by Christina Waters | Feb 13, 2008 | Food, Home |
No kidding – Paul Cocking told me that he’s interested in moving on, changing the pace of his life — the exhausting hours involved in restaurant work! — and perhaps even changing careers entirely.
Gabriella Cafe is definitely for sale, so if you can put together a group interested in keeping the culinary genius of chef Sean Baker in our downtown, give Paul a call at 831/457-1677.
(Check out my profile of Gabriella’s pastry chef Jessica Yarr in last week’s Metro Santa Cruz.)
by Christina Waters | Feb 13, 2008 | Home, Wine |
John Locke – not the British Empiricist philosopher but the mischievous Santa Cruz wine wonk – is setting a brisk pace in Soif’s upper room with his Sunday evening wine classes. After taking Locke’s high-powered wine and cheese workshop last fall, I was more than ready to dive into the oenological demimonde.
Why not begin at the beginning, I figured, and signed myself up for all three of Locke’s Wine Basics workshops. Twice a month a dozen of us are put through our tasting paces by the maestro, who introduced us to the crisp flavors of northern France, Germany and Austria last time. We learned about soils, about mineral tones, about just how to-die-for a Sancerre can be (more…)
by Christina Waters | Feb 13, 2008 | Home |
Come on – even anorexic starlets have handlers and trainers who make sure they’re ready for their close-ups. Why can’t the powerful and brilliant Mrs. Clinton get herself some consultants on image, attitude and rhetoric?
Hillary – it’s time for your make-over. Here’s a place to start. First, lose that strident royal blue suit. Now! Even Margaret Thatcher in her most cojones-of-steel days couldn’t have pulled off that ugly, ugly color. Start wearing more of that luscious brown, sunny yellow and warm coral.
Okay. Next. Stop yelling. And stop speaking in slow, carefully-measured monotones. Loosen it up – tell the folks how you feel, what you care most deeply about – and don’t keep blaring “Universal Health Care.†Honey, UHC has all the sex appeal of a used coffee filter.
Of course we all want universal health care, but let’s fill that stuff in after you’ve won the election. Right now the folks want eye contact and the colorful details of your personal mission. (Like you’re doing here, in this terrific AP photo.)
Tell us stories. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Feb 12, 2008 | Home |
Or at least that’s the rhetoric du jour being hustled in the O-Ring. Like many demagogues, the tall, dark candidate is a Rorschach for the disappointed entitlement of the masses. (Is there a Leni Riefenstahl in the house?) He appeals to “those who want to believe,†he says. Believe in what? He reaches out “to those who believe in change.†But change from what, to what? Without any content, he can be all things to all people, just like other demagogues who whipped “the people†into a frenzy over a half century ago. But then, hey, who remembers that stuff? It’s the past, and in this post modern climate, the past is just a four-letter word. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Feb 10, 2008 | Home |
The man at the helm of the mighty Diedrich coffee roasting technology — located inside the sleek, aromatic Coffee Cat coffee house in Scotts Valley — is Rory Phares. Here he’s checking on the roasting temperature for a batch of Colombian beans. You can smell the intense perfume, can’t you? If you’re up anywhere near Coffee Cat on Saturday mornings, check out the roasting action — and don’t forget to try one of the superb house macchiotti. Coffee Cat – brought to you by the Lulu Carpenter’s javanistas – 255 Mt. Hermon Road, Scotts Valley (831/439-0700).
