ending search for new cafes within a 40 minute walking radius from my apartment.
I have been surprised to learn, after I started exploring cafes around the city that it is possible to always find a better espresso somewhere else, or a cafe space that I have only imagined in the fantasy of what a perfect cafe should be for my different needs. I have started to follow specific roasters that distribute to cafes in the city, and watch carefully to see whether the barista seems to know what they are doing. Ultimately, no acrobatic air show of precision espresso slinging that follows the 20 point specifications that some cafes guarantee will make my espresso any better if the beans are not at least a medium roast. Likewise, the best beans next to God can be obliterated by a ill-trained barista or poorly maintained equipment, especially when some frothy foamy layer of milk is lathered on top.
The beans themselves do not need to be handpicked by the 20th generation of a famous coffee grower in Ethiopia or Indonesia for the beans to be incredible. I don't need them to be organic or even free trade for the coffee to be amazing (although, I would prefer both politically, and a number of cafes in San Francisco serve only Free Trade). I have found that some roasters, most notably Starbucks, follow the for profit motive in their coffee fields, where direct sunlight and yield rates necessary to produce the most caffeine in the shortest growing cycle typically produce terrible coffee, forcing Starbucks to completely obliterate their beans by roasting them to a crisp. If a well roasted bean may have a woodsy or cocoa aftertaste, a burnt bean has a dirty carbon bitterness, that only can be saved by adding caramel, sugar or 8 ounces of frothy foamy milk, so that the taste of the coffee does not stand out. Not that Starbucks does not have its specialty blends as well, and even sells medium roasts, but they almost never sell their brewed coffee or their espresso with their specialty beans in the brew or in the grinder.
The other extreme is the shade grown on a hillside, slow roasted gourmet coffee bean that is organic and free trade that goes for $4 or more per cup of a fancy porcelain or blown glass cheese cloth filter drip coffee. As I have said before, all of this is not necessary. A daily cup of coffee, whether it be poured by a coffee Druid that performs some magical ritual over my 12 oz morning elixir or shat (read filtered) through the digestive system of Sivit cats is too expensive for a daily cafe experience to make sense. For that special coffee pleasure my own coffee laboratory is requisitioned from time to time, since the per cup cost of such expensive coffee is extreme.
But the cafe offers an environment that is definitely not about the coffee in the cup, as long as the coffee is very good to incredible. I end up at cafes because they offer a living room away from my apartment, with different furniture, different people, different windows to watch the sunrise and the City's weather patterns, different music and different baristas and friends at different cafes. Overall, my cafe habit allows me to walk about the city with several different destinations, and for the cost of about $3.50 including a tip, I can enjoy a macchiato in over 20 cafes just a fifteen minute walk from my house. Imagine having access to 20 different living spaces for about $100 a month.
Of course the ritual of drinking a cup of coffee and writing is priceless.
It is true that I could probably drink coffee at home in the morning and not go out at all. Maybe that doesn't sound so bad. We have a nice apartment with a cafe table in the living window that overlooks the open backyards that cover our block from three stories up. We have every coffee contraption imaginable - Turkish, stove top espresso, French press, an old electric coffee maker, as well as ye trusty paper filter cone. To complement all of these amazing machines of caffeine extraction, we have two different coffee grinders and at least four pounds of coffee from various beaneries that are all quite amazing. I do drink a cup of coffee from time to time at home.
But drinking coffee by itself is not why I end up going to on average about 10 different cafes over the 30 days per month. I have my favorites, some when I am in the mood for a specific drink made by a skilled barista, other cafes when I want to work on my iPad or write, and still others when I know I will bump into friends or just to watch people at a specific location. Certain cafes are part of my morning walking routes, where a 20 - 30 minute cafe experience is the reward for a 25 - 40 minute walk. Over the years, like most people I have had that one standard cafe that satisfied all of my cafe going needs. But since I decided that life is too short to go to the same cafe everyday, I have branched out to three regular cafes, accompanied by my never ending search for new cafes within a 40 minute walking radius from my apartment.
I have been surprised to learn, after I started exploring cafes around the city that it is possible to always find a better espresso somewhere else, or a cafe space that I have only imagined in the fantasy of what a perfect cafe should be for my different needs. I have started to follow specific roasters that distribute to cafes in the city, and watch carefully to see whether the barista seems to know what they are doing. Ultimately, no acrobatic air show of precision espresso slinging that follows the 20 point specifications that some cafes guarantee will make my espresso any better if the beans are not at least a medium roast. Likewise, the best beans next to God can be obliterated by a ill-trained barista or poorly maintained equipment, especially when some frothy foamy layer of milk is lathered on top.
The beans themselves do not need to be handpicked by the 20th generation of a famous coffee grower in Ethiopia or Indonesia for the beans to be incredible. I don't need them to be organic or even free trade for the coffee to be amazing (although, I would prefer both politically, and a number of cafes in San Francisco serve only Free Trade). I have found that some roasters, most notably Starbucks, follow the for profit motive in their coffee fields, where direct sunlight and yield rates necessary to produce the most caffeine in the shortest growing cycle typically produce terrible coffee, forcing Starbucks to completely obliterate their beans by roasting them to a crisp. If a well roasted bean may have a woodsy or cocoa aftertaste, a burnt bean has a dirty carbon bitterness, that only can be saved by adding caramel, sugar or 8 ounces of frothy foamy milk, so that the taste of the coffee does not stand out. Not that Starbucks does not have its specialty blends as well, and even sells medium roasts, but they almost never sell their brewed coffee or their espresso with their specialty beans in the brew or in the grinder.
The other extreme is the shade grown on a hillside, slow roasted gourmet coffee bean that is organic and free trade that goes for $4 or more per cup of a fancy porcelain or blown glass cheese cloth filter drip coffee. As I have said before, all of this is not necessary. A daily cup of coffee, whether it be poured by a coffee Druid that performs some magical ritual over my 12 oz morning elixir or shat (read filtered) through the digestive system of Sivit cats is too expensive for a daily cafe experience to make sense. For that special coffee pleasure my own coffee laboratory is requisitioned from time to time, since the per cup cost of such expensive coffee is extreme.
But the cafe offers an environment that is definitely not about the coffee in the cup, as long as the coffee is very good to incredible. I end up at cafes because they offer a living room away from my apartment, with different furniture, different people, different windows to watch the sunrise and the City's weather patterns, different music and different baristas and friends at different cafes. Overall, my cafe habit allows me to walk about the city with several different destinations, and for the cost of about $3.50 including a tip, I can enjoy a macchiato in over 20 cafes just a fifteen minute walk from my house. Imagine having access to 20 different living spaces for about $100 a month.
Of course the ritual of drinking a cup of coffee and writing is priceless.
Friday, August 3, 2012
The end of summer
The great weather that we had in San Francisco for the past week cannot last for very long since it is summer. The weather has shifted back to what is oft miscredited as a Mark Twain quote about the coldest winter I ever spent.. was a summer in San Francisco, was used by one of the respected brahmains at Bean There to characterize the weather to a friend. Even if the quote is off, it is the truth about this city that summer here is much more elusive than the beautiful springs and autumns that grace this place with cycles of sunny days, followed by three days of showers, then crisp sunny days with the clouds breaking apart for the middle of the day each and every day. Since today is really the last day I will be in the City before I have to report to my classroom on August 15, the weather has offered a great boundary for the end of summer.
