An old college friend of mine who recently moved to the Bay Area, tends to hang out at Au Coquelet when he feels lonely. His modus operandi is to sit down, reading a book of film reviews by Beat Takeshi and taking notes. He uses this tactic to start conversations along the lines of "Yes, I do read Japanese. I spent 3 years in Japan." He reports that Au Coquelet is a choice spot for the employ of this tactic, which, he says, works better here than the corresponding "Do you read English?" tactic e deployed at a Wendy's in Tokyo.