Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
6
The “Other”
San Francisco
You can mingle with the locals, if you know how
S
AN FRANCISCO
,
FOR ITS REPUTATION AS A CITY OF SIN
,
IS ACTUALLY VERY
much a cluster of thoughtful communities. It's a city whose residents enjoy feel-
ing special, and who thrive on social occasions. The urge to belong to something
important is behind the locals' fierce protection of their neighborhoods and the
kind of stores permitted to open in them. Even in general terms, most residents
feel lucky and proud to be a part of a city as storied as San Francisco. Wouldn't
you be?
San Francisco is also a brainy city. Literacy, history, and discourse matter
deeply to these people. It's not the sort of place with a sports bar on every corner;
instead, it has cafes full of newspaper-reading folks curious to find out more about
the world around them. It may not be setting the cultural trends anymore, but it
is a place where the locals like to get together and learn more about the world
around them, maybe get a drink or have dinner, and enjoy the good life.
Finally, San Francisco is a diverse city, albeit more in terms of ethnic makeup than
in class. It's not hard to find pockets of immigrants still hewing to their families' tra-
ditions, and most of them are willing to allow visitors or guests into their world.
This chapter is about smuggling yourself into that world—really, the many
worlds that actually make up San Francisco. Meeting locals, engaging in the
heated discussions they're having, trying out their classes, joining their celebra-
tions, seeing how they work. And because doing so involves some advance prepa-
ration, I encourage you to read this chapter well before you get to San Francisco
so that you can comb through the websites to find the schedules of the activities
listed below.
HOW LOCALS PLAY
We'll start with one of the best ways to meet locals, and that is by attending a local
dinner party.
Ghetto Gourmet
(www.theghet.com)
began by throwing what it
calls a “pirate restaurant” at someone's apartment in Oakland. Today, much more
popular, it calls itself a “wandering supperclub,” which means that the chefs and
locations change each time it goes on. These nomadic restaurants, which serve
between 3 and 11 courses (really!) are a social trend that has been slowly growing
in the Bay Area. This isn't some dinner party were strangers stare at each other and
wait for the night to pass; all kinds of folks from all walks of life attend and spend
hours socializing over some fine food that's begging to be appreciated and dis-
cussed. Pirate restaurants garner their members by putting the word out on the
Internet, so you've got to belly up to the keyboard at home before filling your
belly in SF. Their dedication to local ingredients and top methods make this a
cool choice for genuine foodies. In fact, a club that started around the same time,
Digs Bistro of Oakland, is now a real restaurant.
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