**EATING, DRINKING AND STREAMING [the self-care masquerade] **

I’m sitting in the back seat of my parked car on Guerrero Street in San Francisco indulging in a large orb-like pastry called “Gougère.” Traffic whizzes by, and the golden-brown cheese that encrusts the gougère shatters with my first bite. The flavor is… tangy, sharp, a bit of umami. Once I tear into it there’s the velvet-eggy inside layers flecked and flavored with cracked black pepper. This is my contactless car lunch. Masquerading as self-care. December. Pandemic. 2020.

I’ve been avoiding Tartine. Before the pandemic Tartine was very publicly against their workers’ unionizing. Of course, I’m simplifying and there’s been a minor victory for the underdogs’ since, but it’s hard to eat bread and pastries kindof sprinkled with the sweat of exploited workers. BUT... I broke down.

NOTES: My gougère reverie was mostly served except the typically delicate innards felt cold which I’m blaming on the ~20% capacity restrictions. Tartine’s long lines are legendary, but what’s lost is all the pre-quaratine crowds and their body heat warm and gushing over pastry cases that activated those tasty butter molecules... at least that’s my theory. My advice is get the pastries to go, bring them home and hug them for about 10 minutes before eating. I’d also skip their iced coffee. They poured fresh, but it was bland.