{"id":53502,"date":"2013-04-26T05:04:49","date_gmt":"2013-04-26T11:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wend.ca\/?p=53502"},"modified":"2020-06-20T21:55:07","modified_gmt":"2020-06-21T01:55:07","slug":"calafia-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wend.ca\/?p=53502","title":{"rendered":"Calafia Cafe (Permanently Closed)"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the Stanford side of the tracks in Palo Alto… at the junction of El Camino and Embarcadero Road, there’s a grouping of little restaurants that are gluten-free\/sustainable\/vegan hot spots. Calafia is one of these restaurants. It has all the hallmarks of a foodie paradise: delicious, pretty food… an affordable menu… cool\/hip interior, and plenty of opportunities for people-watching. <\/p>\n

The restaurant has deep tech roots. It was the brainchild of Google’s head chef: Charlie Ayers. It’s photographed constantly and is often the location for staged tech meetings.<\/p>\n

Each table in the cafe has a tablet that allows customers to place an order directly from the table — and pay your bill without having to talk to a human. Initially, I thought this was interesting… but then began to feel that this will inevitably lead to the GPS problem. If you give a person GPS, after a while they won’t be able to figure out how to get anywhere by themselves. Eventually, people won’t know what wine to choose for their meal or even what to order.<\/p>\n

So, when I go to the restaurant, I sit outside where there are no screens. I have enough screen time in my life.<\/p>\n