True I will be on vacation next week in Boston with my son to visit my dad, but since this involves travel, site seeing and some attention to the needs of others, it is clearly a different experience than wondering what day it is because the only things I have had to do since arriving back home after our Turkey trip that ended four weeks ago, has been to wonder where I was going to drink coffee every day. Life is rough.
The life of a teacher is different from most other professions in that summers never end throughout our professional career. Principals and many other staff members in our district enjoy similar stretches of summer as well. This is true for most educators, and that other segment of the population, the student, who enjoy this same luxury of travel, summer camps, summer classes or just hanging out. Travel is beautiful, and memorable, and camp seems timeless, but inactivity should not be underestimated either. Disassociating from duty and responsibilities in general has a therapeutic quality that cannot be overlooked. The sense of self seems to loose its sharpness as one day stretches into a week and the weeks into a month, that I start to slip out of the conditioning that comes along with standing in front of 25 kids for six hours a day, five days a week. I don't have to explain myself over and over again; I don't need to answer questions about what I am going to do to anyone (except maybe my wife when she wants me to run some errands); I don't need to think about what I am going to wear, or if my hair is sticking up funny, or if I can skip a day without shaving. I don't need to impress anyone at a cafe, nor am I so concerned with what the barista does behind the counter except make sure the coffee is good. Contrast this level of concerns with the life of a teacher in a middle class school district. Being a presence for students, parents, and for teachers (as a union rep) is hard work. On top of that, I need to prepare activities, presentations, coordinate dvd selections, find reading materials, and make sure that all of my students are working to their potential in their own differentiated learning style, so I know (sometimes magically) that they are learning to think critically and understand what they need to do in order to be successful. In contrast, right now, I am wondering if I should add a little more half and half to my coffee - and that is about all I have worried about for the last 15 minutes.
So, today is really the last day of what I will call the lingering summer. After about two weeks I realized that I am finally, biologically relaxed. At that point I started to wonder if I should focus on something from day to day, have some activity that enriches my life with a narrative, with meaning. At that point, this year, I think I thought about that for about a week. I started to research and construct materials for a better Roman History unit for this year. I cleaned my desk and the dining room table. I emptied my dressers of old clothes. I smog checked and registered the truck. I experimented with several different mixtures for paper marbling, having taken 2 four hour classes in Istanbul this summer. I went on a diet before my friends came to town.
This past week, my friends, Terri and Lorin came to San Francisco for an entire week. I walked around with them for several days, taking them to some of the places that they wanted to see, sure to get them to walk through various neighborhoods that are great areas of this city to see. We had a great time, except when I walked them to death a couple of times. We are not getting younger. Even my feet hurt one day. But I love this city; I love being a tourist in this city visiting those parts of town, and those cafes and bookstores that I oftentimes have little time to visit and linger in during the school year. So, I thank Terri and Lorin for coming to San Francisco, so I could be with friends, pay attention to their hopes for their visit and need to relax while running around everywhere in the city. It was great to interact with people on a daily basis, something that is often not required in the summer. More importantly, this was the longest stretch of time I have spent with both Terri and Lorin ever, and Terri since we went out together over 23 years ago. (We have remained great friends; she even introduced me to my wife and made her wedding dress).
As the school year quickly looms down on me, I have to remember this feeling of lack of purpose, free of responsibility and not having to deal with important details of life for the four weeks I had to linger this summer. Because, in a month, in September, when I have been teaching for two or three weeks, that feeling will quickly dissipate, and I surely will long for that feeling, only able to capture the summer's magic over a Saturday morning cup of coffee, as I watch the morning fog burn off, able to capture that sense of timelessness that is summer.
True I will be on vacation next week in Boston with my son to visit my dad, but since this involves travel, site seeing and some attention to the needs of others, it is clearly a different experience than wondering what day it is because the only things I have had to do since arriving back home after our Turkey trip that ended four weeks ago, has been to wonder where I was going to drink coffee every day. Life is rough.
The life of a teacher is different from most other professions in that summers never end throughout our professional career. Principals and many other staff members in our district enjoy similar stretches of summer as well. This is true for most educators, and that other segment of the population, the student, who enjoy this same luxury of travel, summer camps, summer classes or just hanging out. Travel is beautiful, and memorable, and camp seems timeless, but inactivity should not be underestimated either. Disassociating from duty and responsibilities in general has a therapeutic quality that cannot be overlooked. The sense of self seems to loose its sharpness as one day stretches into a week and the weeks into a month, that I start to slip out of the conditioning that comes along with standing in front of 25 kids for six hours a day, five days a week. I don't have to explain myself over and over again; I don't need to answer questions about what I am going to do to anyone (except maybe my wife when she wants me to run some errands); I don't need to think about what I am going to wear, or if my hair is sticking up funny, or if I can skip a day without shaving. I don't need to impress anyone at a cafe, nor am I so concerned with what the barista does behind the counter except make sure the coffee is good. Contrast this level of concerns with the life of a teacher in a middle class school district. Being a presence for students, parents, and for teachers (as a union rep) is hard work. On top of that, I need to prepare activities, presentations, coordinate dvd selections, find reading materials, and make sure that all of my students are working to their potential in their own differentiated learning style, so I know (sometimes magically) that they are learning to think critically and understand what they need to do in order to be successful. In contrast, right now, I am wondering if I should add a little more half and half to my coffee - and that is about all I have worried about for the last 15 minutes.
So, today is really the last day of what I will call the lingering summer. After about two weeks I realized that I am finally, biologically relaxed. At that point I started to wonder if I should focus on something from day to day, have some activity that enriches my life with a narrative, with meaning. At that point, this year, I think I thought about that for about a week. I started to research and construct materials for a better Roman History unit for this year. I cleaned my desk and the dining room table. I emptied my dressers of old clothes. I smog checked and registered the truck. I experimented with several different mixtures for paper marbling, having taken 2 four hour classes in Istanbul this summer. I went on a diet before my friends came to town.
This past week, my friends, Terri and Lorin came to San Francisco for an entire week. I walked around with them for several days, taking them to some of the places that they wanted to see, sure to get them to walk through various neighborhoods that are great areas of this city to see. We had a great time, except when I walked them to death a couple of times. We are not getting younger. Even my feet hurt one day. But I love this city; I love being a tourist in this city visiting those parts of town, and those cafes and bookstores that I oftentimes have little time to visit and linger in during the school year. So, I thank Terri and Lorin for coming to San Francisco, so I could be with friends, pay attention to their hopes for their visit and need to relax while running around everywhere in the city. It was great to interact with people on a daily basis, something that is often not required in the summer. More importantly, this was the longest stretch of time I have spent with both Terri and Lorin ever, and Terri since we went out together over 23 years ago. (We have remained great friends; she even introduced me to my wife and made her wedding dress).
As the school year quickly looms down on me, I have to remember this feeling of lack of purpose, free of responsibility and not having to deal with important details of life for the four weeks I had to linger this summer. Because, in a month, in September, when I have been teaching for two or three weeks, that feeling will quickly dissipate, and I surely will long for that feeling, only able to capture the summer's magic over a Saturday morning cup of coffee, as I watch the morning fog burn off, able to capture that sense of timelessness that is summer.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Momi Toby's Revolution Cafe and Art Bar - Laguna at Linden, Hayes Valley, SF
A reconstructed, French parlor, this space is an exceptional space, that does not beg hipsters that must be seen at the latest hotspot. This place is just the place for someone who wants either an excellent espresso drink, great wine or excellent beers on tap with light fare for a great morning or solid lunch, not to mention a great place to meet friends for an evening drink or small dessert. This is not a coffee place, per se, since its clientele shifts from coffee to drinks somewhere in the late afternoon. Cafe Art Bar has been open for several years, preceding many of the recently opened coffee/wine bars that have sprung up throughout the City. The difference, is that Art Bar is based on the European Model of offering espresso and alcohol during normal business hours.
