WARNING: DO NOT PUT PARM IN SEAFOOD RISOTTO, by Bi-Rite Market

Why is the door open? Because there's produce inside! Because there are so many people in and out of this place, that there's hardly any reason to keep the door shut. And, this is one of those San Francisco places where I a metphorical "door open" policy exists. Though you can't come in if you shudder at 3.99 / lb for oranges, or if you're looking for pop, this place welcomes almost everyone with free fruit and cheese samples and ridiculously friendly employees. Well, except for the cheese guy who scoffed at me when I asked what kind of parm to put in my risotto (BTW, the photo above is actually cheese from my trip to Paris this summer). I am now fully aware that Italians do not put cheese in their seafood risotto. I, however, still do. So, with that one exception, I'm happy the door is open here. I don't expect this place to have the heat on, because the true warmth comes from the smiles and excited employees who really just want you to like their stuff. Here's a snippet of my recent, more pleasant encounters:

Encounter #1

Me: "I'll have a Cypress sandwich."
Deli Counter Guy: "Ok, and what was your name again?"
Me (in my head): "Wha? They remember names here? Is he flirting with me? Are they really this nice?"
Me (in reality): "Erin"
DCG: "Ok, hi, I'm Tom" (not his real name)
Me: "Hi!"
DCG: It'll be just a few minutes.


Encounter #2

Me (to the people at checkout): I seem to have lost my keys. Did you see them up here?
Checkout Girl: Let me look around. Hang on.
Checkout Guy: What do they look like?
Me: It's a huge key chain, annoyingly big, with lots of school keys on it...uh, and my car keys. My car is parked right outside. Doh.
Checkout Girl: I don't see them here.
Checkout Guy: Let me help you look around the store.

*****5 minutes later, no keys*****

Me: Well, maybe I dropped them on my walk down here. I'll have to go look. Thanks a lot for helping me look.
Checkout Guy: Sure. No problem.
As I smack my head with the palm of my hand, both Checkout Girl and Checkout Guy seem to be feeling my pain. They frown in collective frustration with me. Two hours later my car was, not surprisingly, towed. But I'm sure they still felt a little bad about it...

Coming soon: Cafes, Part #1.