by Christina Waters | Jun 30, 2011 | Home, Movies |
After a long gestation, Terence Malick’s fifth film, Tree of Life, has entered our cinematic bloodstream. It is a lengthy elegy on nothing less than desire, loss, faith, love and the cosmos. What else could we expect of a man who once translated Heidegger and taught philosophy at MIT?
In Tree of Life, Malick the existential ruminator meets Malick the filmmaker’s filmmaker, and the result is a controversial, overly-long, unforgettable work that took this year’s Palme d’Or at Cannes.
Whatever it isn’t (more on that later), Tree is a deeply moving portrait of an American family, set in Texas of the 1950s. However much Malick attempts to lay on baroque opulence in the form of digressions into cosmic imagery, digressions that literally unfurl the creation of the universe, digressions in the form of achingly beautiful classical music — the soul of the film is the complex and stormy relationship between a father (Brad Pitt) and his sons (the eldest, Jack, played by an astonishing young Hunter McCracken).
Pitt is a revelation as the ambitious father whose dashed dreams (more…)
by Christina Waters | Jun 29, 2011 | Food, Home |
Tuesdays, la Posta. The marvelous live mandolin and guitar music, the house Montepulciano, the neighborhood special….$15 for pizza and a glass of house wine.
We added this sparkling fresh salad of watercress and fava beans, topped with a perfect egg from the house chickens. Affordable, luxurious comfort food.
What a concept.
by Christina Waters | Jun 24, 2011 | Food, Home |
We had a terrific dinner last night at the Davenport Roadhouse. All four of our entrees, including a mushroom risotto, steelhead with pesto, roasted local halibut on a bed of favas and lemon spaetzle and my order of rare hanger steak atop lemony fresh artichoke hearts, fennel and mashed potatoes. Each dish was vibrant with seasonal flavors.
Our compliments to the talented man in the kitchen, Tim Edmonds. We’ll be heading back to the Roadhouse soon. The gorgeous view of the ocean at sunset doesn’t hurt the ambience one bit either.
by Christina Waters | Jun 22, 2011 | Food, Home |
The lively fish, wasabi and ginger creations at Sushi Totoro just get better and better.
Here was a recent dinner of saba nigiri (center, with micro dice of lemon and scallion), tekka maki with shiso leaf and an ethereal trio of hamachi nigiri.
(I used my iPhone for this image, and I’m stunned at how well it works for electronic publication.)
by Christina Waters | Jun 20, 2011 | Home, Wine |
If you think this creation looks good, you should have tasted it. Sensational!
The Cellar Door kitchen knocked us out last week with an entree of whole roasted branzino, beautifully presented with panzanella and summer squashes (from Bonny Doon Vineyard‘s own biodynamic garden in San Juan Bautista) encircled by a chartreuse zucchini mousse.
It was a terrific entree for the three of us to share, especially paired with Randall Grahm’s never-better dolcetto and nebbiolo. However, the experience was almost ruined by a waiter who had been trained to utter meaningless, pretentious phrases — “it’s my pleasure,” and “the grenache blanc is showing well.” Perhaps there are visitors from (more…)
