sunny cafe

Originally uploaded by Liz Henry.

At my local hangout today, Main Street Coffee in Redwood City, city council members rubbed elbows with construction workers, policemen, moms talking school politics, and a swarm of tiny children, who play with the patio toys and climb the big rock in the garden. Today was perfect and sunny and mild.

It’s a ten dollar splurge for breakfast – an omelette or chilaquilles, which comes with an enormous plate of other stuff like potatoes and scones and fruit. The food has that homey and wholesome aura and I happen to know that Mona, one of the owners, gets up at 2am to bake every morning. The staff here never quits. They know all our names, what times we are likely to come in and what we’re likely order.

Many other regulars talk to me, and a few stand out. The guy with the purple car” who likes to talk about computers, and of course the guy who plays the dulcimer and the ripply music people play on saws.

Part of its coolness is that it’s unexpected. It’s hidden away behind corrugated iron warehouses and auto body shops in the sort of neighborhood I would from my vast Sim City experience call “light industrial”.

Anyway, it’s been my home away from home for five years.