It's amazing to find a $3 cup of coffee in the land of $14 haircuts. However, 24th Street in the Mission has changed much in recent years. This sleepy little tree lined street wakes up with coffee now and there are six coffee shops where there used to be one.
Philz on the corner of 24th and Folsom is an anomaly. It is a busy gathering place with tables, stuffed chairs and comfortable couches. You wouldn't think there's enough room for everyone who wants to sit and sip a special cup of Joe made especially for you. The line to place an order is jammed with people waiting to order, or for the staff to make you a cup of coffee. That's because it is made one cup at a time. This makes the going slow on a Saturday morning.
It takes three baristas to tackle the crowd at the counter. They grind enough beans for your cup of coffee, then brew it while you sit on a long pew and look. Philz rule: each cup is equivalent to a dose of three cups of regular coffee. The baristas flavor the coffee with cream and sugar just for you. They know exactly how much to add because my cup was creamy smooth, full bodied, and not acidic or bitter in the least. When your cup is finally, really, ready - because it takes time to brew just one cup at a time - you proceed to the register. The food cases there are filled with delicious looking vegan and artisan crafted pastries.
The story goes that Phil wakes up every morning to mix his eclectic blends of beans for the house specialties here. His philosophy is counter to the single origin coffees at other shops. He's been doing this for 25 years, first at his market, which he converted to the coffee shop in 2006. The Philz brand has grown to five other locations, two in other San Franciscan neighborhoods, one in San Jose, one in Palo Alto, and a new shop in Berkeley.
The cafe is loud, people laughing together, chatting, surfing the Web on Philz WiFi or working on an important something they just can't do at home. Outside their bicycles are parked in all available places on the sidewalk. Philz is a favorite of the neighborhood police too. When I went to the shop, on a Saturday, there were two squad cars and a bunch of officers standing on the sidewalk laughing and drinking their cup of Philz joy. One cup of coffee starts at $2.75 and the price increases depending on the beans they grind for you. Then I realized, I do this at home - with a coffee grinder and Melita strainer, surely worth $3 and a day spent at home in the quiet of the kitchen.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Las Tres Ninas Blancas on 24th Street
My favorite psychic/botanica shop on 24th Street is Las Tres Ninas Blancas. The store has been open for three months now. This shop, more than any other, underscores the workings of faith and Christianity with the Holy Death and Mexican fascination with the Dia de los Muertes. The shop is still new, so it isn't stuffed yet with hard to find and look at little knick-knacks like Angela's Gift House a little further down the street. Las Tres Ninas Blancas immediately attract interest on the street with the display of very large skeleton statues and saint statues in the window. The life-sized grim reaper skeleton is decorated with fabric and sequins and has thrilling impact. I found myself drawn to the shop, in search of secrets and charms the shop holds.
The shop also gives psychic reading and tarot card readings by Sandra, the owner of Tres Ninas. The readings are given in a small room at the back of the store. If you need to wait for your reading, you can sit and contemplate an alter, with a skeleton draped in white and offerings of fruit, flowers, and candles. It is an effective setting and tone for the readings. It is important not to forget reverence for the dead, it will be you someday.
Inside you find shelves of candles that the faithful burn for healing. Candles in glass jars symbolizing the Holy Death, attractive luck, and strong love line the shelves on one wall of the store. On the other wall is a shelf of candles, without the glass, in the shape of women, men and other holy symbols. As you browse, burning incense stimulates your senses. Amulets, spices and lucky powders line the rack by the front door. What you do with it, how you construct your lucky charms, depends on your own knowledge, or the instructions of the resident psychic.
The counters are glass cases filled with the jabon - Mexican and Pan-American soaps in very interesting packaging. Again, you can find soap for every spiritual occasion. The boxes of soap have drawings describing their powers of cleansing, people in angst, skeletons clothed in black and everything lucky. Also in the glass cases are scented eau de toilets and flower water to splash on after washing, to further increase the strength of the spell, and, hopefully, heal wounds to your spirit and faith.
Who goes to this shop? Not just the resident Mexican faithful. Las Tres Ninas Blancas is open to the community. Cici, the store's interpreter tells me that everyone in the community is welcomed and served: Mexican, black, white, Central American and the random tourist. Even Buddhists have a place here. There are also statues of Buddha and Hindu tankas on the walls along with the picture of all-powerful skeletons, Jesus and other saints, presents for your home environments. Whatever your spiritual practices, you're sure to find something to inspire.
The shop also gives psychic reading and tarot card readings by Sandra, the owner of Tres Ninas. The readings are given in a small room at the back of the store. If you need to wait for your reading, you can sit and contemplate an alter, with a skeleton draped in white and offerings of fruit, flowers, and candles. It is an effective setting and tone for the readings. It is important not to forget reverence for the dead, it will be you someday.
Inside you find shelves of candles that the faithful burn for healing. Candles in glass jars symbolizing the Holy Death, attractive luck, and strong love line the shelves on one wall of the store. On the other wall is a shelf of candles, without the glass, in the shape of women, men and other holy symbols. As you browse, burning incense stimulates your senses. Amulets, spices and lucky powders line the rack by the front door. What you do with it, how you construct your lucky charms, depends on your own knowledge, or the instructions of the resident psychic.
The counters are glass cases filled with the jabon - Mexican and Pan-American soaps in very interesting packaging. Again, you can find soap for every spiritual occasion. The boxes of soap have drawings describing their powers of cleansing, people in angst, skeletons clothed in black and everything lucky. Also in the glass cases are scented eau de toilets and flower water to splash on after washing, to further increase the strength of the spell, and, hopefully, heal wounds to your spirit and faith.
Who goes to this shop? Not just the resident Mexican faithful. Las Tres Ninas Blancas is open to the community. Cici, the store's interpreter tells me that everyone in the community is welcomed and served: Mexican, black, white, Central American and the random tourist. Even Buddhists have a place here. There are also statues of Buddha and Hindu tankas on the walls along with the picture of all-powerful skeletons, Jesus and other saints, presents for your home environments. Whatever your spiritual practices, you're sure to find something to inspire.
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