Missing in Action

Just wanted to take a moment to apologize for the lack of posts in the last two weeks, but been very sick and leaving the old job have consumed my time. Sleep has been a priority activity and Imodium AD has been the cocktail of choice for the past six days.

I did get a chance to try a new bar and restaurant, this week.

Elixir, 3200 16th St, is a great neighborhood bar that has been in its location since 1858. I paid a visit right as the work crowd was arriving, a bit of a hipster crowd, but the atmosphere and the inverntory of beers and bourbon make this a great location. The night I went in there was a Lab, not sure if he was the bar dog, that was getting a lot of attention from my wife. Very calm dog that was open to any attention any guest was willing to give.

I want to point out that Elixir, on Thursday Nights, has a Cocktail Club. The bar brings in industry experts to taste different lines. Elixir bills the evening as a guest speaker, education and tasting from 7 - 9. It is Free and open to the public. For more information go to http://www.elixirsf.com/ .

The new restaurant was Medjool at 21st and Mission. This is a Mediterranean Tapas menu, that has its dishes inspired North Africa, Southern Europe and Middle Eastern Dishes. This is a great palce for small group dining. Our group was a party of four and we tried a variety of dishes. All of the dishes were full of flavor and had regional spices that gave a signature pop to plate.

These are a few of the dishes we tried: Grilled Hanger Steak with Sauteed Spinach and Harissa Sauce $14, Lamb and Fig Tagine $15, Crispy Sweet Potatoes, Spicy Honey, Goat Cheese $9, Chicken with Almond-Pomegranate Sauce $12, Medjool Sampler with Hummus, Tabouli, and Baba Ghanoush $11. All were good, but my favorite was the Chicken with Almond and Pomegrante spicey and full of flavor. The Sweet potatoes were a nice complement to the main dishes. Medjool has a full bar, and a roof top lounge. On warm weather nights this would be a great place to grab a drink and get a great bay view.

http://www.medjoolsf.com/index.html

Well that's it for today, will be back on Monday. I am going to try and post Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. Will see how much time with a new job.

Cheers

48 Hours to Prepare

Fenton's Black and Tan

With Valentine’s Day approaching in less than 48 hours, I thought I would make a couple of recommendations for night out for two for any price range.

Big Dollars -- Acquerello

My wife and dined here a while back and have been anxious to return, but it has a high price tag has been a barrier. For Valentine’s Day Acquerello is offering a menu of 6 courses, highlighted with lobster and black truffles paired with Italian wines. The food and wine are worth the money, but it is hard to swallow the $180 per person for the experience.

On the romantic side Acquerello has it all. Ta warm and gracious atmosphere the moment they arrive. The former chapel, graced with arches and a rustic wood-beamed vaulted ceiling, and a warm Mediterranean coloring give this 50 seat dining room a unique experience. Acquerello has extensive collection of crystal decanters to allow your wine to breathe in class. Acquerello has received countless awards, including a Michelin star in the first-ever 2007 Bay Area guide.

A Few Bucks – Chenery Park

Located in the Glen Park Neighborhood, one of San Francisco's last undiscovered neighborhoods, is a rising restaurant scene and a staple is Chenery Park. CP is a charming neighborhood restaurant with excellent Southern-style goodness comes with great service. It can be tough to get a table, so call as soon as possible to book your reservation

A menu sample is the Spicy Seafood Gumbo with Scallops, Shrimp, Catfish and Smoked Bacon for $17 or the “Thursday Night Special” Pork Adobo with Napa Cabbage Slaw for $16. The cocktails are always well prepared in this full bar. For two people with drinks and wine you’re looking at about $100 bucks.

I highly recommend CP. Parking is easy and Glen Park BART station is only a block and half away.

Low Budget – Fenton’s Ice Cream

I always love low budget, because if done right can be very impactful and have a positive effect on the cash flow. So for this you have to know your partner and plan this well. In my case if we were in NYC I could get away with Gray’s Papaya my wife loves this place and a walk to Central Park a couple of cocktails on the Upper West Side could complete evening. But plane tickets would put this way over budget so here on the West Coast it has to be Fenton’s

This 114-year old Ice Cream Parlor is an Oakland Tradition. The first time we went on a date to Fenton’s, I thought I would be a big spender and let her order anything she wanted. She order the fresh crab sandwich, $16 in 1987, big dollars. You can still get the House Special Crab Salad Sandwich, along with other soda shop fare. Have one of their large sundaes, in our case it would be the Black and Tan, for dessert. These are Massive sundaes come to the table so loaded with toppings that extra saucers are needed to catch the overflow.

Fenton’s is located on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland, the line for a table can be long and the parking can be tough. For Drinks you can try the Tiki Bar Two blocks north. This use to be the Kings X, a great neighborhood bar, but it is now called the Kona Club or down the street is Cato's Ale House. Although you can take the kids to this one, perhaps the 22 beers and the $1 sake shots are best left to adults when the evening begins to age. One piece of advice: If you must order the catatoes -- those large, hard-to-swallow potato wedges -- make sure you have a pint of Guinness to help wash them down.