The cafe has about 22 seats inside and eight sidewalk table seats. If you want an intimate cafe experience to meet a friend or need a quiet place with a wifi hookup, then Cafe Art Bar is the place.
The cafe has about 22 seats inside and eight sidewalk table seats. If you want an intimate cafe experience to meet a friend or need a quiet place with a wifi hookup, then Cafe Art Bar is the place.
Tartine - Guerrero at 18th
I have written last year that there are different types of cafes, and there are also different establishments that serve coffee that do not qualify as a Coffee House proper. A coffee house features coffee as the main attraction that may serve other food, but this food complements the coffee drink which is the center of attention. A bakery, a breakfast place or a bar that also happens to serve great coffee will typically not be the focus of this blog. Nonetheless, from time to time, I have been caught eating food at other places besides cafes, that happen to serve coffee, that may very well serve a particular roasters bean, or advertise that their barista has been trained by one of the local coffee houses. And since coffee drinking should not always be a solitary affair, I have invited friends to coffee at places that make other things besides coffee.
Since my two friends from LA have been here, we have gone out to several restaurants, including coffee to a different cafe every morning, much to their delight. As the week progressed we all agreed that it was futile to try to maintain a diet. Since their BnB was just a few blocks from Tartine Bakery, renowned as a top bakery in the US, I convinced them and myself, that it was worth 1000 calories to visit this culinary treasure.
Normally, I would never get coffee at a place that has twenty five people waiting in line around the corner for incredible baked goods and for a cup of coffee. Fr the record, it was possible to buy coffee at a separate cashier near the espresso machine, but that was not why one would actually bother to come here. We waited along with tourists and several must be seen types to put in our order. Bread, muffins, croissants, tarts and quiche all were available. I ordered a chocolate croissant, heated, which was about the same volume as a small baguette. It was incredible, probably using at least a half of a stick of butter for every flakey bite of incredible philo dough type crust. This was the place that if I came here again would be the end of a diet that has had an inglorious past this summer.
The coffee, despite the Four Barrels roasters contribution was very lightly roasted in my small double cappuccino. Besides the milk, there was almost no flavor of the coffee. Now, this exposes this reviewer to a bias for medium and dark roast coffees. And readers should know that about me. I like my coffee strong tinged with a cocao aftertaste, but a cinnamon, chicory or oaky aftertaste will also satisfy. I find a pleasurable berry or slight floral aftertaste in medium roasts, but what I assumed this morning to be a light roast, no after taste was discernible. But this is why I wouldn't consider this a coffee place: the people that come here are not used to dark roasts per se, sitting next to several patrons who brought their kids as part of the tourist in the know category to get a taste of heaven a bus ride away from their downtown hotel.
Baked goods great, coffee
Since my two friends from LA have been here, we have gone out to several restaurants, including coffee to a different cafe every morning, much to their delight. As the week progressed we all agreed that it was futile to try to maintain a diet. Since their BnB was just a few blocks from Tartine Bakery, renowned as a top bakery in the US, I convinced them and myself, that it was worth 1000 calories to visit this culinary treasure.
Normally, I would never get coffee at a place that has twenty five people waiting in line around the corner for incredible baked goods and for a cup of coffee. Fr the record, it was possible to buy coffee at a separate cashier near the espresso machine, but that was not why one would actually bother to come here. We waited along with tourists and several must be seen types to put in our order. Bread, muffins, croissants, tarts and quiche all were available. I ordered a chocolate croissant, heated, which was about the same volume as a small baguette. It was incredible, probably using at least a half of a stick of butter for every flakey bite of incredible philo dough type crust. This was the place that if I came here again would be the end of a diet that has had an inglorious past this summer.
The coffee, despite the Four Barrels roasters contribution was very lightly roasted in my small double cappuccino. Besides the milk, there was almost no flavor of the coffee. Now, this exposes this reviewer to a bias for medium and dark roast coffees. And readers should know that about me. I like my coffee strong tinged with a cocao aftertaste, but a cinnamon, chicory or oaky aftertaste will also satisfy. I find a pleasurable berry or slight floral aftertaste in medium roasts, but what I assumed this morning to be a light roast, no after taste was discernible. But this is why I wouldn't consider this a coffee place: the people that come here are not used to dark roasts per se, sitting next to several patrons who brought their kids as part of the tourist in the know category to get a taste of heaven a bus ride away from their downtown hotel.
Baked goods great, coffee
Monday, July 30, 2012
Progressive Cafe - 21st and Bryant
This morning I was going to pack up the truck full of boxes and drive across the GG Bridge to my school. It is always a foreboding feeling of walking into my classroom at the end of summer, which technically doesn't end for 16 more days. As I was fiddling around with a couple of boxes of papers that I should never have boxed, but threw out instead in June, I told my wife about today's plan. Janine told me to wait and go on Thursday. I really like it when Janine tells me not to work. So, change of plans for today.
She got up early to take a 6:30 shower since the water was going to be shut off on our street at 7 am. For once, she was actually ready to go to work by 7:45, so I decided to hitch a ride, and we went out to coffee in the Mission District, which is on the way to her work. Of course, there are several cafes in the Mission, on Valencia and the adjoining blocks. But, drive another few blocks to Folsom and 20th, where I used to take writing classes through Writing Salon, and it is easy to find several cafes that spot this post industrial, loft spaced, hip neighborhood, that is somewhere between Mission and Potrero Districts. A favorite cafe in the area is Atlas Cafe, which has amazing espresso, good sandwiches and excellent salads.
My wife wanted to try Progressive Cafe, which she drops into from time to time on her way to work when she has time. I ordered a cappucino and she ordered a soy latte. The cafe is open until 10 pm, which is more common in the Mission, but not in my sleepy neighborhood. A sign in front advertised a band playing next weekend, and an application for a limited cabaret license was posted in the window (as is the regulation in San Francisco). The menu had the usual bagel and baked goods array for breakfast, and a reasonably priced lunch menu, as well as appetizers that focused on Mediterranean food. They even have beer and wine. Progressive is a place that one could come anytime of the day. It has plenty of space, and since it is on a corner, plenty of large windows. The furniture is what I consider standard issue 1970s cafe - wood tables and chairs, as well as three sets of sidewalk tables. Old timey, 1930s - 50s jazz maintained the mood. Free wifi was also available.
Oh, and of course the coffee. My double cap was delivered in a large bowl size cup, that was more common before the boutique coffee houses downsized the cappucino to two shots of espresso and 4 ounces of milk. This large bath of a cup often has it pitfalls, typically washing out the coffee with milk, and destroying the flavor of the coffee, but this was not the case. The coffee had a cocao after taste that lasted well in the cup a half hour after being served. I enjoyed the cappucino very much.
