by Christina Waters | Jun 2, 2010 | Food, Home |
El Salchichero, Chris LeVeque — with a bit of help from his organic grower parents — is deep into the renovation of the former crafts studio at the top edge of Kelly’s Ingalls empire. What will emerge, soon, is the talented meat guy’s enormous charcuterie works.
LeVeque, an emerging maestro of salume, prosciutto, bresaola, and artisanal lard as pure as the driven snow, is poised to open his retail salchicheria (house of links) next month. Let the salivating begin. . . .
And here’s the other OMG tidbit: Brad Briske told me he will be leaving Gabriella to take over the space formerly known as Theo’s. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Jun 1, 2010 | Art, Food |
The Certosa di Galuzzo is an enormous cloister dating from the 1300s located about three miles up into the hills above Florence. In other words, it is situated on one of those stereotypically picturesque Tuscan hillsides dotted with tall black Lombardy cypresses and lots of villas with red tile roofs. Mustard and bougainvilla was in bloom everywhere, quinces falling from the trees and the vineyards were a minute away from harvest.
We took a cab up to the huge stately compound, and the bus back into town a few hours later. In between we joined a tour, along with seven other people, through the opulent chapel, private cells of the Cistercians who still live and work there, and saw the magnificent, faded frescoes made by Pontormo during the plague years in the 16th century. They were astonishingly original – so utterly unlike any of the work done during the same time by Pontormo’s colleagues that they appeared as modern as they were idiosyncratic. Back out into the sunlight, we stopped at the certosa’s distillary shop to purchase some of the liqueurs made by the brothers – including an herb-laced fernet I can’t wait to try.
Wandering over toward the Palazzo Strozzi after our return, we decided to try a new wine bar that served us one of the best pizzas of our lives. It’s called Bussola, and they served us a pizza topped with pecorino, cherry tomatoes and wild boar sausage along with a huge glass of Chianti Classico from the surrounding hills, vintage 2006. The pizza had that very thin, crisp crust — no tomato sauce, no gooey mozzarella — that distinguishes northern Italian pizza. Absolutely outrageous – and perfect for a light lunch for two.
by Christina Waters | Jun 1, 2010 | Home, Movies |
A few weeks ago I saw the trailer for the new Shrek Forever After and found myself sucked in enough to grab a tub of popcorn and settle in for my very first Shrek.
A Shrek virgin no more, after two hours of 3D antics starring the voice of Eddie Murphy (brilliant!) and the loveable green visage of the big ogre, I decided that I was just not Shrek material. I’ve seen the original fairytales on which almost all of the slender “plot” of Shrek 4 was based. I devoured fairytales as a kid and knew about Rumplestilskin, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel & Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc. etc. I even saw, over and over, the Judy Garland version (more…)
by Christina Waters | Jun 1, 2010 | Art |
Yes, the opera by Donizetti — sung by skilled young stars of the UCSC Opera program. I saw the dress rehearsal last night and was blown away by the gorgeous voices, polished stage direction (thanks to Brian Staufenbiel) and sheer charm of this Italian meringue of an opera.
And only two hours long. This is not Wagner, it’s Donizetti. And the tale of snake oil (the elixir of the title) and the gullible lovers who consume it, never gets old.
Easily the most delightful time (more…)