Acquerello, 1722 Sacramento St., San Francisco, CA 94109

http://www.acquerello.com

Chenery Park, 683 Chenery Street, San Francisco, CA 94131
(415) 337-8537

http://www.chenerypark.com

Fenton’s Ice Creamery, 4226 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 658-7000

http://www.fentonscreamery.com/

Gung Hei Fat Choy

农历新年

Gung Hei Fat Choy to all

Today is the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year 4706, which brings in the Year of the Rat. Since moving to the San Francisco Bay Area 32 years ago the Chinese New Year has been a cursory part of my life. I have benefited from this joyous time of the year by taking in all it has to offer.

Chinese New Year (农历新年) or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and for many this day is more important than birthdays or religious holidays. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. In the Bay Area, the Celebration will continue for most of the month and will be punctuated with the San Francisco Parade on February 23. The Bay Area events have taken on a very American Twist with the Chinese Community Street Fair, San Francisco Symphony Chinese New Year Concert, Chinatown 10K/5K Run/Walk, Miss Chinatown U.S.A. Pageant, and the Miss Chinatown U.S.A. Coronation Ball.

Traditionally, the Chinese New Year celebrations are marked by visits to kin, relatives and friends, a practice known as "new-year visits." New clothings are usually worn to signify a new year and the color red is liberally used in all decorations. Red packets are given to juniors and children by the married and elders. As a student in San Francisco, I remember receiving my first red envelops from a teacher with a quarter in it and boy I thought this was great holiday. Red packets for the immediate family are sometimes distributed during the reunion dinner. The packets contain money in certain numbers that reflect good luck and honorability. Twenty five cents in 1976 was very fortunate.

The great thing about most holidays is they generally surround foods. I know this week many people around the world celebrated Fat Tuesday (for all you lapse Catholics) and with it the food and drink, so too, with the Chinese New Year. So here are a couple of places to grab a bite.

If you are on the run or would like to eat home, stop in Oakland at the Delicious Food Company, 734 Webster St, for some tempting items. The Delicious Food Company's steam pork buns are awesome, grab some of the other steamed items and a six pack of Tsingtao Beer and you have the makings to start the celebration of the New Year in a low key style.

Looking to dine out for the Lunar celebration. If you are in San Francisco, try the House of Nanking, 919 Kearny St, the lines can be very long, but the food is good and is worth the wait. Nanking is located near the end of Parade route. Just two blocks North of Nanking is Brandi Ho’s, this has the look of a tourist trap, but the deep fried pot stickers and the Si Fo Chicken are worth the stop. Finally, if you are out late at night and have a little liquid in your stomach needing to be soaked up by a little food a stop at Sam Wo’s, 813 Washington Street, is essential. Sam's is a legendary for its late night service and less than customer oriented service.

So how does such a dirty, sticky place with shaky service at times get rave reviews from locals? It is easy when the food exceeds your expectations the food here is probably the best you'll find afterhours, plus it's after midnight and you have few choices in the City. As you walk past the kitchen and up a narrow spinning staircase to get to the upper level it has a very San Francisco feel. Even though Sam is now gone, the old lady will take your order, then tell you what you ordered is no good, and order for you, just charming in the Sam's tradition.

So enjoy the start of the New Year, my you find luck and success in 4706.

http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/

http://www.sfgate.com/cny/

http://www.oaklandchinatownchamber.org/index.html

Freebie Tuesday

My Photo of the interior of SFMOMA

If you are like me you can be very frugal with your entertainment dollars and Tuesday’s outing was an attempt to keep cost at minimum. I like museums, just do not like to pay for them, and the first Tuesday of each month allows for me to have my art with out spending a dime on entrance fees. The De Young Museum, SF Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Legion of Honor, Cartoon Art and the Asian Art Museum has free Admission on the first Tuesdays of each month.

There are two photographer’s I have been waiting and wanting to see their exhibitions but have put it off but given the museums are offering free admission I had no excuse and headed off to the De Young and stopped in at SFMOMA on the way back.

(I do have dining and drinking tips for the excursion)

So I headed out on public transportation, did not want to pay the bridge toll and then for parking downtown for the stop at SFMOMA. Once in San Francisco I caught the “N Judah Line” and headed for the Inner Sunset. This is a great trip because it takes you through the Castro up Duboce Avenue to Duboce Park head to Cole Valley (Haight District), pops into the Sunset Tunnel and then drops on to Irving in the Inner Sunset. For best access to get off at the Irving and 9^th Avenue exit, walk North up Ninth the museum is about six blocks in Golden Gate Park If you are not into Museums the Inner Sunset is a great neighborhood to explore.