As is the case of several of the cafes in this pocket of the east Mission district, friends often meet, several others meet for business meetings. The different between cafes in this part of town and the Haight and NOPA is that people are not afraid to talk to each other, as opposed to just look down at their laptops and focus on the mundane internet and emails, when their friends are just around the corner, waiting to meet and chat at a cafe, just like Progressive.
She got up early to take a 6:30 shower since the water was going to be shut off on our street at 7 am. For once, she was actually ready to go to work by 7:45, so I decided to hitch a ride, and we went out to coffee in the Mission District, which is on the way to her work. Of course, there are several cafes in the Mission, on Valencia and the adjoining blocks. But, drive another few blocks to Folsom and 20th, where I used to take writing classes through Writing Salon, and it is easy to find several cafes that spot this post industrial, loft spaced, hip neighborhood, that is somewhere between Mission and Potrero Districts. A favorite cafe in the area is Atlas Cafe, which has amazing espresso, good sandwiches and excellent salads.
My wife wanted to try Progressive Cafe, which she drops into from time to time on her way to work when she has time. I ordered a cappucino and she ordered a soy latte. The cafe is open until 10 pm, which is more common in the Mission, but not in my sleepy neighborhood. A sign in front advertised a band playing next weekend, and an application for a limited cabaret license was posted in the window (as is the regulation in San Francisco). The menu had the usual bagel and baked goods array for breakfast, and a reasonably priced lunch menu, as well as appetizers that focused on Mediterranean food. They even have beer and wine. Progressive is a place that one could come anytime of the day. It has plenty of space, and since it is on a corner, plenty of large windows. The furniture is what I consider standard issue 1970s cafe - wood tables and chairs, as well as three sets of sidewalk tables. Old timey, 1930s - 50s jazz maintained the mood. Free wifi was also available.
Oh, and of course the coffee. My double cap was delivered in a large bowl size cup, that was more common before the boutique coffee houses downsized the cappucino to two shots of espresso and 4 ounces of milk. This large bath of a cup often has it pitfalls, typically washing out the coffee with milk, and destroying the flavor of the coffee, but this was not the case. The coffee had a cocao after taste that lasted well in the cup a half hour after being served. I enjoyed the cappucino very much.
As is the case of several of the cafes in this pocket of the east Mission district, friends often meet, several others meet for business meetings. The different between cafes in this part of town and the Haight and NOPA is that people are not afraid to talk to each other, as opposed to just look down at their laptops and focus on the mundane internet and emails, when their friends are just around the corner, waiting to meet and chat at a cafe, just like Progressive.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
An experiment to end summer with...no useless Internet and media
In the course of wondering about turning off cable TV completely, I started thinking about all of the other extraneous inputs into my neural network that seem to constantly knock my brainwaves off kilter - the Internet seems to be a major source of noise in my daily life. So, here is a set of rules that I will try to live up to for one week, and report out. Just to reassure all of my readers (thanks you two), I will still drink plenty of coffee and review a couple of other cafes this coming week - I mean with all that extra time on my hands of not sitting in front of the Internet...
Yes to:
1. Checking email for work, family and friends
No to:
2. FB posts, but allowed to check in on events
3. computer games of any kind
4. News cycle monitoring - I seem hopelessly addicted to posting on HuffPost
5. random browsing
6. advertising
7. online purchases
Yes to:
8. Downloaded books
9. May download and read currently subscribed magazines and the SF Chronicle
10. Poetry of the day type entries - literary in nature only
11. Blog postings on my blogs
12. Use google maps to find places I am going to
13. Reading actual, physical books, magazines and newspapers
14. MLB.com to check baseball
15. Websites directly produced by my place of employment and CTA.org
The idea of reading non-hyperlinked materials is that I might actually read an entire story or article before I feel like clicking somewhere to look up something and get distracted. I feel like I have developed a healthy dose of IADD - Internet Attention Deficit Disorder or even a CADD - Computer Attention Deficit Disorder where my never ending quest for knowledge bring me ever in more contact with links to an ever broadening range of freely associated topics to the point that an article or post is never just an encapsulated piece of information, but often a trigger for 10 or 15 other associations easily found on the web, where the original message is easily deconstructed, disrupted or completely disregarded unless it requires a postal response or a calendar event.
Yes to:
1. Checking email for work, family and friends
No to:
2. FB posts, but allowed to check in on events
3. computer games of any kind
4. News cycle monitoring - I seem hopelessly addicted to posting on HuffPost
5. random browsing
6. advertising
7. online purchases
Yes to:
8. Downloaded books
9. May download and read currently subscribed magazines and the SF Chronicle
10. Poetry of the day type entries - literary in nature only
11. Blog postings on my blogs
12. Use google maps to find places I am going to
13. Reading actual, physical books, magazines and newspapers
14. MLB.com to check baseball
15. Websites directly produced by my place of employment and CTA.org
The idea of reading non-hyperlinked materials is that I might actually read an entire story or article before I feel like clicking somewhere to look up something and get distracted. I feel like I have developed a healthy dose of IADD - Internet Attention Deficit Disorder or even a CADD - Computer Attention Deficit Disorder where my never ending quest for knowledge bring me ever in more contact with links to an ever broadening range of freely associated topics to the point that an article or post is never just an encapsulated piece of information, but often a trigger for 10 or 15 other associations easily found on the web, where the original message is easily deconstructed, disrupted or completely disregarded unless it requires a postal response or a calendar event.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Borderlands Cafe, 870 Valencia
For over a year I have walked down Valencia from time to time in search of another coffee establishment. On Valencia,let alone most of the Mission District, my job is not difficult. The large, long storefronts of the Mission have answered my prayers for space between tables, a place where the square footage creates the aura that morning sunlight needs, reflecting off of the wood floor coming through the large storefront windows. That is possible in the Mission, in several locations.
Some cafes in the Mission want to let you know how hip they can be, or that you are drinking coffee literally brewed by 22 year old gods, that you are just barely a worthy guest to drink from their fine porcelain. Or there are other cafes where you as a guest have entered a new paradigm, of sitting alongside other like minded patrons drinking espresso drinks (at the we don't make no stinking coffee cafe) participating in a new paradigm of collaborative work-play (I really did hear the owner at one cafe explain this to a "client." The cafe, like the bar has been the center of the business world in many cultures for well over whenever people started drinking coffee - can I hate people who use the word "paradigm?").
My favorite cafes, however, along these lines, are the two or three where the line is out the door, because everyone and their mother must drink from this beanery before they die, or another one opens that is cooler, where it is not just about the coffee, but who is drinking the coffee. I try to fathom the business casual hipsters sitting at the front tables checking out the clientele, waiting for someone famous, or other genetically gifted people smart enough to know that this place IS IT! What I like about these type of cafes is the types of baristas you'll meet. One type of barista has the acumen of a Chinese Acrobat, where each stroke of their craft is so gracefully executed, from the inspection of the espresso filter, to the pump of the coffee dispenser to the angle at which the steamed milk is poured over the espresso for a cappuccino is as carefully played either for show, or a demonstration of true expertise. The other type of barista at these cafes are so absorbed in the reality of coffee that each breath they take is a meditation, that they become the zen masters of my coffee experience, capable of delivering that koan in a cup, that strike of a cup that splits my skull in half with an instant karmic release. Which cafes am I talking about - if you are reading this, you know who you are, and in either case probably don't care.
