My City: Exploring The City’s comforts
By: Karen Palmer
Special to The Examiner
January 3, 2009
 |
| George Nachtrieb (Jason Steinberg/Special to The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Faves and raves by George Nachtrieb.
PERSONAL STATS
AGE: 38
YEARS IN CITY: S.F. native who has been back in The City for two years following a 10-year stint in Los Angeles
NEIGHBORHOOD: Bernal Heights
OCCUPATION: Online community manager at Zannel, a multimedia micro-blogging service
SELF-DESCRIPTION: Dot-commer, hiker and aspiring Tuvan throat singer
FAVORITE COMFORT FOOD
Blue Plate
WHERE: 3218 Mission St. between 29th Street and Fair Avenue
WHAT: Meatloaf
INFO: (415) 282-6777 or www.blueplatesf.com
"The meatloaf at Blue Plate is very simple and homey. You get mashed potatoes and green beans with it — and if you order a $1 Olympia beer, it’s just a very comforting meal. Blue Plate is very much a neighborhood restaurant; the back garden, which not a lot of people know about, is a really nice spot to hang out."
FAVORITE BARBECUE
Memphis Minnie’s
WHERE: 576 Haight St. between Fillmore and Steiner streets
WHAT: Pork ribs or brisket washed down with sake
INFO: (415) 864-7675 or www.memphisminnies.com
"The barbecue-sake combination is kind of a novelty thing, but it also just really works for some reason. The sake has a sweetness
to it that complements the barbecue sauces. Who knew?"
FAVORITE BOOKSTORE
Dog Eared Books
WHERE: 900 Valencia St. at 20th Street
WHAT: Everything from odd reads to journals
INFO: (415) 282-1901 or www.dogearedbooks.com
"This has been a favorite of mine for years. They have some really weird books, a good selection of really cool journals made out of old book covers and a decent selection of zines."
FAVORITE SANDWICH
Snack Depot
WHERE: 303 Second St. between Folsom and Harrison streets
WHAT: Fresh roasted turkey with cranberry on Dutch crunch bread
INFO: (415) 546-6201
"These are really old-school jumbo lunch sandwiches, made by another guy named George in a SoMa office building. The sandwiches are huge; they’re the exact opposite of a tidy, cute sandwich with special relishes, arugula and house-cured salami."
FAVORITE UNEXPECTED APPETIZER
Little Star Pizza
WHERE: 400 Valencia St. at 15th street
WHAT: Spicy chicken wings with baby carrots and blue cheese dressing
INFO: (415) 551-7827 or www.littlestarpizza.com
"Their pizza is good, but I pretty much go there just for the wings now. I first tried them about a year ago with a bunch of friends who had raved about them. In my opinion, they’re the best wings in The City."
FAVORITE CITY WALK
Clement Street
WHERE: From 49th street to Arugello street
WHAT: Stopping at the unusual shops and restaurants along the way
"I did this walk once, and poked around European sausage emporiums, dim sum houses, amazing Asian supermarkets, restaurant supply places and a very cool aquarium store that I think might have been filled with illegal coral. But man, it was almost as good as the Academy of Sciences. "
FAVORITE COCKTAIL
The Alembic
WHERE: 1725 Haight St. between Cole and Shrader streets
WHAT: A Sazerac
INFO: (415) 666-0822 or www.alembicbar.com
"I like that the Alembic isn’t pretentious. The bar itself is made from planks from Kezar Stadium. It’s cool to have a drink on what was once a seat there. Plus, they’re really into their drinks; the bartenders really take their time making them."
FAVORITE LIQUOR STORE
Cask
WHERE: 17 Third St. between Kearney and Market streets
WHAT: The selection of bourbons and Peychaud’s bitters
INFO: (415) 424-4844 or www.caskspirits.com
"I stopped in here before Thanksgiving, because our family cocktail is the Whiskey Old Fashioned. I was looking for something to shake it up, and they recommended a cool Russell’s rye. Cask is definitely pricier than, say, a BevMo, but they get really special things on the bourbon front and know their stuff."
FAVORITE SHOW
Mortified
WHERE: Upcoming shows at the Makeout Room, 3225 22nd St. between Mission and Bartlett streets
WHAT: Live, on-stage readings of journals, letters, poems and more by adults written when they were adolescents
INFO: www.getmortified.com
"People get up and read their journals and letters from grade school and high school. For instance, at the last show I saw, a girl got up who had recorded all of her kisses, from her very first kiss, and had created an Excel spreadsheet about them, along with memorable quotes. The stories are embarrassing, sure, but really, they’re so relatable because everyone’s in the same boat."
