Galinette





Finding Style

Charles Bukowski once said, 

“To do a dull thing with style is preferable to doing a dangerous thing without it.

To do a dangerous thing with style is what I call art.”

I think about that quote a lot while I eat my french fries and sip a crisp blonde ale by the window. Sheets of rain continue to storm down as street corners begin to flood with ankle deep water. Chamaca is hypnotized by the rain too, and without looking at me she says, “french fry”. I maintain my gaze out of the window and blindly hand her another fry. We sit there together, entranced by the San Francisco rain and the sounds of a busy restaurant. There is a strange dance happening between the wind and the trees, Chamaca and I are both stuck in the rhythm of this rainy November day. I sip my beer and glance at my watch. 11:30am on a Friday on the corner of 46th Avenue and Taraval and peace washes over me in a warm embrace. Galinette is the kind of restaurant that feels like an escape, a rip cord on a quiet corner near a muni stop. I need this one today. 

Food can be a lot of things. It can be art, comfort, sexy, egotistical, dangerous, and simple to name a few. It really depends on what the restaurant wants from the customer. But a great restaurant makes you feel like they don't want or need your money. Their merit goes beyond monetary value. A great restaurant is comparable to a great lover: once is not enough. You need to go back a few times to make sure you're not missing anything. 

The ambiance at Galinette feels casual by the beach, but not in a barefoot hippie surfer kind of way. It feels casual like whoever envisioned this place appreciates fine dining, but stripped away all the bourgeois bullshit and only kept the things that make you feel welcomed. The murals that line the walls, the sturdy tables that don’t wobble, the option to get still or sparkling water, these things make me feel like whoever works here put some thought into giving customers the best experience possible. You know what I saw the other day that really showed commitment to service? One of their purveyors finished their delivery and ordered food to go. I watched the guy climb into his truck to wait and someone came out from the restaurant and handed him his order. The delivery driver started to eat his food in his truck and then the same guy reappeared and tapped on the driver's window. He handed him a metal fork and told him, “Bring it back with you on your next delivery.”  That is the difference. The attention to detail and willingness to go just a little bit further for someone. This restaurant has style in all forms.  

The menu at Galinette reads like a love letter to a hungry traveler. Le Burger is topped with bacon, caramelized onions and triple cream brie cheese. I love their choice of bun because it holds together well and has a good bite. Le Burger is the cure for real hunger. The Jambon Beurre is a 7 hour house made ham on a baguette with conte cheese, mustard and cornichons. I felt like I should have been drinking a glass of white wine and listening to Serge Gainsbourg while I ate it. P.E.I. Mussels Marinière had a balanced flavor, tasty mussels, and if I was home I honestly would have drank the sauce out of the bowl. Minding my manners I substituted sopping it up with my crusty baguette. Surprisingly Chamaca really enjoyed the Escargots served in a creamy mushroom sauce and puff pastry.  I wonder how many 20 month old babies have tried escargot?

    Something worth mentioning is Galinette's close proximity to the SF Zoo and the Great American Highway. The Muni stop is right in front of it at 46th and Taraval, so spend the $3 and ride the streetcar to save the parking spaces for the residents who live in the area. If you plan on driving, I would opt to dine during the slower part of the day, as parking can be limited in the immediate neighborhood. You can always find parking on 46th and Sloat, across from the SF Zoo. It's a 10 minute walk away and that will give you a nice time to chat up whoever you're with.  Or in my case,  sing Johnny Cash songs to a toddler.  

    Anyone with a kid knows toddlers can be dangerous. To be a toddler is to be truly free, as they lack realization of societal boundaries and rules. The development of personality contains no tiny voice of judgement or conscious wall. I think, therefore I am. Toddlers have style in abundance, like a drunk poet approaching a stage waving to adoring fans. To be a toddler is an art form. To be the parent of a toddler is like interpreting a Jackson Pollock painting. Debate can ensue all day as to why the artist used blue in a particular area of the painting. When in fact, the explanation could be this simple:

They felt like it. 

And that my dear readers, is style. 


Galinette 

3560 Taraval St, San Francisco, CA 94116





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