Antique Row's Last Shop

One does not simply walk into Antique Row's last remaining antique store, in North Park, without receiving an appropriate history on a purchase.

Last summer, I stopped by Zac's Attic and bought a couple demitasse spoons. Last week, when I made espresso, I noticed that I didn't have the proper cups to serve it in.

As I drove past Zac's Attic, I stopped in and immediately saw a fine looking set of espresso cups. When I brought them to the counter, the proprietor who's owned the business for 40 years, Dave McPeeters, told me about the century old cups.

The items I bought were from the Palace Hotel, in San Francisco, complete with the hotel's logo on the Buffalo China cups. The Palace Hotel is know for where opera tenor, Enrico Caruso, performed as Don Jose, in Carmen, the night before 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, which gutted the hotel.

Today, the hotel houses the opulent Palm Court Restaurant, which looks like a palace; it's also know for its Pied Piper Bar with its tiled floor and historic artwork behind the bar.

And, now, I get to sip espresso, with anisette, from this little piece of history.