The De Young went through a major renovation a few years back, it is very opened and airy. The new observation tower, nine floors from the ground, is the tallest structure in the Sunset or Richmond Districts. The view is awesome on a clear day, worth the trip alone. But I came to see the photography of David Seymour. . The photographs in this collection—over seventy works—span his career, from his early years in France to photographs taken in Egypt in 1956 during the Suez crisis, when his life and that of photographer Jean Roy were cut short by Egyptian machine gun fire. Besides his photojournalistic photos Seymour was very engaging and cosmopolitan character allowed him to approach some of the leading personalities of the day to be the subject of his camera. Portraits include Pablo Picasso, Peggy Guggenheim, Bernard Berenson, Arturo Toscanini, Ingrid Bergman, Kirk Douglas, and Audrey Hepburn.

Here is an example of his work.

A little lunch and drink after all that art. There are three great bars in the neighborhood, Yancy’s Saloon (on Irving), Fireside (on Irving), Mucky Duck (on 9^th), and the Little Shamrock (on Lincoln Way). For Burgers try Darla’s or Sliders. I like Darla’s a lot very juicy burger. If you are into Japanese food then you hit the jackpot in the Inner Sunset, too many to recommend just stop and try, but I will tell you that I love the noodles at Hotei on 9^th. Today it was Darla’s and a beverage ay the Mucky Duck as I waited for the train back downtown.

The trip on Muni from the Inner Sunset to Downtown is about 20 minutes, non commute time, when the transit organization is running on time. So be patient on the trip back.

At SFMOMA went to see the Italian photographer and architect Gabriele Basilico: From San Francisco to Silicon Valley. The prints were visually incredible, but it was another photographer An-My Lê who captured more of my attention with her collection titled: Small Wars. The Andy Warhol and the Matisse were pluses on the visit. At the Yerba Buena Center for the art the had a collection focusing on Tibet. If you are into more modern and relevant art that almost American knows, try the Cartoon Museum around the corner. Well worth the stop.

Before heading back to the East Bay, stopped at Harrington’s on Front Street, to . . . let say . . . soak in all the day had to offer. Harrington’s is a great stop to see the working crowd, drink reasonably priced drinks.

Next Month it out to the Richmond District to see the Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer’s Life, show.

De Young
http://www.famsf.org/index.asp

SFMOMA
http://www.sfmoma.org/

Cartoon Museum
http://www.cartoonart.org

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
http://www.ybca.org/visit/gallery.aspx

Asian Art Museum
http://asianart.org/

Legion of Honor
http://www.famsf.org/legion/visiting/index.asp

Gluttony and Conservation

A couple of notes for the Monday morning blog.

First of all, just like millions of Americans, I participated in one of the more gluttonous days of the year . . . the Super Bowl. I will leave the breakdown of the game to other websites and blogs, but I can tell you we had a pro NY crowd.

Not sure if Thanksgiving or the Super Bowl has more excess, but for those who track these things the experts say that the Super Bowl is the second most caloric intake day of the year, but personally I tend to eat more fat related items on the Super Bowl. From an article in Time Magazine they wrote: “From Thanksgiving to Super Bowl Sunday, the average American gains 5 to 7 lbs” and I think that I tried to gain all seven yesterday.

The wings, guacamole, chips with onion dip were all were all very tempting. I have a soft spot for Ruffles, and rarely eat them on any other day except for built in excuse like the Super Bowl. American’s do love their chips and eat them by the pounds. Frito-Lay, the nation’s largest chip manufacturer, said they must increase production in the weeks leading up to the event by more than 10 million pounds of chips just to meet the demand for Super Bowl Sunday.

So when I saw the commercial, I think somewhere in the third quarter, as I was heading to a sodium induced coma from the Ruffles, I had to stop for a 10 seconds. The ad, sponsored by the United Way, featuring the voice of Tom Brady asking users to donate via SMS to a campaign fighting childhood obesity, “You don't have to be an NFL player to help kids get fit in your community. Do your part, text FIT to "United" to give $5 to United Way's youth fitness. A little "U" goes a long way.” I would be interested in how much the United Way raised since most people would have difficulty texting with a beer in one hand and the grease sliding over the tiny buttons in the other.

My favorite Ad was the Coke commercial with James Carville and Bill Frist. The kids loved the Coke commercial with the Macy’s Day Floats. I think that has to do with age, the election tomorrow and the lack of any real good commercials. The Thriller Ad for some water product was the worst.

We did have a great bottle of wine from Du Vin Fine Wines in Alameda. It was a 2006 Bodegas Borsao called “Tres Picos” for $15.99. Dan told us it goes well with paella so we thought it would also go well with chili and cornbread, and it did a very good job of complementing the halftime food.

A note from Saturday: Went to the Ocean film festival and saw some terrific short films, really enjoyed the evening. The Ocean Film Festival, did something very interesting this year, they used YouTube to create the SFOFF Bay Oil Spill 2007 Video Project. The project was created to understand what the effects of the 810-foot-long Cosco Busan hitting the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7, and released 58,000 gallon of oil into the Bay. You can see shorts from Bay Area residents about the response and the clean-up effort.

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=9BEF9D7D7E9DF87E