So, imagine the dream of owning a bookstore that is also linked physically to an adjoining cafe. In my inner beatnik, that sounds like the best place to have poetry readings, stage readers theater, or to have book club meetings. Well, the sun is reflecting off of the large open space here, and the only disruptions to the morning peace is the brewing of the next espresso by the single attendant behind the counter. My fantasy of this place is that it is a collective, and that the entire building is owned by some well endowed person who wanted to create the perfect melding of literature and caffeine (they also sell loose tea). Of course this well endowed person, or this highly profitable collective, whichever it is, has tapped into their inner beatnik, and bank account, to make this happen. But I don't really know what the financial arrangement is, my fantasies that it is a collective aside. (i just had to ask - The cafe and bookstore are owned by one Alan Bates, who leases the building. My kudos to him for fulfilling his inner beatnik.)
Of course, there is some coffee to consider here. The espresso drinks are ground one drink at a time. Unfortunately, the beans were not up to par, today. I will return here, since the space is incredible. For those early risers, the hours are 8 am to 8 pm, and this place will never be in danger of being a laptop morge, since they do not offer wifi. On top of that, no music has been played since I have been here for the last 45 minutes. I assume this would be a great place to read, or write a novel. The cafe is not particularly a morning spot, as other nearby cafes (see above), are in this neighborhood. In the last 45 minutes two different couples sat in the back, and a total of five single patrons sat at the tables, and one person came in for two iced coffees to go. The menu is light breakfast and lunch, mostly sandwiches and bagels. They also offer a variety of meat and cheese plates, which until recently, in the City, I have only seen in Europe. All of the patrons at the single tables came in to read or write. I like a cafe like this. If this cafe was in my local neighborhood, I would be here whenever I got the chance.
Some cafes in the Mission want to let you know how hip they can be, or that you are drinking coffee literally brewed by 22 year old gods, that you are just barely a worthy guest to drink from their fine porcelain. Or there are other cafes where you as a guest have entered a new paradigm, of sitting alongside other like minded patrons drinking espresso drinks (at the we don't make no stinking coffee cafe) participating in a new paradigm of collaborative work-play (I really did hear the owner at one cafe explain this to a "client." The cafe, like the bar has been the center of the business world in many cultures for well over whenever people started drinking coffee - can I hate people who use the word "paradigm?").
My favorite cafes, however, along these lines, are the two or three where the line is out the door, because everyone and their mother must drink from this beanery before they die, or another one opens that is cooler, where it is not just about the coffee, but who is drinking the coffee. I try to fathom the business casual hipsters sitting at the front tables checking out the clientele, waiting for someone famous, or other genetically gifted people smart enough to know that this place IS IT! What I like about these type of cafes is the types of baristas you'll meet. One type of barista has the acumen of a Chinese Acrobat, where each stroke of their craft is so gracefully executed, from the inspection of the espresso filter, to the pump of the coffee dispenser to the angle at which the steamed milk is poured over the espresso for a cappuccino is as carefully played either for show, or a demonstration of true expertise. The other type of barista at these cafes are so absorbed in the reality of coffee that each breath they take is a meditation, that they become the zen masters of my coffee experience, capable of delivering that koan in a cup, that strike of a cup that splits my skull in half with an instant karmic release. Which cafes am I talking about - if you are reading this, you know who you are, and in either case probably don't care.
So, imagine the dream of owning a bookstore that is also linked physically to an adjoining cafe. In my inner beatnik, that sounds like the best place to have poetry readings, stage readers theater, or to have book club meetings. Well, the sun is reflecting off of the large open space here, and the only disruptions to the morning peace is the brewing of the next espresso by the single attendant behind the counter. My fantasy of this place is that it is a collective, and that the entire building is owned by some well endowed person who wanted to create the perfect melding of literature and caffeine (they also sell loose tea). Of course this well endowed person, or this highly profitable collective, whichever it is, has tapped into their inner beatnik, and bank account, to make this happen. But I don't really know what the financial arrangement is, my fantasies that it is a collective aside. (i just had to ask - The cafe and bookstore are owned by one Alan Bates, who leases the building. My kudos to him for fulfilling his inner beatnik.)
Of course, there is some coffee to consider here. The espresso drinks are ground one drink at a time. Unfortunately, the beans were not up to par, today. I will return here, since the space is incredible. For those early risers, the hours are 8 am to 8 pm, and this place will never be in danger of being a laptop morge, since they do not offer wifi. On top of that, no music has been played since I have been here for the last 45 minutes. I assume this would be a great place to read, or write a novel. The cafe is not particularly a morning spot, as other nearby cafes (see above), are in this neighborhood. In the last 45 minutes two different couples sat in the back, and a total of five single patrons sat at the tables, and one person came in for two iced coffees to go. The menu is light breakfast and lunch, mostly sandwiches and bagels. They also offer a variety of meat and cheese plates, which until recently, in the City, I have only seen in Europe. All of the patrons at the single tables came in to read or write. I like a cafe like this. If this cafe was in my local neighborhood, I would be here whenever I got the chance.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Jumpin Java Cafe - Noe near Henry
At 139 Noe, in the quiet Duboce Triangle neighborhood north of the Castro, a quiet and unassuming cafe awaited my visitation for sometime. The macchiato was excellent. The furniture and bulletin board reminded me of the cafes I grew up with, perhaps now a classic coffee house look, that always feels warm and comforting to me. The low lights allow for every single patron to work on their laptops. The music was barely audible, but calming, and the one couple that was in constant conversation did not carry from the window seat at the front of the restaurant.
I was able to really focus here, writing two lengthy blog entries, before deciding it was time to go. I fact, the space is so ambient, that I completely lost track of time, not realizing until about twenty minutes ago that had spent over two hours here. I would highly recommend Jumping Java Cafe for a computer induced coffee experience, a good read, or a journal entry. If the ambience is the same as it is in the later morning, I imagine that this would be a great cafe to enjoy an early morning cup of coffee as consciousness slowly returns with the sun rise.
Summer's quick conclusion - rules for a school teacher's summer.
As summer progresses to its bitter conclusion, I usually start to think about wasting time, or confusing that with quality down time. I start to think about all the things I haven't done in the summer, things I used to prioritize when I first started teaching 17 years ago, that included entire self improvement plans. I would envision summer as an infinite amount of time just waiting for this self motivated person to become the vegetarian, yoga practicing, thin, poetically inclined, gallery obsessed, hiker who listened to books on tape (now replaced by endless podcasts) while driving across the Western US to the majestic and mystical sun rises that should fill summers, making them the most memorable parts of my life.
Most of that has not panned out, but I do have a couple of simple rules for summer, that lead me every year to what I consider successful summers. Since Janine is not a teacher, neither are my best friends or close family, most of this list is geared towards individual goals or activities, that include Janine, friends or family when they have the time off.
First, let me say that I live in the heart of the beautiful city of San Francisco. With nothing else to do, taking a half hour walk can take me to some very incredible places practically around the corner, since I live in the geographic center of the City. I can also walk to over 20 cafes in 15 minutes, matched by many more bars and restaurants, and at least a dozen venues to hear live music. I must qualify this, since I have lived here for over twenty years, leading to the habit of avoiding certain streets and blocks sheerly out of habit. Last year, I decided to find the best macchiato in the vicinity, taking me to over 23 cafes in 21 days, finding several excellent cafes nearby. This was a relatively inexpensive effort, in contrast to searching for a specific dish at the thousands of restaurants in this city. It was also good exercise, as well as launching this blog, which my other three readers thoroughly enjoy to this date.
