Elizabeth Charles

My favorite SF boutique is Elizabeth Charles on Fillmore St. I haven't actually purchased anything there yet because of the hefty price tags, but I love going in to browse their beautiful clothes for inspiration. Some day....

Music Festivals

I really, really, really want to go to one of these....





Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in Golden Gate Park complete with performances by Radiohead, Beck, Jack Johnson, the Black Keys and Cake with a farmers market to boot.

Treasure Island Music Festival with a bunch of bands I'm not familiar with but look like they can really rock, a Ferris wheel, and a legitimate reason to make the trek to Treasure Island.

Now I just need Interpol to come back to SF or go on tour anywhere in the U.S. for that matter.

Half-Life of a Dream

I visited SFMOMA this weekend to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit. The exhibit is very moving. Frida was a very strong, passionate woman. Her surrealist art is packed with so much meaning and emotion. The exhibit also included an extensive collection of photos of Frida throughout her life.

After the seeing the Frida exhibit I popped into the galleries on the other side of the floor to see the Logan collection of contemporary Chinese art titled Half-Life of a Dream. This is an amazing exhibit that I fear might be overlooked with the ever popular Frida right next door. The paintings and installations are dream-like to say the least. One room holds an instillation of 20,000 plastic toy dinosaurs in the shape of the Asian continent marching like armies, upon which lies a bed with a cozy Chairman Mao sleeping and perhaps dreaming of his Chinese utopia.

Another favorite is a large painting with the several clones of the image of the artist charging forward on the backs of a herd of ostriches.

This is one of the most exciting exhibits I've seen at SFMOMA in my 8 years in the city. I will definitely visit again before the exhibit closes on October 5th.

(The painting above is by artist Fang Lijun.)

Anchor & Hope

A new fish house opened up recently close to my office in SoMa. Anchor & Hope is part of the Town Hall and Salt House group, two of my old favorites. I ate there for lunch last month with a co-worker. The space used to be a garage so the ceilings are very high and the room is open. The decor and details are super fun. They even had authentic Emeco Navy chairs. (These chairs have been made from recycled aluminum for over 60 years and they are practically indestructible.)

I'm torn on the food. I had an heirloom beet salad to start followed by a citrus glazed salmon and a strawberry crisp. The meal started off very well with the beet salad. The salmon was nothing special even though description on the menu made it sound interesting. Finishing with a strawberry crisp that was good, but again nothing special. That said, I tried some of my co-worker's fish and chips and it was phenomenal! The service was really good too.

In summary, they get points for the beet salad, fish and chips, service and atmosphere/decor. I'm definitely willing to try it again and get back to you.

(Picture from Jennifer Yin at sf.eater.com)

Opera in the Park

Last Friday I attended the free opera simulcast at AT&T park. It is things like this that make me love this city. Garlic fries and hot dogs with your culture? The weather even cooperated. It had to have still been 80 degrees outside at 11:00 PM.

The Sentinel

I just got lunch from the new Dennis Leary (Canteen Restaurant) SoMa take-out counter, The Sentinel. It's a little dangerous that I can eat this well for lunch on a regular basis. In the past it was hard to do better than mass produced burritos and sandwiches unless you have 2 hours and $50 to spend on an everyday lunch. The lunches here range from $7.50 to $11. There are 4 sandwich/soup type items on the menu which changes daily and it is take out only. They also serve coffee and pastries in the morning. The coffee cake is on its way to becoming legendary.

Extra cool points go to The Sentinel because Dennis Leary actually prepared and handed me the food! (That is the guy you can see behind the counter.) How often do you go to a restaurant with a big name chef and know for sure that they actually had anything to do with the food preparation?

SoMa worker are in for a real treat. The bar for affordable, quick lunch has been raised very high indeed. The Sentinel is located at 37 New Montgomery across from The Palace Hotel.

Letterpress

I took most of last week off work to letterpress my sister's wedding invitations. Letterpress was a dying art, but has seen a resurgence in the past few years. You can take classes at The Center for the Book here in San Francisco. After you complete the required classes, you can rent press time for $20/hour. I will post the final result next week.

Farmer Brown

How cool is this picture?! I used to live on Nob Hill just above Union Square and I always complained that the food in that neighborhood isn't very good. Well just in time for my move, Farmer Brown opened on the edge of Union Square and the Tenderloin.

The menu is packed with southern comfort. I had the fried chicken and mac & cheese. It was so perfectly crisp on the outside and steamy and moist on the inside. Tyler ordered the pulled pork sandwich and we shared a slice of the decadent pecan pie for dessert. The food was so rich and delicious. I didn't feel like eating until dinner the next day even after sharing an appetizer and dessert. Maybe it's good that I don't live close to this restaurant anymore, but I think we will find our way back occasionally. Just not before shopping for jeans!

Signs of Spring

Tyler and I were walking to one of our usual lunch spots last Friday and I looked up to see these beautiful trees in full bloom in the middle of the Financial District. Spring is here!

Post Rainshowers

It's so nice to be able to spend time outside again.

La Palma

Mexican food is quickly becoming somewhat of a Christmas Eve tradition for us. Last year we had Naomi's delicious enchiladas with all the fixings from La Palma. This year we had chili con carne made with ancho chilis and sirloin steak - no chili powder and ground beef here! Tyler and I headed to the Mission to do our grocery shopping at La Palma and Casa Lucas Market right next door. Tyler enjoyed browsing the store for the all the exotic candy and sodas.

From La Palma, we picked up fresh made tortilla chips, salsa fresca, and masa for tortillas. You can buy the prepared masa for a little more than $1 per pound and make your own fresh tortillas. You'll never want to eat store bought tortillas again.

For the tortillas, you need a tortilla press, a clean plastic garbage bag, and a griddle. I bought my tortilla press next door at Casa Lucas Market for about $10. Cut a wide strip of garbage bag or similar material to sandwich the masa in between the disks of the press. Roll a piece of masa into a ball about the size of a ping-pong ball, place the masa in between the two sides of the plastic bag, and press. Next open the press and peel the tortilla from the plastic. Don't press too hard, it doesn't take much and the thinner the tortilla, the more difficult it will be to peel it off the plastic. Put the pressed dough onto a hot griddle and cook on each side until slightly golden.

Fresh tortillas might be one of the most heavenly foods ever invented and are definitely worthy of becoming a Christmas Eve tradition.