Christina Waters

Dynamic maestra Nicole Paiement dazzled packed houses in San Francisco last weekend with a series of ingenious performances of Wozzeck, Alban Berg’s stormy psychological opera blending surrealism and modernist atonality.

Paiement and company worked with a newly-adapted score for chamber orchestra, a move that created greater intimacy of sound. The audience felt drawn into the harrowing story portrayed in the jewelbox Yerba Buena theater. Berg’s great opera of class anger and cultural schizophrenia — created in the years just after the Great War — was given a riveting More…

La Posta blew me away last week with the best, most satisfying dinner in town, thanks to new chef Katherine Stern.

Don’t even think twice, just get over there. Authentic Italian dinners made with complete confidence — amazing value for the moderate pricetag.

Brad Briske (pictured here) still turns out astonishing dishes at Gabriella, which remains open (thanks to voodoo sacrifices and an astute tax attorney). We were once again rendered speechless by lunch last week showcasing designer pizza, hand-made cured meats and natural beef burgers. Oh and dessert of pound cake with orange zabaglione that was TDF.

Valentine’s Day at the Cellar Door. No prix fixe that evening, just romantic, candle-lit small plates by Charlie Parker, such as…. * Kumamoto oysters, with Meyer lemon granita & dill creme fraiche * Roasted lobster, artichokes, sunchokes & Buddha’s Hand * Bacon-wrapped galantine of rabbit, green garlic, young roots & prunes* vanilla-chocolate tart, burnt caramel ice cream & sea salt.

For even more romance, the Bonny Doon Vineyard folks are including live music by the Magnolia Jazz Band. Yes, by all means, make reservations.
Joseph Schultz is offering an intense,whirl-wind Greco-Turkish cooking course on Feb 23 at New Leaf on Ingalls St. 5:30-8:30pm, details at New Leaf website. Learn the tricks of the masters at this cooking class with the mastermind of the late lamented India Joze restaurant.

In Aptos, Muriel Loubiere has filled her Au Midi Valentine’s Eve menu with food for lovers. Foods with a provençal accent.

It begins with salad of Dungeness crab & shrimp, with lemon coulis & tomatoes emulsion, followed by wild mushroom crème brulée.

Entrees include Vegetarian Risotto: asparagus, lemon confit, mascarpone & reduction of balsamic vinegar, Or -  rosemary kebab of Scallops: with glazed caramelized endives and orange juice, Or - seared foie gras served on More…

Here’s how we handle it, this winter/recession thing.

Beans, rice and Italian sausages (all natural pork made by New Leaf).

Add a big glass of Bonny Doon Vineyard’s excellent Sangiovese, a few candles (yes, David, we still dine by candlelight every night), and voila!

Jeff Emery’s splendid Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard wines just continue to find traction, most lately with the judges of the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. Emery’s robust Graciano 2007 bearing his Quinta Cruz label, took Best of Class & Judges’ Choice awards in the “Other Red Varietals” category.  The big, spicy Graciano — often blended with Tempranillo in distinguished Spanish wines  — offers complexity, rounded dark berry notes and plenty of grip. At $28 it makes a confident partner for game meats and spicy pastas. Available at the winery, 334-A Ingalls St., on the Westside,  as well as your favorite stores.

Katherine Stern has worked expert magic on the menu at La Posta. Since the richly resuméd chef came on board a few months ago, things have gotten very interesting at the chic Seabright dining room.

Contemporary Italian cooking. Deeply burnished flavors. Uncluttered presentation.

E.g. an intensely tangy Meyer lemon crostata, with mascarpone.

La Posta - open for dinner Tues-Sun - at 538 Seabright Avenue.

We learn many things from the new Sherlock Holmes film starring the very pretty Jude Law as Dr. Watson, and the always appealing Robert Downey Jr. as the eccentric fictional sleuth, Sherlock Holmes.

We learn for example that Madonna was right to ditch Guy Ritchie, a man whose directorial credentials reside in his ability to write big checks.

We learn that Robert Downey Jr. is easily the most watchable actor on the screen. Yet that isn’t enough. Even he—gasp—is beginning to rely on self-parody and schtick. He had to. There was neither script, nor story nor director available.

We learn, once and for all, that despite his visual appeal, Jude Law cannot act.

We learn that misogyny is afoot and evident in the casting of two woefully awkward and untrained ingenues to play the female bits in the new Sherlock Holmes flick. One is a poor girl so loaded with collagen that she can barely say her lines. The other is a terrific looking actress (I use the term with abandon here), Rachel McAdams, whom we are to believe is not only a cunning vixen, a brilliant sleuth in her own right but the once and only love interest of the great Holmes himself. Yet when McAdams opens her mouth, the entire facade crumbles. Her squeaky valley girl delivery makes a mockery of what might have been a delicious foil for the utterly chewable Downey…..to be continued….

The prestigious San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition has showered the winemakers of Soquel Vineyards — Jon Morgan, Peter & Paul Bargetto, with gold (and not the kind advertised on those TV infomercials either).

Three opulent Pinot Noirs, a Sangiovese and a Cabernet Sauvignon made at the small Santa Cruz mountains winery, took Gold Medals — with a double gold going to the cab!

This could be the excuse you’ve needed to get out to the beautiful tasting room located in the hills above Soquel to sample all of the award-winners. Or you could check out your favorite wine store (e.g. New Leaf, Shoppers, VinoCruz) and pick up one of these tasty tipples. Three of Soquel Vineyards’ award-winning pinots come from Lester Family Vineyard, where ace viticulturist Prudy Foxx tends the vines.

Kudos!

News of Gabriella’s impending demise—promulgated by the owner himself—seems to have been premature.

The love of a good tax attorney might be just the ticket. We’ll see.

But whatever the actual status of the tiny downtown dining room, a packed house last Friday (including me and my birthday buddy) enjoyed some of the best food ever produced by wunderkind Brad Briske and his young kitchen team.

Somehow there continues to be miles of savvy and style separating what this dining room can produce and what others can manage. Not sure just how or why. But I will be back for more next week.