Rise To Vote, Sir (With Your Trimethyldioxypurist)
Palindromes are fun.
From small ones ("Anna") to big ones ("a man, a plan, a canal -- Panama"), something that runs the same from front to back can provide minutes of sheer entertainment.
There's this li'l coffee joint called Palindrome, right at 131 Steuart Street, that we pass every day on the way to the YMCA. Don't know why we don't go there more often, except that drinking coffee seconds before working out doesn't do friendly things to our body. Although that's no excuse for not stopping by after the gym.
Our trip to the Y is usually a sort of palindrome -- from a nice building where we don't really want to be, but sort of have to go (our place of work) past a nice restaurant (Boulevard), past this weird stretch of sidewalk that always smells like garbage, past another nice restaurant (Shanghai 1930), finishing at another nice building where we don't really want to be, but sort of have to go (again, the recently renovated Embarcadero YMCA). So, pretty much the same front to back.
Trimethyldioxypurist = tsirupyxoidlyhtemirT?
So why the heck call a coffee place "Palindrome?" We should have asked Stan Kurz, the proprietor. We meant to. But, you know, he got talking about coffee and we just let him go with whatever he wanted to say -- because this man knows a good cup. He's been running this place for about 10 years.
We love hearing people with specific knowledge of a subject go on about it. Especially coffee.
Stan wondered why we aren't more of an espresso drinker -- said that that is the true measure of the quality of bean and barista. Hmm. Probably true. We promised him we'd mix a few in -- particularly at one place he wholeheartedly endorsed, a place that we swore in this very column to never go to because of the outrageous cost.
But at least the espresso should be cheaper than that cappuccino, right?
We chewed the fat for a few minutes, Stan causing us to long even more to go to Italy at some point than we already did. But we digress: dreams of what's to come must be filed away; there's coffee to review.
Palindrome's signage -- which is the cool arty thingamabobber shown above -- gives the slogan "cappuccino to die for." We knew we must try that. But since we pass this place almost every day, we decided to first try the drip. We opted for the extra-strength fog lifter.
That, my friends, is one damned fine cup of joe.
The sign's touted "cap to die for?" Well, it's pretty good -- certainly strong; robust flavor; a quality cup. I wouldn't place it on the same plane as Boulange de Polk nor (we know you're sick of us touting this place) Blue Bottle. Nevertheless, with the $2.50 price tag for a "big," it's a better cup for the same price as Wild Awakenings.
If we could think of a clever palindrome for Palindrome, we'd tell you front-to-back that it's a good all-purpose shop with particular appeal for one-the-go lovers of good, strong drip coffee. But since we can't think of a palindrome to describe Palindrome, the latter description will have to do.