by Christina Waters | Oct 18, 2007 | Home, Movies |
Can you say “perfect film?” An existential tale of corporate corruption that plays like Greek tragedy crossed with Kafka. That’s Michael Clayton, the latest George Clooney cinematic encounter produced by a handful of gifted directors, written/directed by Tony Gilroy (who wrote all the “Bourne” films) and flawlessly cast.
Given Clooney’s remarkable presence, you enter the theater expecting slick, glamor and extreme urban style. What you get, thanks to the gritty intelligence of the entire filmic package, is a dreamlike membrane of loss, grit and greed whose central Everyman is an emotionally bruised company fixer for a New York corporate law firm.
Clooney is our era’s Marilyn Monroe. The camera adores him. It is impossible not to be drawn to his screen image, his brooding beauty — which is now tinged by enough middle-aged seediness to be haunting. The loss of Michael Clayton’s personal center echoes the threadbare quality of the northeast itself, and while never showy, the camerawork of Robert Elswit etches the disintegration just under the surface of humans, landscape and social networks gathered into this vivid film. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Oct 17, 2007 | Food |
The subject is lettuce mix. I guess I’ve just had enough. Yesterday, as I once again picked over the wilted, tired lettuces in the mix at New Leaf – searching for a handful of greens that still looked as though they still retained some lifeforce, I realized it had been like this for the past year. Maybe more. Oh in the spring, the greens here look and taste great. But once summer hits, the downhill slide begins. I’m begging New Leaf to respect itself and its customers enough to either: a) find new purveyors of lettuce mix or, b) stop putting it out in the produce section altogether, until they can get a grip on the situation.
The deal is that there is good, fresh, vibrant baby lettuce available. I see it every time I visit the farmers market. If the Everett Family Farmers can package gorgeous bouncy appealing greens, then I know it’s possible.
Would you put this wilted stuff on your own dinner table? Would you serve this to your own family or friends? Then why are you asking your community to buy it?
New Leaf – I’ve been shopping at your stores since the day you opened. But enough! Your lettuce mix is a joke. Please fix it!
by Christina Waters | Oct 17, 2007 | Food, Home |
Michel Loubiere, whose wife Muriel is a talented chef, emailed to tell me that the couple will unveil their new restaurant, Au Midi, this weekend. The French dining spot is located in Aptos, in the tiny center behind the Aptos Cinema, at 7960 Soquel Drive. I’m looking forward to trying out this welcome addition to our restaurant landscape.
by Christina Waters | Oct 11, 2007 | Art, Home |
Take a breather from Open Studios and visit the new show of paintings by Frank Galuszka at Carmel’s Winfield Gallery.
Myth and the Coast is the title of a suite of 20 recent coastal landscapes and a few mythic surprises by UCSC Professor of Art and longtime plein air impressionist Galuszka.
Winfield Gallery is located on Dolores, between Ocean & 7th.
831/624-3369 – 800/289-1950
The Galuszka show of original artworks runs through November 11, 2007.
(Shown here, detail of Coyote in the Kitchen)
by Christina Waters | Oct 10, 2007 | Home, Wine |
Andrea London is a woman whose business card bears the word “Cheesemonger.” Teamed up with oenologician John Locke for a mouth-watering series of wine and cheese workshops at Soif, London and her expert colleague are re-setting palates overnight.
After attending the French wine & cheese pairings (fromages shown left), I realized that I was incapable of stopping – so I joined the table again for an evening of Italian wines & cheeses. There is just so much that’s breathtakingly right about this kind of enjoyable hands-on learning experience that it’s hard to know where to begin.
Everybody loves wine and cheese, but most of us don’t do much about it except to nosh around and hope to get lucky. But Soif is changing all that – one special wine & cheese pairing at a time. First there was a California event (which I didn’t attend). Then there was a French one (which I did) and that evening was so laced with epiphanies, e.g. Sancerre can be miraculous paired with oddball chevres, that I happily plunked down $75 (a bargain, my friends) and returned to learn more.
The cheese are introduced from mildest to most pungent, (which usually involves lots of mold). Wines are intriguingly paired, sometimes to harmonize – as with a lovely Sangiovese and a pecorino from Basilicata – sometimes to contrast and punctuate, as with a delicate, pear-scented Ca’del Bosco bubbly from Lombardy which John chose to caress the mighty parmigiano Reggiano, truly a queen of cheeses.
Here’s a factoid from maestro Locke: champagne is the perfect libation to accompany any cheese. Who knew? (more…)
