Park Chow in the Inner Sunset looks as though it might have been there forever.  Close to UCSF and Golden Gate Park, it has a laid back nostalgic air as though it were a survivor of 1960's.  

The food is mostly straight forward American food with several Asian offerings.  It's been a family favorite for years.  On "warmer" days you can sit comfortably in the front entrance patio or on the roof-top deck.  Both have heaters to fend off the chill.  Prices are modest.  Food is good.

Concrete countertops, the new, the trendy, the oh so yesterday.  Early adopters are clearly risk takers especially when incorporating something that is handmade, has many variables, and will be used for many years.

This restaurant countertop looks as though all the different elements didn't quite come together as intended.  The stone aggregate seems to have settled unevenly and there are rough spots and an area that seems to have been patched.  If this were produced in a factory, it would have gone into the reject pile.

For a concrete slab hidden by a finish floor, its final appearance isn't too important, but for a nice restaurant - it's important.  It's an unusual idea to use concrete Counfor a countertop.  It's heavy, porous, and requires a high degree of craftsmanship and experience to get the right results.  In the right hands, I've seen some incredibly beautiful results.  This isn't one of them.
   

Perhaps it's in the air, but I saw this poster on the left on-line for Eve Lounge that is a perfect re-interpretation of the 1960's counter culture rock posters.  We've been talking about 1960's retro design at Pine Street lately and have tried our hand at designing something in that vein.  The poster above on the right is something I found in the garage from my 1960's school days.  

The letters are formed to take an object's shape and legibility is secondary.  If the poster itself is compelling, then it encourages you to study it deeper to read the message.  At the left is Chris' design for a T shirt.  

It's a chilly wet morning, I'm late, and it's another blue Monday.  I park near Vega Cafe on Folsom in SOMA and I'm cheered by the yellow scooter truck and then I see the Tamale Lady on her 3 wheel tricycle in her bright yellow rain coat.  She a regular here too!  Off she scoots on her route selling homemade tamales.  Seeing the cheerful yellow and getting my Americano --  I feel good. 

I don't know why, but I'm really like coming to Vega Cafe.  It seems to perk me up.  Is it the great coffee?  The friendly staff?  Or is it the feng shui?  Not sure, but it works for me.

Donovan's 1967 song Mellow Yellow starts playing in my mind and I think back to my school days living on the northside of UC Berkeley in Kensington.  There were 5 of us living in a house and Berkeley was at the forefront of the beginnings of the counter-culture.  Every week there seemed to be something new to expand your conciousness.  The most memorable was smoking the lining of banana peels.  Whoooa!  My house-mates were suddenly buying bananas.  They were sitting in the kitchen scrapping the lining of the banana peels to dry.  Didn't work though, but it almost didn't matter.