Oasis In The Desert

So when you travel for business you get to see very little of the places that you go you have to take full advantage of the small amount of time you do have to experience the city. I was in Tucson and Phoenix last week, so I did a little research and asked a few co-workers who lived in the area for a great place to eat and have drinks.

The staff at our Phoenix office sent me to neighboring Scottsdale to a steak house they said would fit the bill for a great night out. The steak house they recommended was Mastro’s City Hall Steak House and Bar. Mastro’s runs three restaurants in the Scottsdale/Phoenix area.

Let me start with this place is not cheap!! The $8-$10 cocktails are enough to startle any drink bargain hunter. If you are going to do the works appetizer, dinner and drinks bring you wallet. My guess it is $70-$80 per person depending on what you order.

I settled in for a couple of drinks before I had dinner. The drinks were well balanced and on the large side. The bartenders would adjust the drink to your taste on request with no hesitation. A little weak, a little they were there to make it right.

Just as I was finishing my cocktails the live music started. Traditional lounge music with a little rock and roll mixed into the set. I must have heard two or three Elton John songs that night along with Frank and Dean.

For dinner I had a spicy Caesar Salad. It had a little wasabi in the dressing. For dinner the bone-in Rib Eye and the potatoes wedges au gratin. The steak was sizzling and a little under-cooked, but the way they serve it continues to cook on the plate. The steak was more than I could finish, and I am a big eater. I have never had Au Gratin Potatoes served this way. Big potato wedges crispy and then served with enough cheese to make the California Cheese Board jump in glee as City Hall tried to save the industry by itself.

The meal was very good but even better was watching the Scottsdale Nightlife. I learned a new term on my visit: “Scottsdale Girl”. This is a young, very well dressed young lady out looking for a slightly, or in some case much, older man with MONEY. I saw a 60+ Bob Barker look-a-like cruise the bar twice before settling on a young lady sitting at the bar. The three carat square cut diamond ring on his hand was enough invitation for this young lady to accept a drink, titter for a while and then leave with Senor Barker.

As an out-of-towner being guided by the bartender and some locals, I caught on to the game of identifying the “Scottsdale Girls” in the bar. I could not have had a better evening being alone in a foreign town. Tomorrow a much different Phoenix Experience.

http://www.azeats.com/mastros/default.htm

Ocean Film Festival

SF Ocean Film Festival

Living in the San Francisco area the Bay and the Ocean are central in our lives. These large bodies of water drive our weather and in part give us the mild climate that we enjoy. I have sailed for years and the Bay has been my playground, a source of recreation. Through sailing I have met great people, visited a few yacht clubs for drinks, and have enjoyed the exhilaration that sailing provides.

One of my other great loves is documentary films so I am excited that the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival is approaching. The Event runs from February 1-3 at Ft. Mason and has nearly 40 short films that have some association with the Ocean. I will be attending Session 4, where the schedule and interest intersect. The cost for one session is $10.50

The festival does sell a VIP Festival Pass admits the holder to all Festival events and screenings and is $105. This includes the SeaChange special performance with Roger Payne and Lisa Harrow on Thursday, January 31 at 7 PM, the Opening Night Party on Friday, February 1 at 7PM at the Aquarium of the Bay, as well as the seven (7) film programs on February 2-3 at Cowell Theater.

The two films from this session that caught my attention were The Science of Big Waves and Sliding Liberia. The Science of Big Waves is by Chris Bauer and is only 10 minutes, but it explores those four-story waves at Mavericks, just south of San Francisco. He looks at how they are generated in the Gulf of Alaska, three thousand miles away. Sliding Liberia by Britton Caillouette, is 48 minutes (YouTube »watch trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgrwrTruuhk) the story is four American friends travel to Liberia, West Africa, and find a nation torn apart by recent civil war and the ensuing poverty, displacement, and psychological trauma. Young local surfers are rebuilding their lives on a perfect wave, sliding across the ocean from a painful past into their bold, independent futures.

A Session 1film that deserves a mention is Surfing Thru. It documents three women with late-stage cancer live and surf in the immediacy of the moment.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit oceanfilmfest.org. Cowell Theater is at Fort Mason Center, Pier 2 San Francisco, California

If you need a place to eat or get a cocktail in the area, go to Chestnut Street. Just a few blocks from Ft. Mason, it has a wide variety of dining places and some great local bars. IZZY'S Steak & Chop House (http://www.themenupage.com/izzys.html), 3345 Steiner St, some of the best steaks in the City and the IZZY'S own Potatoes are awesome. For a quick bite try Andale Taqueria the grilled chicken makes their tacos and burritos. Andale also serves drinks. Donahue's Marina Lounge, 2138 Chestnut Street, is one of those great local bars.