So, rule one - take a walk somewhere new everyday, rain or shine, hot or cold.
Second, document your experiences. As an avid journal writer and photographer, I write about my new routes, the cafes I have searched out and have photographed the architecture, urban fawna, and setup shots to add to my FB photo collection.
Another rule, involves breaking the link between work and the beginning of summer. I have found that when I have lingered at home at the beginning of summer, I can't seem to get work out of my mind. Over the years, I have developed a system of reflecting on my successes and failures in the classroom, setting goals for the following year. This has always ensured that I do not teach the same year twice, always switching up and trying new things, in the hopes that both students and I find some new magic each year.
Three rules here: 2. Start the year end review at the beginning of May. I survey the students on successes and failures, then start to outline what I will do different the following year. 3. Get on a plane!!! This is my favorite rule. Go visit my dad in Boston, my mom in LA, my son in Seattle. The sooner the better. Getting on a plane and staying somewhere fora at least a week helps to break the cord between work and summer. The power of a disassociative situation requires the brain to turn on the radar to all of the new sensory details that are constantly being observed every day of a trip at the other end of a flight.
4. Save money for summer. If you could save your tax return, or stash away ten percent of your income for your summer vacation, then you will live life without worrying where your next dollar is coming from. I know that some people still get paid vacations, but with the demise of the social safety net in this country, most corporations have followed suit, eliminating the paid vacation, or at least scaling it back considerably.
This blog, as well as social sites like Facebook were born out of the need to let other people know that you have a life. There is nothing like sharing your life with your friends and family, because in turn, they will also share their exciting vacations with you via these networks. But more importantly, after two weeks, two months or even two years, documenting your vacations helps to take you back to that place that you were at mentally just by flipping throu some old pictures from time to time. I almost can feel my feet lift as I walk up a hill in Istanbul right now, on my way to the Hagia Sophia as I look at the pictures from my most recent vacation.
If you can, take a vacation or share your entire summer with your loved ones. As I clarified at the beginning of this entry, I take most of my summer by myself. My wife usually can get two weeks of paid vacation, and we have typically attended a music camp in the low Sierras for the past nine years. The trip to Turkey was the first vacation we took just by ourselves, no family, not even able to speak Turkish, and except for sharing an apartment with two camp friends, and a few visits with friends that have relocated in Istanbul, we were the only two people that we could have a meaningful conversation with beyond the first few sentences for an entire three weeks. We had an amazing time together.
The next most important feature of a productive summer is to leave time to do absolutely nothing for about two solid weeks. Out of my eight solid weeks of vacation time, I have found through the luxury of experimentation, that it takes a complete and sustained two solid weeks for a person's body and mind to relax, calm down, and just tune down to normal. I am sure that when I retire, whenever that may be a financial reality, I will have to avoid taking more than two weeks of downtime in any sustained fashion, because it can be a bit mind-numbing. Losing track of days, not having a list of to-dos goes a long way, to making me feel like I am going senile, but there is nothing like wondering what my priorities are on any given day when going to coffee is the only thing I can think of.
After about two weeks, and this has happened every summer that I can remember, I start to get a little bored of doing nothing. Thus, the summer project was born. Rules: 5. Plan a time frame for two weeks of nothingness, of endless abandon, when it doesn't matter if you shave, do anything, and hopefully lose track of time. 6. In May, make a list, with my wife, of summer chores that need to get done. File this somewhere on your computer with a timer set at the end of the projected two week down time period. Look at the list at the end of the two weeks and decide when you plan to accomplish these goals in the subsequent weeks. Plan on getting some of these items done, and it is amazing how the productivity gene kicks in and helps move me back into the Back To School mode that returns at the beginning of August. Lastly, I usually like to stay at home the last week before I have to report to staff meetings and teacher trainings. This allows me to savor the last little bit of SIMM that remains. Of course, I will savor summer as much as possible the weekend before school starts, and knowingly, will not be productive on the first couple weekends once school is in session.
Most of that has not panned out, but I do have a couple of simple rules for summer, that lead me every year to what I consider successful summers. Since Janine is not a teacher, neither are my best friends or close family, most of this list is geared towards individual goals or activities, that include Janine, friends or family when they have the time off.
First, let me say that I live in the heart of the beautiful city of San Francisco. With nothing else to do, taking a half hour walk can take me to some very incredible places practically around the corner, since I live in the geographic center of the City. I can also walk to over 20 cafes in 15 minutes, matched by many more bars and restaurants, and at least a dozen venues to hear live music. I must qualify this, since I have lived here for over twenty years, leading to the habit of avoiding certain streets and blocks sheerly out of habit. Last year, I decided to find the best macchiato in the vicinity, taking me to over 23 cafes in 21 days, finding several excellent cafes nearby. This was a relatively inexpensive effort, in contrast to searching for a specific dish at the thousands of restaurants in this city. It was also good exercise, as well as launching this blog, which my other three readers thoroughly enjoy to this date.
So, rule one - take a walk somewhere new everyday, rain or shine, hot or cold.
Second, document your experiences. As an avid journal writer and photographer, I write about my new routes, the cafes I have searched out and have photographed the architecture, urban fawna, and setup shots to add to my FB photo collection.
Another rule, involves breaking the link between work and the beginning of summer. I have found that when I have lingered at home at the beginning of summer, I can't seem to get work out of my mind. Over the years, I have developed a system of reflecting on my successes and failures in the classroom, setting goals for the following year. This has always ensured that I do not teach the same year twice, always switching up and trying new things, in the hopes that both students and I find some new magic each year.
Three rules here: 2. Start the year end review at the beginning of May. I survey the students on successes and failures, then start to outline what I will do different the following year. 3. Get on a plane!!! This is my favorite rule. Go visit my dad in Boston, my mom in LA, my son in Seattle. The sooner the better. Getting on a plane and staying somewhere fora at least a week helps to break the cord between work and summer. The power of a disassociative situation requires the brain to turn on the radar to all of the new sensory details that are constantly being observed every day of a trip at the other end of a flight.
4. Save money for summer. If you could save your tax return, or stash away ten percent of your income for your summer vacation, then you will live life without worrying where your next dollar is coming from. I know that some people still get paid vacations, but with the demise of the social safety net in this country, most corporations have followed suit, eliminating the paid vacation, or at least scaling it back considerably.
This blog, as well as social sites like Facebook were born out of the need to let other people know that you have a life. There is nothing like sharing your life with your friends and family, because in turn, they will also share their exciting vacations with you via these networks. But more importantly, after two weeks, two months or even two years, documenting your vacations helps to take you back to that place that you were at mentally just by flipping throu some old pictures from time to time. I almost can feel my feet lift as I walk up a hill in Istanbul right now, on my way to the Hagia Sophia as I look at the pictures from my most recent vacation.
If you can, take a vacation or share your entire summer with your loved ones. As I clarified at the beginning of this entry, I take most of my summer by myself. My wife usually can get two weeks of paid vacation, and we have typically attended a music camp in the low Sierras for the past nine years. The trip to Turkey was the first vacation we took just by ourselves, no family, not even able to speak Turkish, and except for sharing an apartment with two camp friends, and a few visits with friends that have relocated in Istanbul, we were the only two people that we could have a meaningful conversation with beyond the first few sentences for an entire three weeks. We had an amazing time together.
