This is a series, see: Coit Tower, St.Francis Elevators, Chinatown
Note: make sure to have a hangover and/or huge appetite before heading out.

Breakfast/brunch at Cafe Divine (Union & Stockton)- get seated at the sidewalk tables, and, with mimosa in hand, watch people in the park. I’d recommend the fruit bowl w/ granola or the poached eggs. Divine doesn’t have a huge menu but the ingredients are top notch. OR hit La Boulange (Columbus, Green) for a pastry and a bowl of cafe au lait. Describe how the park used to be the common for the neighborhood- the patch of ground where you could garden or keep livestock. Mention the falsehood that DiMaggio married Marilyn Monroe at the church- actually just photographed in front of it.
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- You want to eat in North Beach, but you’re confused by the dizzying array of restaurants. Answer this simple question: glass grapes or pumpkin ravioli?
- Best happy hour- 901 Columbus (at Lombard), $1.50, 4-7. Good food too if beer is not enough.
- Best trivia: Melt, (Filbert & Columbus) 8pm Wednesdays with Matt (you know, fondue? and trivia? Fondivia?)
- Best karaoke: Bow Bow, Grant @ Broadway (OK, this is Chinatown technically…
- Best product of the Chinese/Italian neighborhood: Ginger gelato on Union & grant - pictured
* more info after the jump
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A couple of twenty-something guys are hanging out near the trash can, outside Caffe Trieste this afternoon (Sunday). The occasion is that Jerry Brown just finished a long cell phone conversation next to them.

Guy 1: That was Jerry Brown.
Guy 2: Who is that?
Guy 1: The mayor of Oakland, the old governor.
Guy 3: What, Schwarzenegger?
Guy 1: No, he WAS the governator.
Guy 4: I don’t see any black guys in there.
Guy 1: He’s white.

It would be more funny to me if I didn’t have just the same conversation over my phone. Note: this is like Willie Brown, they come to this neighborhood a lot. Yet no Frances Ford Coppola sightings yet!!

Walked around the parade with N Judah Chronicles‘ Greg & brother Dave. It got a lot more crowded at Stockton Street than in the photo above. Also, that was pretty early on.



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This afternoon the city installed spanky new solar parking meters on the block between Stockton & Powell / Union & Green, on Columbus. Mark wrote about them here, for Redwood City. The meters will be 3-month tests, to determine if they rake in more cash than the old style coin ones. This project began 2 years ago and there were pilot programs on Embarcadero & Fisherman’s Wharf. I loved the those, mostly for the selfish reason that I hated hauling $3.00 in coins for 2 hours (when I drove, which was rare). These are equally as steep. The interface of the machine isn’t that easy to understand, but I don’t really care. Hopefully the phenomenon that people aren’t paying meters will change with the new machines, and we can recognize that 50M or so expected city revenue. Curious documentation online about how these new machines are networked (uses Microsoft technology- gasp) and users can upgrade their time remotely. I doubt that’s going to roll out- as isn’t it against the law to stuff the meter? And oh-so-hackable. (Ugly link that leads to a spec sheet on these machines.)
Great test location- right in front of Caffe Roma, across from L’Osteria del Forno, near the cigar cafe, Naia the gelato place, Cafe DeLucci, etc.

I can’t explain this recent flurry of restaurant outings other than using my broken arm as an excuse. But the latest place we went to was Steps of Rome and in particular, the Trattoria vs. the Caffe. Both places serve some amazing dishes, however, the former provides a setting in which you can hear your partner while the latter is an ideal spot for checking out eye candy. Sean and Anna blogged about crowds at this place last summer when Italy and France were competing in the World Cup. Thankfully that’s not the norm, so you too can enjoy my favorite Italian joint in the city, hands down. Now if I only could make more money and afford to go there more often.

Every year, I always feel some sort of nagging “I shoulda, coulda, woulda ” when it comes to New Years Eve. Unlike those quieter manufactured religious holidays, NYE is sorta a huge amateur night and mess, one that is celebrated all over.

There are giant pricetags put on often ordinary looking shows and then there are some magical bills that actually do seem worthwhile…

I never seem to know for sure where to head to, so I end up seeing the Supersuckers at Slims or something…( well not this year, cuz they are in Utah…)

I know that because I spent way too much time this past month compiling a list of all the huge mega concerts & even many lil pub & vfw hall shows I could find…

Not just in the Bay Area mind you, but from Amsterdam to Auckland, Tokyo to Tucson…

and I figgered I should post it here before it becomes horribly out of date within the next few dozen hours…

So if yer looking on info on where the party is at when they drop the big ball…

read on after the jump…
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I am sitting in my North Beach apartment, listening to the grumbling of my hungry stomach battle my internal desire not to go outside in the damp cloud of gray which seems to loom out there. I’ve been up for a few hours now, though, and the grumbling is beginning to win out. All that I can think about is the food which awaits me in this neighborhood.

Here is what I’ve discovered about North Beach breakfast spots so far:
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This is an example of the cool painted folk art at Caffe Sport - paintings on the ceiling, no less- on Green Street at Columbus.

In an unrelated item, what’s up with the designated bike streets (warning, that’s a PDF link) that are ridiculously perilous: Columbus Ave, Polk St., Arguello…

Caffe Greco: no opera jukebox.

First reason to move to North Beach: getting even closer to my favorite restaurant, L’Osteria del Forno, but also, to live in a part of town where there are not one, but two, cafe-bars that have opera jukeboxes.
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