The finish to a dizzying, delicious and rococo sequence of plates at Manresa. Chef David Kinch swept us away with a dessert of sweet corn ice cream, interspersed with roasted and raw nectarines, in a sauce punctuated with caramelized corn kernels and infant pea sprouts.
More on my dinner at Manresa, next week!
I think it’s time to take Helen Mirren down a peg. I know, I know – I have just committed a cinematic cardinal sin. Mirren resides in the hallowed domain roughly between Katherine Hepburn and Meryl Streep. Her mere presence in a film is expected to elevate its artistic value to Olympian heights. And indeed it has done just that in countless spellbinding, compelling performances. But let’s face it— sometimes Dame Mirren is simply scowling, allowing herself to be photographed without makeup, and showing off her handsome cleavage.
Yes, it is nice to have solid proof of sex appeal after sixty, but I think that with the crisp political thriller The Debt, we can all get off our knees and admit that there are actually other actors on the screen with the highly-praised actress. Other terrific actors. (more…)
If you haven’t yet caught her act, this is your chance. I’m talking about mega-babe Carie McAlpine, and her ultra-cool sidemen, who are about to tear down the house at Zelda’s this weekend. Dripping sensuality McAlpine’s smoky alto can wail and moan while covering blues and rock classics with complete (and sassy) confidence.
The entire package is hot, especially this remarkable vocalist who whips the word “sultry” into full-blown proportions. Before Carie and the Soulshakers rearrange every molecule in Capitola, get on down there and check out her act.
This Saturday, 9pm-midnight, Zelda’s – 203 Esplanade, Capitola.Carie & the Soulshakers. Yeah baby.
The inimitable Rita Bottoms, ah what a broad!
As head of McHenry Library’s Special Collections for many years, Bottoms moved and shook with literary giants and cranky academics alike. She handled every ego with diplomatic skill, almost as well as she handled many Anglo Saxon expletives.
Colorful, brilliant, opinionated and politically adroit, Rita is one unforgettable creature.
Now she’s offering the world some of her choicest observations, words, poetry, and character profiles in the first of her “True Stories,” entitled Riffs & Ecstasies , which officially hits the bookstores this Saturday, September 17.
Those familiar with the styles of Ferlinghetti, Paul Bowles and Bob Dylan will find Bottoms’ pungent voice simpatico and engaging. In this slender, beautifully produced tome, our gal remembers Tillie Olsen, Al Weber, John Cage, David Hockney and morphs into an ecstatic groupie, nay bacchante, as she eulogizes actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.
A tiny treasure from an irrepressible observer, Riffs & Ecstasies, by Rita Bottoms, from Cafe Margo press, $10, at all your favorite bookstores. Indulge!
Bruce Btratton interviews Rita Bottoms, next Tuesday, Sept. 20, 7:30pm on KZSC 88.1FM.
For Labor Day we did a mesquite grill of chicken, figs and ripe peaches.
What to put on the chicken? My hand reached out toward the wall of artisanal salsas at New Leaf and emerged with this fabulous complex salsa of ripe mango and sassy chipotle chiles. For roughly $4.50 this vivacious salsa did wonders for the chicken, and made a superb companion for sliced pork loin later in the week.
This stuff packs a punch, but not too much if you know what I mean. Better than I could make it — thank you folks at Numero Uno.
If you’re wondering (more…)
A book of sensory adventure: The rituals, passions and discoveries of an engaged life.