Fogcutter is SFGATE’s weekly roundup of Bay Area events.

The federal government has shut down, and the Blue Angels’ upcoming air show is on ice. If the stalemate continues, Fleet Week, which starts on Sunday, Oct. 5, will likely be quieter this year, to the relief of at least a few San Francisco residents.

In Washington, D.C., the gears may have ground to a halt, but life in the Bay Area stubbornly forges ahead, U.S. fighter jets aside. Locals shoot pool at Bender’s and jog down JFK Promenade, rain be damned.

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To capture the city’s constant, low level of commotion, we started Fogcutter, SFGATE’s weekly column of events, exhibits and encounters. Every Sunday, our journalists peel away from their desks to report on concerts, museums and coffee shops. Our hope is to celebrate the parts of Bay Area life that get lost between the headlines.

In this edition, we visit a bagel spot that could go toe-to-toe with New York’s best, and we take a (digital) trip to hell and back. Read on for more highlights. 

Some of the offerings from Cafe Brusco in Berkeley, Calif.

I knew my husband was the one when we shared our first everything bagel. He gave me the top piece encrusted with yummy seasonings — and ate the loser half himself. Fast-forward 16 years to a recent Saturday morning in Berkeley, where I met my other bashert: Cafe Brusco.

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Patrons line up at Cafe Brusco in Berkeley, Calif.

The downtown corner cafe is the first bagelry I’ve ever seen to offer mix-and-match, open-faced halves.........

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