The next most important feature of a productive summer is to leave time to do absolutely nothing for about two solid weeks. Out of my eight solid weeks of vacation time, I have found through the luxury of experimentation, that it takes a complete and sustained two solid weeks for a person's body and mind to relax, calm down, and just tune down to normal. I am sure that when I retire, whenever that may be a financial reality, I will have to avoid taking more than two weeks of downtime in any sustained fashion, because it can be a bit mind-numbing. Losing track of days, not having a list of to-dos goes a long way, to making me feel like I am going senile, but there is nothing like wondering what my priorities are on any given day when going to coffee is the only thing I can think of.
After about two weeks, and this has happened every summer that I can remember, I start to get a little bored of doing nothing. Thus, the summer project was born. Rules: 5. Plan a time frame for two weeks of nothingness, of endless abandon, when it doesn't matter if you shave, do anything, and hopefully lose track of time. 6. In May, make a list, with my wife, of summer chores that need to get done. File this somewhere on your computer with a timer set at the end of the projected two week down time period. Look at the list at the end of the two weeks and decide when you plan to accomplish these goals in the subsequent weeks. Plan on getting some of these items done, and it is amazing how the productivity gene kicks in and helps move me back into the Back To School mode that returns at the beginning of August. Lastly, I usually like to stay at home the last week before I have to report to staff meetings and teacher trainings. This allows me to savor the last little bit of SIMM that remains. Of course, I will savor summer as much as possible the weekend before school starts, and knowingly, will not be productive on the first couple weekends once school is in session.
Bye bye Cable TV - a change of life's plan.
My wife and I have decided that we really don't need cable TV anymore. It is not about cost, but it is over $100 month, but after having 200 channels, HBO and a DVR we have figured out that we are getting older watching TV. Television is relatively cheap compared to other avenues for entertainment, and it is easy to sit in front of the tube and spend an entire evening being entertained. But it is also a one way form of entertainment. The interaction is with a flat panel, 40 inches diagonal, sometimes including pumping sound through the stereo for a movie or fav show. Because we have a DVR, we do not suffer through commercials, which makes our time more efficient, and also allows us the freedom to watch shows when we want to. But ultimately we are missing something with each other. When we watch TV, As I imagine is true for most American couples, we are looking forward, and not at each other. Our interactions revolve around taking breaks, getting food or taking a phone call. Generally, we eat in front of the TV as well. For us, like most Americans, the American dream has been reduced to endless hours on a comfortable couch, a stereo system (used mostly to watch movies), with a big screen TV, a subscription to a movie channel or two and a DVR.
Maybe we could add good lighting for watching a show as well. On top of that, we both have laptops, so if the show we are watching is just all right, or is really my wife's favorite, then I can tune out, browse the Internet, and still be there for the snack request. When we added up the weekly shows that we watch intentionally, we are somewhere between 7 - 14 hours a week. For some Americans, that is three nights of television. But I did qualify our viewing habits with the word "intentionally." Unintentionally, we probably watch at least twice as much television as we think we do: too tired to go to sleep, getting sucked into bad movies, finding something new, watching old recordings on the DVR.
What all of this has done for both of us, since 2004, for over eight years, is taken us away from various endevours, or other forms of entertainment, including spending time with friends. After our trip to Turkey for three weeks, we realized that there is an entire world out there, let alone right in our apartment. I own countless books I have not read, Janine has stacks of fabric not sewn, and if we didn't each own a bike, I wouldn't wonder when was the last time that we took a bike ride.
Now, to be clear, we are not splitting up from the media entirely. In fact, there are still some TV shows that we will still subscribe to. With our Apple TV, we can rent or subscribe to several current television shows that we watch, ultimately at a fraction of the cost of cable. A typical series costs between $25 - 36 for an entire season, and since we watch about six series a year, we are going to save a considerable amount of money. Likewise, we can rent movies that we want to see, maybe one to two a month at about $4 each. On top of that, with Netflix, if we ever had the need to just become a vegetable, for $9 month, we can stream endless amounts of older and more standard movies that neither of us have ever seen. All said and done, I envision that our viewing time will go down to around 6 hours a week, being more selective with our purposeful viewing. I know this is not unheard of - leaving cable for the various on-demand systems that now exist. I am sure this would not work for the majority of Americans who feel compelled to sit in front of the TV every night, or for a family who has many different viewers with different interests. Among our friends who own televisions, we are not the first to leave the programmed universe behind for more selective viewing options.
What will we do with the extra $70 a month, and the extra time on our hands? The rest of our lifetime awaits...
Maybe we could add good lighting for watching a show as well. On top of that, we both have laptops, so if the show we are watching is just all right, or is really my wife's favorite, then I can tune out, browse the Internet, and still be there for the snack request. When we added up the weekly shows that we watch intentionally, we are somewhere between 7 - 14 hours a week. For some Americans, that is three nights of television. But I did qualify our viewing habits with the word "intentionally." Unintentionally, we probably watch at least twice as much television as we think we do: too tired to go to sleep, getting sucked into bad movies, finding something new, watching old recordings on the DVR.
What all of this has done for both of us, since 2004, for over eight years, is taken us away from various endevours, or other forms of entertainment, including spending time with friends. After our trip to Turkey for three weeks, we realized that there is an entire world out there, let alone right in our apartment. I own countless books I have not read, Janine has stacks of fabric not sewn, and if we didn't each own a bike, I wouldn't wonder when was the last time that we took a bike ride.
Now, to be clear, we are not splitting up from the media entirely. In fact, there are still some TV shows that we will still subscribe to. With our Apple TV, we can rent or subscribe to several current television shows that we watch, ultimately at a fraction of the cost of cable. A typical series costs between $25 - 36 for an entire season, and since we watch about six series a year, we are going to save a considerable amount of money. Likewise, we can rent movies that we want to see, maybe one to two a month at about $4 each. On top of that, with Netflix, if we ever had the need to just become a vegetable, for $9 month, we can stream endless amounts of older and more standard movies that neither of us have ever seen. All said and done, I envision that our viewing time will go down to around 6 hours a week, being more selective with our purposeful viewing. I know this is not unheard of - leaving cable for the various on-demand systems that now exist. I am sure this would not work for the majority of Americans who feel compelled to sit in front of the TV every night, or for a family who has many different viewers with different interests. Among our friends who own televisions, we are not the first to leave the programmed universe behind for more selective viewing options.
What will we do with the extra $70 a month, and the extra time on our hands? The rest of our lifetime awaits...
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Woke up this morning at half past four...
Insomnia and coffee consumption might have some relationship, or so I've been told, once too many times, but I know that jet lag from my Turkey trip is still ongoing. I have had two full nights of sleep since I landed in California 8 days ago. My wife, by contrast can sleep anywhere at any time, so this has not been an issue for her. I have been awake, reading the Economist, the Huffington Post, and have skimmed some of my kindle books - all in anticipation of waiting for the sun to rise so I can take a walk to get some coffee. Since most coffee houses don't open until 7 a.m., the two hours or so that I have had to "wait" finally occurred to me, that I could be at my usual, working week coffeehouse that opens at 6 a.m. everyday of the week - Central Coffee, Tea, and Spice.
I discovered Central CTS last summer in search of new cafes when I decided to find new cafes in NOPA, north of the PAnhandle that separates Oak and Fell out my front door to the street. I have lived here for almost 21 years this September, but not once have I visited this cafe that has been in business as long. In fact, I didn't even know it existed in my conscious mind.
