Stunt Foods, Stunted Values

At $100/cup, sip Elida Geisha slowly (Chron photo)

I've been cutting back on my Starbucks visits to 1-2 times per week because $5 for a coffee seems uncomfortably sybaritic.

By Bay Area standards, however, there's no reason to feel guilty; the definition of extravagance has long moved past your humble blogger's.

The latest trend is stunt foods:

In recent years, the Bay Area has had a $43 martini made with vodka that comes from San Francisco fog; multiple $50 burgers made with luxury ingredients like Wagyu beef and foie gras; a $100 pizza topped with white truffles; a $150 truffle-filled macaroni and cheese dish; and even $700 shots.

The late Herb Caen referred to his beloved City as Baghdad-by-the-Bay.

With legions of homeless barred from using the restrooms of establishments that serve $100 coffee, San Francisco seems more like Sodom, Gomorrah, or once-beautiful, decadent Rome before it fell to the barbarians.