Zazie

Mr. Big Nose goes to Zazie. Tonight, leaving work in downtown Oakland, like so many other evenings, I had the impulse to take the train west instead of east to home. Tonight I went west to San Francisco.

The SF trains at 5:10pm are not as packed as the Pittsburg/Baypoint trains. I was comfortable standing, which I usually do whether a seat is available or not, and listening to my iPod. I got a seat anyway, why not? I skipped the David Sylvian and gave Crowded House a spin, something a little more lively than my usual listening.

Dumping out at Embarcadero station, I causally made my way through the crowded platform to the up escalator, taking my time to feel being in the crowd and looking at faces and bodies and clothes and movements and sounds, and most of all at the interactions between people -- friends and strangers. The Embarcadero BART station is different from all the other San Francisco downtown underground stations in that it was not originally planned to exist before the tunnel was dug, and this resulted in the space between the track lines being less than the usual platform size -- it is a narrow platform, making the crowd all the more intimate.

At the Embarcadero the MUNI system has its one $1 and $5 change machine, only one in either MUNI or BART. BART has a $10 and $20 changer that gives $5s. MUNI fare is $1.50. I found out that this is the one $5 change machine in the system by assuming it was not the only one and going to a different station and not finding one. Now I have a pocket full of Golden Dollars.

Speaking of intimate crowds, the MUNI system was jammed by a car breakdown between Embarcadero and the next station, Montgomery. Quite a thick crowd, with train operators walking around the platform while their cars idled calling out to everyone personalized status reports. This in addition to the blasting public address announcements. The crowd was cool and interesting to watch. Downtown San Francisco metro station at 5:45pm on a Friday. Nice people watching. I felt good, I was smiling a big grin, which I realized only when people started to grin back at me.

My N-Judah line cars were packed. More getting-to-know-you public transit. I feared for my wallet, in my jean's hip pocket, for about 2 seconds. These are my neighbors, very much locals making their way around town on the MUNI. I could have lost my wallet, but it would have somehow been OK. (No, it would have been titanic drag for days. Moron.) I've had some very good adventures on the N-Judah MUNI line. Feels like I'm home when I ride it.

Dumped out, literally, at Cole Street. This occurs just after the tunnel after the Duboce dog park, in front of the sidewalk seats for the local BurgerMeister. I stood while the crowd disembarked and moved around me down the sidewalk to the corner, people then going in every direction. Cold wind, like Oakland, as I made my way through the Carl and Cole intersection. Forgot my warm scarf this morning. Couples filing into the various restaurants, I made my way up Cole to Zazie. Dogs always dot these sidewalks, mindful pets.

I took the heated patio option. The restaurant interior is very pleasant. Cozy, a bit tight. When I last went with Kim she wore her mink coat and had a hard time walking between the tables and figuring out where to hang it up. A nice smallish splash of local customers, it was about 6pm. Zazie is very much a Cole Valley neighborhood spot. Pleasant waiter. I had a mixed green salad and the hanger steak, medium rare, with mashed potatoes and asparagus (I was expecting creamed spinach). It was all just right, I skipped dessert. A delicious, large meal to wash down a difficult week. Going home was a comfortable blur. Time to rest and recuperate and digest.