Looking for Brooklyn on the West Coast
Still feeling last night’s Redbreast whiskey, we arrive in San Francisco ready to take on the infamous brewing culture. Sightglass Coffee Bar & Roastery is first priority, where bikes line-up beside the burlap bags of beans ready for the Probat roaster. Upstairs, we witness the laptop crew in preparation of a cupping (follow their twitter for updates on public ones). The oversized concrete space meets homey pour feels more Williamsburg Blue Bottle than SF’s own.
Next on the list is carbs of the pie kind. We hit Mission Pie where maroon-plated walls and homemade mini-desserts-as-meals make for a removed Pies ‘n’ Thighs experience… minus the thighs. Cherry pie is near-perfect with iceberg-sized sugar sprinkled on top, but it doesn’t cure the hangover.
We must drink more. The outdoor beer garden at Biergarten boasts the novelty of a shipping crate turned market place at the Dekalb Market but aside from the tattooed bartenders, turns out a slightly yuppie-sh clientele (basically, Iona on a Friday night). We finish our German beer and decide its time to sharpen up.
Luckily F.S.C. Barber shop is there to cure our unkempt woes. This Manhattan staple presents a grand execution of the 1920s experience that feels more North 3rd’s Tommy Guns. We don’t end up splurging on the reasonably priced $50 haircut (considering the wall unit is salvaged from the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair!) but we do get to peruse its vintage collection of Playboys, boyscout backpacks and desert boots, and drool over owner Jonah Buffa’s dapper watch and new haircut.
Time to drink again! Beer garden Zeitgeist‘s biker types and pool table n’ arcade games take us to the ultimate dive bar experience of Turkey’s Nest but offers the seemingly never-ending rows of outdoor benches and concrete wall of Flatbush Farms. We’re scared of the bartender, irritated by the cramped seating and overcome by the abundant chain-smoking… it all feels very comforting, like home.