If You Like Your Coffee with Italian Ballads, San Francisco Has More Than a Cup for You

By George Medovoy, Editor

(The singing trio at Caffe Trieste in San Francisco, pictured above from left, founder Papa Gianni, son Fabio, and daughter Sonia)

"I was born to sing," said 86-year-old Papa Gianni in the Italian-accented English people hear when he greets them for a Saturday afternoon of ballads, opera and other popular tunes at Caffe Trieste, the landmark North Beach coffee house and home to the poets of the Beat Generation he and his wife Mama Ida founded 50 years ago.

Giovanni Giotta - it's Papa Gianni's real name - arrived in America with his wife and two children from his native Trieste, Italy in 1951 without a penny to his name.

It was the classic immigrant story: "I came with two kids, me and my wife," he said. "No language, no speaking, no money, nothing."

(The sign on the window -- you know you've arrived at Caffe Trieste, a San Francisco landmark)

But from these humble beginnings - he washed windows on some of San Francisco's tallest buildings - a coffee house with a unique personality was born many years before Starbuck's cookie cutter coffee shops hit the scene.

You Get More Than Coffee with Your Cup

San Francisco has many small, independent coffee houses, and what makes these neighborhood cafes tick is open to many interpretations. But one thing is certain: customers get more than coffee with their cup.

I recently set out on a visit to four of my favorite San Francisco coffee houses, and this is the story of what I found.

In North Beach, the city's Italian enclave, Caffe Trieste has been a family enterprise since it opened in 1956. On the Saturday I stopped in for a cup of espresso and a slice of pizza, it had started to rain, so it felt good to get inside where it was warm and cozy.

Papa Gianni Recalls the Early Days

In the early days, Papa Gianni remembered, "it was all Italian people," newcomers to America who had crowded into North Beach.

They frequented Papa Gianni's place for the feeling of "home" as much as the cappuccino, which Caffe Trieste was the first to serve on the West Coast and which Papa Gianni said he "got America to like."

(At Caffe Trieste, you can enjoy more than coffee, though that alone is wonderful)

Caffe Trieste isn't a very big place. Located at the corner of Vallejo and Grant, it sits behind a red neon sign, whose warm glow reflects the warmth inside.

There's a crowded counter, where Papa Gianni's daughter Sonia takes orders for coffee, pizzas, bagels, focaccia, and pastries.
For a really super treat, ask her for a cup of mocha with Guittard chocolate and whipped cream!

The singing team is made up of Sonia, brother Fabio, and their father and mother, but Mama Ida wasn't performing on the day of my visit. Their repertoire ranges from ballads, show tunes, opera, and the standards of Italian-American singers like Frankie Lane and Frank Sinatra.

Sister Sonia likes to specialize in Country-Western, and Fabio also plays guitar and accordion. Over the years, they have added other singers to the Caffe Trieste show.

(Sonia belts out a number as brother Fabio provides musical back-up on the accordion)

Under a reddish-brown ceiling, the walls are covered with photos recalling the celebrities who have been here.

Singing for Opera Legend Pavarotti

One photo shows Papa Gianni and his late son and singer, Gianfranco, with the great opera star Pavarotti, when the family performed for his birthday at the original Trader Vic's in 1979.
I took a seat at a small table, very close to the musicians - an accordionist, a drummer, two guitarists, and a fellow on piano.

Nearby was a jukebox, with a photo of Dean Martin on one of the records. Fabio was chatting in Italian with two people, one of whom was from Genoa, Italy.

The other fellow was the famous poet and artist, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who opened City Lights Bookstore on Columbus Avenue in 1953. Ferlinghetti's "A Coney Island of the Mind" is recognized as the most popular book of poems published in the U.S., with over one million copies in print.

Over the years, City Lights has been identified with the poets, artists and intellectuals of San Francisco's Beat movement, many of whom gathered at Caffe Trieste.

"Tutti poeti (all the poets)," Papa Gianni said of the poets who came to his cafe. "It's incredible. They like Papa's personality because I love everybody, and they like the cappuccino because it's the best."

I joked with Fabio that I had greeted the Italian visitor with my sole "fluency" in his language - "Buonjourno" (Hello). Fabio laughed and said, "Don't worry. If you don't say anything else, he'll think you speak Italian."

While I waited for the one o'clock show to begin, I sipped my espresso -- which had a well-rounded flavor and no bitter edge -- and listened as Fabio asked everyone to join in to his stirring rendition of "America the Beautiful."

While the formal vocal program was scheduled to start at 1 p.m. and last until 5, he said it actually would get underway "on Italian time," which in our case meant a little after two o'clock.

"Green Dolphin Street"

But it didn't matter because the musicians played some wonderful tunes, beginning with the ever-popular "Green Dolphin Street."
Then singer Alfredo Tollis, a regular at Caffe Trieste, belted out Sinatra's "I've Got You Under My Skin." His version of "Life Is a Cabaret" took on a local flavor, as he changed the words to say: "Life is a cabaret…come to Caffe Trieste."

Over the years, Caffe Trieste has mixed family performers with those from outside.

"It's always been family and friends," said Fabio. "We've always maintained that formula, except that we have…many, many more friends (now)."

By the time Papa Gianni took the microphone, he had personally made the rounds of just about every table in the place. As he did, I imagined him meeting Francis Ford Coppola, who spent months here working on "The Godfather" script.