If someone told me that I could go to a cafe that was two short blocks from my house that opened one hour before I had to be home at 7 a.m. to take a shower and get ready for work, well, I imagine great things would have happened to me in my life. I constantly think of what my life would have been like if I could have had that truly religious experience of waking up with a great espresso drink in a near empty cafe with cool music softly lulling me awake in the morning for the past twenty years. Who knows, but I am happy to have finally found Central CTS.
It is one of those "it is never too late" moments that are usually reserved for people getting married at 45 for the first time, or going to medical school at 50, but I will be sufficiently satisfied to know that I am one of the few people in my world who drinks coffee in cafes at 6 a.m., that it seems as monumental as getting a PhD in something that I know I am eminently qualified to have been awarded. My imaginary honorary PhD, gladly accepted, as I delivered that now famous commencement speech, inspired scores of the best and brightest of our future generation to go forth, but to not forget the sunrise. I mean, literally, get out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and take a walk to Central CTS as they are opening their doors to treasure those golden moments of the first fumes of the arabica bean as they take you into the realm of consciousness. There is plenty more that I can expound on about the nature of this metaphysical reality, but you'll have to find the speech on Google.
Central CTS uses Mr. Espresso beans, which yield an excellent chocolate flavor in a macchiato. The cup can sit for over an hour and each sip maintains its original flavor. The cafe's decor is very minimal and the layout fits around two large steel framed bay windows, that are perfect for watching the street as the sun rises, or just for people watching of this neighborhood establishment. I have gotten to know a few of my coffee breathren here, and have noticed a loyal clientele of locals who frequent the place as part of their morning routine. Several bicyclists stop here, one block away from the major entrance to Golden Gate Park, as well as many dog lovers, who stop here before or after a walk through the Panhandle with their loving canine.
I discovered Central CTS last summer in search of new cafes when I decided to find new cafes in NOPA, north of the PAnhandle that separates Oak and Fell out my front door to the street. I have lived here for almost 21 years this September, but not once have I visited this cafe that has been in business as long. In fact, I didn't even know it existed in my conscious mind.
If someone told me that I could go to a cafe that was two short blocks from my house that opened one hour before I had to be home at 7 a.m. to take a shower and get ready for work, well, I imagine great things would have happened to me in my life. I constantly think of what my life would have been like if I could have had that truly religious experience of waking up with a great espresso drink in a near empty cafe with cool music softly lulling me awake in the morning for the past twenty years. Who knows, but I am happy to have finally found Central CTS.
It is one of those "it is never too late" moments that are usually reserved for people getting married at 45 for the first time, or going to medical school at 50, but I will be sufficiently satisfied to know that I am one of the few people in my world who drinks coffee in cafes at 6 a.m., that it seems as monumental as getting a PhD in something that I know I am eminently qualified to have been awarded. My imaginary honorary PhD, gladly accepted, as I delivered that now famous commencement speech, inspired scores of the best and brightest of our future generation to go forth, but to not forget the sunrise. I mean, literally, get out of bed at 5:30 a.m. and take a walk to Central CTS as they are opening their doors to treasure those golden moments of the first fumes of the arabica bean as they take you into the realm of consciousness. There is plenty more that I can expound on about the nature of this metaphysical reality, but you'll have to find the speech on Google.
Central CTS uses Mr. Espresso beans, which yield an excellent chocolate flavor in a macchiato. The cup can sit for over an hour and each sip maintains its original flavor. The cafe's decor is very minimal and the layout fits around two large steel framed bay windows, that are perfect for watching the street as the sun rises, or just for people watching of this neighborhood establishment. I have gotten to know a few of my coffee breathren here, and have noticed a loyal clientele of locals who frequent the place as part of their morning routine. Several bicyclists stop here, one block away from the major entrance to Golden Gate Park, as well as many dog lovers, who stop here before or after a walk through the Panhandle with their loving canine.
Location:Central Coffee, Tea, and Spice
Friday, July 13, 2012
Long walk in the SF fog - Bean There Cafe
Last night we had several power outages. Even this morning, as Janine was getting ready for work the lights went out. In five or ten minutes, I could hear the police whistle helping to direct traffic at Oak and Masonic near our apartment. I decided it was time for a long walk, ultimately to coffee, but also to see which blocks in the neighborhood were also down.
I decided to walk across the Panhandle, scooted by Central Coffee, Tea, and Spice, didn't see anyone I knew, then decided it was time for what I call the three parks walk before I ended up at Bean There Cafe on Steiner. I had earlier crossed the Panhandle, would make my way up to Alamo Square, then would come down Pierce, after taking in the Foggy city scape, to Duboce Park, scurry around the Noe and Sanchez area west of Market before cutting back to the Cafe. Along the way, I walked down Noe, south of Duboce Park, and saw Jumping Java Cafe just north of Henry. I thought about going in, but since it was foggy and overcast, I wanted more light.
I made it to a packed Bean There. I ordered a cap and sat down to write in my journal. The coffee here, using Mr. Espresso roasted coffee is great. I sipped my morning coffee while listening to a group of local neighbors who I have often seen here talk about the political history of the 1980s. I like this cafe because it is a well lit space that allows for friends to chat up a storm, while right next store someone else can work on her laptop. It also has a wide sidewalk on the other side of the length of windows, that offers the perfect row of outdoor tables to take in a sunny morning cup of coffee or a $2 (4 cup) pot of tea from their wide variety of blends and pure varieties. If this cafe was not a bit closer to my apartment, I would make this my morning hangout on my 6 a.m. walks. It is a perfect 15 minute walk away from my place, which allows me to escape the confines of my neighborhood, without taking too long to get there. The fact that it is close to Duboce Park does allow for the morning detour to a place where I can watch people and their dogs before setting up a writing and coffee experience.
I decided to walk across the Panhandle, scooted by Central Coffee, Tea, and Spice, didn't see anyone I knew, then decided it was time for what I call the three parks walk before I ended up at Bean There Cafe on Steiner. I had earlier crossed the Panhandle, would make my way up to Alamo Square, then would come down Pierce, after taking in the Foggy city scape, to Duboce Park, scurry around the Noe and Sanchez area west of Market before cutting back to the Cafe. Along the way, I walked down Noe, south of Duboce Park, and saw Jumping Java Cafe just north of Henry. I thought about going in, but since it was foggy and overcast, I wanted more light.
I made it to a packed Bean There. I ordered a cap and sat down to write in my journal. The coffee here, using Mr. Espresso roasted coffee is great. I sipped my morning coffee while listening to a group of local neighbors who I have often seen here talk about the political history of the 1980s. I like this cafe because it is a well lit space that allows for friends to chat up a storm, while right next store someone else can work on her laptop. It also has a wide sidewalk on the other side of the length of windows, that offers the perfect row of outdoor tables to take in a sunny morning cup of coffee or a $2 (4 cup) pot of tea from their wide variety of blends and pure varieties. If this cafe was not a bit closer to my apartment, I would make this my morning hangout on my 6 a.m. walks. It is a perfect 15 minute walk away from my place, which allows me to escape the confines of my neighborhood, without taking too long to get there. The fact that it is close to Duboce Park does allow for the morning detour to a place where I can watch people and their dogs before setting up a writing and coffee experience.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)