No one knows about Plumas County. I confess I'd never heard of it either when my husband accepted a job here in the fall of 2005. I had been living in San Francisco since June of 1990, and you know or can guess how it gets there- a kind of tunnel vision develops that tricks you into believing that nature can be found in Dolores Park- or Duboce Triangle. That anything not connected to BART or SamTrans may as well be on the moon. That owning a car, having a backyard (let alone a garden), swimming in a lake, viewing the real night sky, is just a sacrifice one makes in exchange for urbane pleasures.
Well, I've moved far, far away from Megatropolis, into the county of a HUNDRED lakes, high up in the Sierras, in the shadow of the Cascades, in the middle of a national forest. The jibes made by city friends about Deliverance and dental care are not entirely untrue, but guess what isn't here? Pretension. Hipsters. Yuppies. Ironic mustaches. Nope. Here, the mustaches are the real thing. We've also got cowboys- lots of them. And rodeos! Crazy nature. Bears. Bald eagles. FOUR seasons. Indian Powwows. Lower mortgages...and rent. Air that smells like apples in autumn and applewood in winter.
And how is the food scene? The local yokel restaurants? The greasy spoons? The tony resort kitchens, churning out surf 'n' turf for the vacationing gentlemen rustlers? The bakeries filled with croissants and tarts, cupcake and cakes, or even a decent slice of pie, you ask?
Don't ask.
I cook for a living, specifically pastry. When I left SF I left a good job in a great restaurant, knowing that the Plumas restaurant scene is dismal. And while I refuse to be an obnoxious transplant who complains about a lack of , say, VIETNAMESE restaurants, or BERGAMOT, I may pout a bit before I entering the kitchen to beat and whip and fold my frustrations away (as I remind myself I also had a hard time finding bergamot in SF).
Great description of where you are living. Love the bit about ironic mustaches.
Posted by: Patty | February 03, 2006 at 11:35 PM
or ironic Beards... although I think when boys trying to be cool grow beards they're going for a slightly different effect, but I don't know what it is.
Posted by: Mitzy | February 04, 2006 at 09:01 AM
Wow, where did you work in SF? I lived there, as a food writer, from 1990-2002. Would love to hear from you--I bet we know people in common!
-Stephanie the Pie Queen
Posted by: Stephanie | October 31, 2006 at 09:08 PM