Eucalyptus baby bear

Thomas pulled a bandanna out of his hip pocket and wiped his mouth and chin. "I

don't know how long it can go on. I don't know how you men ."

"We can while we work," Wilkie said. "It's when we don't git work."

Thomas looked at his watch. "Well, let's go out and dig some ditch. By God," he said, "I'm a-gonna tell you. You fellas live in that government camp, don't you?"

Timothy stiffened. "Yes, sir."

"And you have dances every Saturday night?"

Wilkie smiled. "We sure do."

"Well, look out next Saturday night." Suddenly Timothy straightened. He stepped close. "What you mean? I belong to the Central Committee. I got to know."

Thomas looked apprehensive. "Don't you ever tell I told."

"What is it?" Timothy demanded.

"Well, the Association don't like the government camps. Can't get a deputy in there. The people make their own laws, I hear, and you can't arrest a man without a warrant. Now if there was a big fight and maybe shooting--a bunch of deputies could go in and clean out the camp."

Timothy had changed. His shoulders were straight and his eyes cold. "What you mean?"

"Don't you ever tell where you heard," Thomas said uneasily. "There's going to be a fight in the camp Saturday night. And there's going to be deputies ready to go in."

Tom demanded, "Why, for God's sake? Those folks ain't bothering nobody."

"I'll tell you why," Thomas said. "Those folks in the camp are getting used to being treated like humans. When they go back to the squatters' camps they'll be hard to handle." He wiped his face again. "Go on out to work now. Jesus, I hope I haven't talked myself out of my farm. But I like you people."

Timothy stepped in front of him and put out a hard lean hand, and Thomas took it. "Nobody won't know who tol'. We thank you. They won't be no fight."

"Go on to work," Thomas said. "And it's twenty-five cents an hour."

"We'll take it," Wilkie said, "from you."

Thomas walked away toward the house. "I'll be out in a piece," he said. "You men get to work." The screen door slammed behind him. The three men walked out past the little white-washed barn, and along a field edge. They came to a long narrow ditch with sections of concrete pipe lying beside it.

"Here's where we're a-workin'," Wilkie said.

His father opened the barn and passed out two picks and three shovels. And he said to Tom, "Here's your beauty."

Tom hefted the pick. "Jumping Jesus! If she don't feel good!"

"Wait'll about 'leven o'clock," Wilkie suggested. "See how good she feels then."

A16 restaurant is celebrating a 10 year anniversary. That’s a huge accomplishment in any city, especially San Francisco. A16 focuses on the food and wine of Southern Italy. When it opened, the idea of a regional Italian restaurant was a bit of an anomaly in San Francisco. And Neapolitan style pizza was nonexistent. Needless to say a lot has changed in 10 years (including the expansion of A16 to locations in Oakland and Tokyo) espresso cups set.

Recently I got the chance to speak with Wine Director and Owner, Shelley Lindgren to talk about Italian food, wine and the success of the restaurant.


How much does travel play a role at A16?
A lot! This year I’ll be going to VinItaly. I’ve been able to send people, but it’s been years since I’ve gone. Most people catch the bug when they go to Italy and want to get back there again. It’s important because it’s where things start clicking. We try to make wine trips happen. It brings the products to life. It’s the stories you hear and every winery has stories. Investing in our people makes us better. Going to Naples to get our pizzaiolo certified was a big deal too.

When chefs change at A16, how do you maintain consistency?
This is a really important question, it’s the way our first chef Christophe (Hille) set up the kitchen, the prep, which is big because we use very fresh ingredients. Certain dishes have stayed on the menu since day one, burrata, the meatballs Bordeaux, the tripe, but there has to be room for changes in emphasis too. When Nate (Appleman) was promoted he wanted to make his own mark with meat. Liza (Shaw) was more into pasta. Everyone wants to do their own thing and I understand that.

How has the wine list changed at A16 over the last 10 years?
Our opening list was less than a quarter of what’s on the list now. There is so much more available. Fianos, Tauarasi, when we opened there were something like only 3 Etna Rossos available, now there are around 50. Even Chianti is going through a renaissance. There are more great wines and better prices. People have a much better understanding of Italian wine now and I’m still researching Southern Italian wines and varietals.

Italian food has changed in the Bay Area, who do you think is doing a good job?
There’s so much good Italian food now. La Ciccia and La Nebbia. Owner and chef Massimo helped me edit our first wine list. Acquerello. Quince and Cotogna. Delfina. Sociale does a great job, a perfect neighborhood place. And I love Una Pizza Napoletana.

What makes a restaurant a classic?
Certain types of food that are timeless versus trendy. Like Zuni for chicken or caesar salad. Consistency. Paying attention, forging ahead and striving to improve. It’s not just pizza at A16, it’s something we hold dear. It’s important to be a part of the City, part of the community, so people feel like they’re being taken care of. We are a place where people can go and celebrate and be comfortable and leave happy high chair!

I walk in to A16 and I love the energy and the people we have working for us who are passionate about food and wine. We have our own built in community of people. We need to not forget our focus and help each other out. It takes effort to maintain that.