With his powerful voice, Papa Gianni did many favorite crowd-pleasers. My favorite was "Granada." He also teamed up with operatic singer Tory Stark, another regular, for a duet.

Support for Independent Coffee Houses

Independent cafes like Caffe Trieste have spurred one woman to loud their benefits and decry what is often seen as the sameness of corporate coffee establishments.

Xtine Hanson, who teaches multimedia skills at the Art Institute if California, has started a website, www.delocator.net, to help locate small, independent coffee houses. The site's name is a play on the online store locators found on many retail chain store websites.

But back to the independent San Francisco coffee scene…
You can go from the music of Caffe Trieste to something a bit more quiet at the Baker Street Bistro on the corner of Lombard and Baker Streets in the Cow Hollow neighborhood.

(Sidewalk seating under an orange awning at the Baker Street Bistro)

If you've ever been to Paris, you'll know the place right away.
Outside there are eight tables under an orange awning where you can while away the morning as I did with a cup of coffee and an apple croissant and listened to the recordings of French cabaret music drifting from inside.

The interior has small tables neatly decorated with white tablecloths set against trompe l'oeil vines and leaves on the walls. Neighborhood locals come here for breakfast, and about the only action is an occasional jogger or someone walking his dog.

(White tablecoths on tables inside the Baker Street Bistro)

It's in the evening that the place fills up for dinner with the many customers who come from other parts of the city. You can also come here for brunch with your coffee, including a frittata with Italian sausage, shitake mushrooms, and dry tomato confit.

I struck up a conversation with a fellow who said he lived three doors down and liked coming here for coffee.

"After that," he said, "I can go across the street to "The Final Final" sports bar and watch a game."

(A bar named The Final Final, across the street from the Baker Street Bistro)

A Dog Named "Tosh"

I also met a couple sitting at another table with their well-behaved dog, a boxer named "Tosh" after a reggae musician named Peter Tosh.

After I paid my bill, I walked up Lombard Street past the stately Presidio Gate Apartments to the entrance of the Presidio, guarded over by a now-silent cannon. Walk through the gate and you're in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, with its broad lawns, many trees and white stucco former army buildings on the hillsides.

(A lone canon stands guard at the entrance gate of the Presidio)

Look down Lyon Street toward the water's edge and there's the Palace of Fine Arts, constructed in 1915 as part of the Panama Pacific Exposition to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal and the rebirth of the city following the disastrous earthquake of 1906.

The Palace of Fine Arts is in the Marina district -- the setting for a neighborhood fixture called the Coffee Roastery on Chestnut Street, a yuppified thoroughfare filled with crowds of people, small cafes and numerous shops.

A Neighborhood "Living Room"

If anything, the Coffee Roastery is a neighborhood "living room" because so many locals, including young families with small children and infants, gather here to exchange news and gossip.

(The Coffee Roastery is like a neighborhood living room)

A long, narrow café dimly lit with a choice of individual tables and a counter, the place is also known for a big red coffee roasting machine surrounded by bags of imported coffee beans. You can have coffees from just about anywhere in the world, and teas, too.

The owner, a Cambodian immigrant, is known as "Tarzan" by regular customers, since his Cambodian name is Tha San.
"It's a place we like to keep friendly," he told me. "It's something we like doing."

(A worker uses a big red coffee roasting machine to roast coffee beans at the Coffee Roastery)

While San Francisco excels in neighborhood coffee houses, the Buena Vista Cafe, located at across the street from the Hyde Street cable car terminal on Fisherman's Wharf is another story altogether.
Originally a fishermen's boardinghouse and saloon, the Buena Vista specializes in Irish Coffee.

Recipe for Irish Coffee

Part of the fascination with the place is the how they came up with the recipe. One night back in November 1952, then owner Jack Koeppler challenged international travel writer Stanton Delaplane to help create Irish coffee just like the kind served at Shannon Airport in Ireland.

(Night descends on the Buena Vista Cafe)

Well, they tried, but there was a problem with the cream - it just wouldn't float. So they decided to consult the mayor of the city who also happened to own a dairy. Thanks to some good advice - aging the cream for 48 hours - the problem was solved, and San Francisco's Irish coffee was born.

Well, more than Irish coffee, I'd say. The truth is that a coffee tradition was born.

And when it comes to coffee and tradition, enjoyed in independent cafes with distinct personalities, San Francisco is at the top of my list.

When You Go…

Caffe Trieste: 609 Vallejo Street
Baker Street Bistro: 2953 Baker Street
Coffee Roastery: 2331 Chestnut Street
Buena Vista Cafe: 2765 Hyde Street (Any Powell or Beach Street cable car will take you to the café's doorstep).

For more information on San Francisco events, visit the San Francisco Convention and Visitors' Bureau at www.sfvisitor.org.

Advice from Caffe Trieste on Properly Brewing Coffee

To guarantee freshness buy whole beans and grind only as much as you plan to brew. Use cold tap water and heat to between 185 - 195 degrees F. Store your unused beans I the freezer to prolong freshness.

Recipe for the Buena Vista Cafe's Irish Coffee

Fill a glass with very hot water to pre-heat it, then empty.
Pour hot coffee into the glass until it is about ¾ full. Drop in two cocktail sugar cubes.
Stir until sugar is thoroughly dissolved. Add a full jigger of Irish whiskey for taste and body.
Top with a collar of lightly whipped whipping cream by pouring gently over a spoon.
Enjoy it piping hot.
For $6.75, you'll think you're drinking something worth a million dollars!

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