The Fourth San Francisco Story ¶ Before I get into the story I should simply state how wonderful a time we had in the Bay Area. Across the board, people treated us with respect and courtesy, with fondness and humanity. ¶ We used Broke-Ass Stuart's Guide to Living Cheaply in San Francisco V.2 extensively. I picked up a copy at the Bound Together Anarchist Collective Bookstore. It was very fun to read and explore the city through Stuart's perspective. I fully recommend it. When we didn't use Broke-Ass Stuart's guide, we relied heavily on a friend's e-mail filled with recommendations. One night we used both resources. ¶ My friend described Range as "quite trendy but the food is great." That's exactly right. Range (842 Valencia Street, 415-282-8283) is in the Mission and our old-world cab driver warned us "not to talk to anyone" and "to be careful." His advice was misguided as the area was not at all dangerous (but nearby intersections might have been). Hint, especially to those of you that haven't spent time in (Western) urban centres: when you are worried about bad areas in cities, if you are to be worried at all, you quite likely need to be very specific. Most of the big cities I've been to can't be judged generally for more than a block without lapsing into error. That corner might be bad but that neighbourhood is entirely sketchy? Really? I doubt it. ¶ I had the Alaskan Halibut and I actually forget what Pauline ordered. We were satiated and ready for more. ¶ After dinner we strolled down toward the Elbo Room. I'm not being ageist, because if I lived in SF I'd totally go there all the time, but this is the perfect bar for your mid-to-late twenties. It's what young-adult bars are all about: beautiful people, stiff drinks, no-attitude bar staff, great music (I'm not even a fan of funk, but it suited the night perfectly), and that dark, dank, bar feel. It's also a highly regarded live music venue which I totally believe from what I could tell. I wanted to keep drinking but my lids started to close and I had to listen to the body. We jumped in a cab and headed back to bed. ¶ Pleased to say that tomorrow, in addition to the TORO piece, I have a National Post portrait of JRR Tolkien on AL2. It's my 15th.

Labels: Freelancing, NationalPost, San Francisco

¶ 3:40 PM
<< Home