My favorite thing these days is a rooftop restaurant. It has to be outside, with a cool vibe, creative menu, and of course a phenomenal view. San Francisco, with its hills and bridges and boat traffic on the bay, is a fine setting for this sort of venue.
So on a recent birthday I decided on Charmaine’s. It sits atop the Proper Hotel, on Market Street at the edge of the Tenderloin neighborhood. I chose Charmaines as much for its decor as for the views and food. My sons and I hopped on Muni and 20 minutes later emerged from the subway.
photo kellywearstler.com
The Tenderloin could be called San Francisco's red light district, ever notorious for drugs and prostitution. Lately it is homelessness that's overtaken the area's challenges. But as we walk to the hotel I ask my sons, “How many homeless encampments are you guys seeing?”
“You’re right, Mom. None.”
“Right? For all the beatings San Francisco is taking in the news, it’s not nearly as bad as they paint it."
We’re ushered upstairs in the hotel elevator and shown to our table. It’s not a table, though; it's our own fire pit, surrounded by easy chairs and tiny side tables.
We settle in - they offer us blankets - and enjoy the scene as the sun descends. We order up intricate cocktails and lots of bites - crispy tacos, Japanese meatballs, pork belly skewers. The nightly fog snakes in and the wind picks up as we eat, drink and tease each other, happy for the warmth of the fire.
All too quickly we're home again, but the birthday continues. I receive a few boy presents: gourmet snacks, a pestle for muddling cocktails, a tee shirt. My son Dean approaches me with a small bouquet of flowers.
“I got you these peonies because I know they’re your favorite,” he says. He peers at the flowers and hesitates as he hands them over. “Are they peonies?”
“They’re carnations. I love them.”
What a delightful story.