…and thus begins our Culinary Farewell Tour of the bay area.

First stop: Sol Food in San Rafael. excellent, excellent Puerto Rican food, good for vegetarians and carnivores alike. don’t let the perpetual line out the door intimidate; i’ve never waited more than 15 minutes to be seated with my food.

you can’t miss the building on 4th street in San Rafael, the “lime green blight” — so named by a disgruntled marin resident who complained, “that sort of color is garish and might be okay for Puerto Rico but not for Marin.” what does one do with hate mail like that? naturally, you photocopy, laminate, the post the letter out front for all to see.