Tonight, after another discouraging round of looking at expensive flats with those berber carpets San Francisco landlords seem to love, I ducked into Atlas Café on the corner Alabama and 20th in Portrero Hill.
One of my fears is that Starbucks, like McDonalds, will make it harder for places like Atlas Café and unique coffee bars like it to exist.
You can’t imagine my truly wonderful neighborhood experience in a place where I was taken to a romantic lake, Paris, Budapest, New York and then back to San Francisco.
Was it the music that took me there? Ah yes, the music. The blend was so unusual, that as I sat at the bar watching the two handsome Mexican chefs with backward facing baseball caps, preparing my salad, I started to have a surreal moment, one which lasted a couple of hours. Perhaps it was just pure and beautiful imagination. Perhaps the music tore me open, as it should.
At first, I thought that Bach was playing in the background, but then I started to hear the Accordian — Hawaiian style. As I closed my eyes, I went to a tropical island, until of course the track turned Vaudeville. It was a slow, damp but quietly happy Vaudeville.
I open my eyes and see a long row of flavored coffee syrups on a shelf behind the cash register. The girl who takes my order has pink hair with a matching dress and arm tattoo.
Despite her appearance, there’s innocence behind her eyes. It’s a reminder – she’s not Flo and this “ain’t no diner.” She wears black knee socks with dockers and has the kind of body I proudly wore in my twenties.
A large symbol of Atlas is painted on the wall behind the stove. Imagine a greenish blue hulk draped in blood red scarves holding a large cup of steaming coffee.
A professor walks in with his dog. Vaudeville blends with Vivaldi. Odd combination. Where am I? Where does it take me?
I’m faraway. Lost in a 1930s black and white movie being chased by a sexy British man around a romantic lake. He’s a gentleman but very playful and in the mood for romance. Our bikes lean up against a large birch tree, not unlike the bikes propped up against the pastry display underneath the windowpane in this café. Old, rusty and sturdy.
Then I become aware of the organic muffins and teas and realize, “I’m not there.”
So, I turn my attention back to the Mexican chefs in front of me. One is shaving a sweet potato, the other is making a Caesar Salad. I can hear melodrama in the background – is it an organ combined with a harpsichord and flute? There’s no horns and the sound is extremely tinny and hypnotic, especially after a 1930s affair. Makes me want to dance.
To my right, there’s a black woman wearing a gorgeous red wool coat with jeans. Two men with pony tails enter and behind them, a guy no more than 35 in a wheelchair. It looks permanent.
Another man reads the paper – Mexican and Asian. It’s hard to tell but he has dark brown eyes and an inviting warm smile. How gorgeous is that?
The place has wifi so a few people are glued to their laptops and unlikely hear the music at all. Or if they do, can they really “pay attention?” I can’t read what they’re looking at – are they surfing or studying?
The walls are a warm yellow and somewhat barren, except for a few white poster board sketches. One shows two black shadows – are they fighting or making love? I can’t quite tell. Another black shadow is bursting with ideas, demonstrated by color images in bubbles extending from his head.
I’m now wandering around the streets of Paris, so I finish my herbal green tea and order a cappuccino. And……I’m still in the mood to dance.
It’s clearly not a European city however, for outside, the buildings are dingy and delapitated, and the view of the city lights to the north are far too vast. And its not New York, yet the eclectic diverse mix of people who wander in and out of this café would suggest it could be.
The bulletin board airs the community character. Flyers plaster the wall – Astrology Classes, Shotgun Wedding Quartet, Trivia Tuesday Nights, Re-Create Yourself Seminar at the First Unitarian Church, Third Annual Film Festival, the Brazil Cultural Center, and HellFire – a band?
Two attractive women just walked in, a blonde with a pony tail and a dramatic redhead in sneakers. She carries a teenage-like baby blue purse with an embroidered garden. The blonde is aloof and diverts eye contact with me the moment I make it.
The music continues to dance in my head and opens me to possibilities, like a child. Music has the power to rip you open and take you to far away places. Far away places with awareness. I am completely present. The voices, shapes, colors all become one, they become me.
The theme song from the 1960’s film Summer Place starts to play in the background, but this rendition includes a Harpsichord.
A man in his late sixties walks in and sits next to the woman with the fabulous red coat. He has a wooden cane and a presence about him, not unlike Joe from Maine, but he wears no hat and his old fashioned tan courderoy blazer take me to a fabulous Budapest café I went to in 1986.
I decide to move to the couch and notice an open page of the San Francisco Chronicle Arts Section. I’m not in Budapest anymore. No Renee, it’s your new hood. Can this really be California?
Someone orders a sandwich but asks if its organic. Yes, its really California. But the man with the cane and those glued to their laptops don’t seem to have an organic life. It’s a blend – the best of all of us in one little café, a place where you can decide – or not — to let the music take you.
Check out Jonathon Harvey’s Improve Your mind with Music.
Renee Blodgett is the Founder and Managing Editor of We Blog the World, a global travel, culture and lifestyle publication exploring the world through the lens of meaningful experiences, human connection and cultural depth. Having lived in 10 countries and traveled to 95, Renee has spent much of her life immersed in the people, traditions, landscapes and ideas that shape how we experience the world.
Since launching We Blog the World in 2007, she has written and produced extensive editorial coverage spanning boutique and luxury travel, culinary experiences, arts and culture, wellness, adventure, technology, spiritual traditions and transformative travel. Her work is rooted in the belief that travel is about more than where we go—it is also about what a place, culture or encounter awakens within us.
Renee brings more than three decades of experience across journalism, photography, media, brand strategy, technology, wellness and global storytelling. She has worked with companies and organizations around the world on brand positioning, communications, product launches, media strategy, speaker positioning and storytelling. Through Blue Soul Media, she works with authors, entrepreneurs, thought leaders and purpose-driven brands to clarify their message and expand their impact, which includes speaker coaching/training for high-profile stages such as TED and bringing authors’ work to market while retaining authors rights.
She is also the co-founder of Blue Soul Earth, an educational platform exploring consciousness, ancient wisdom, spirituality, healing and the intersection between science and the nature of reality. Renee is the producer and host of the award-winning Blue Soul CHATS, a conversational series bringing together leading voices in science, technology, consciousness, wellness and spirituality.
Her growing body of work also includes Blue Soul Living, which extends her interest in consciousness and well-being into the spaces we inhabit, exploring how intentional design, energy and environment can support greater harmony and connection.
Renee is the award-winning co-author of the bestselling Magdalene’s Journey and founder of the Magdalene Collection, inspired by women’s voices, stories and wisdom across cultures and generations.
A longtime photographer and storyteller, Renee has documented people, places and cultures around the world and produced photographic collections focused on destinations including the Galápagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome and Ecuador. She also co-founded Traveling Geeks, an international initiative that brought entrepreneurs, journalists, creators and technology leaders together with their counterparts in other countries to exchange ideas and explore innovation across cultures.
Renee’s work has been recognized by Forbes, the United Nations and others for her influence in media and social storytelling. Across her work in travel, media, consciousness and culture, a common thread remains: curiosity about the world, the stories that connect us and the ways meaningful experiences can change how we see ourselves and one another.
