So, I leave the Comcast television studios Tuesday evening around 5:15 and proceed to have drinks with Laura in Potrero Hill, site of much of the Howard Bryant San Francisco Experience. It was in Potrero Hill where the Boston guys could find refuge at The Connecticut Yankee, on 16th and Connecticut. The preeminent Boston bar in the city, it was where the expats and I watched the Patriots beat the Jaguars in the 1997 AFC title game, where Big Play Clay intercepted Brunell in the end zone, sealing the win.
It is where the mural of O.J. Simpson was defaced with a red slash across his chest and the word "murderer."
Potrero Hill was where I played softball at Jackson Street Field. It was where I lived from 1998-2001 (22nd/De Haro). It was where things made sense.
Laura Halliday, member of the Inner Circle dating back to the Haight Street years (1991-1995) pledges to meet me at the bar on the corner of 18th and Connecticut. The bar is GONE. This is of mild shock to me. It used to be Lilo Lounge. A couple of years ago it changed hands and became Lingba, where the tequila was good and the food was very good, in the Japanese Izakaya style (meaning a bar that served very good eats instead of lousy bar food).
Now, Lingba is gone, replaced by Rocket Fish, a sushi bar. This may be good news because the world can never have too much good sushi, even in San Francisco and the south side of Potrero has never had good sushi (Blowfish, Sushi to Die For on 19th/Bryant is excellent but on the Mission side of Potrero Ave.)
BUT...BUT...the real shock came while walking next door and I see that Eliza's, the stalwart Chinese of Potrero Hill is GONE. GONE. GONE. Sixteen years. GONE.
And so there I stood in front of Eliza's, frozen.
No more crab rangoon.
No more combination fried rice.
No more wonton.
I am Rip Van Winkle. My San Francisco is being replaced. I stand in front of buildings that aren't my buildings anymore.
Eliza's officially closed Sept. 27, 2009, replaced by Pera, a Greek/Mediterranean that I will not be patronizing, since I don't like olives.
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HB: We could manage your anxiety with a status update prior to your visits.
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