TWO SPECTACULAR BRIDGES ARE BEING BUILT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION. In the San Francisco Bay Area, the Oakland Bay Bridge and the magnificent Golden Gate Bridge soar into the skyline. Meanwhile, Lorraine Hansen, a French immigrant, operates a small cafe at the foot of the Berkeley pier, serving the traffic boarding the transbay auto ferries. A variety of people, including Black migrants from Louisiana, intersect at the Golden Gate Cafe. CAL dropout Capwell "Cappy" Horner makes an improbable connection with Jenitha, a kitchen worker from Lake Charles. As inauguration dates for the two bridges approach, Mrs. Hansen realizes that the ferry service will drop dramatically as the public begins driving their automobiles over the new Bay Bridge. Her cafe's survival is at stake. Can the view of the Golden Gate Bridge save it? Excitement for the new era of progress leads to the recognition that it threatens to turn their lives upside down.