by Christina Waters | Feb 13, 2009 | Home |
If you thought that Soif was simply a brilliantly-stocked wine store and glamorous boite, then think again. Soif not only serves enlightened, affordable lunches but now Рgasp! Рit is offering Salad Lyonnaise ($9) for lunch. A complete euro-meal in a single dish, the fabled Lyonnaise involves fris̩e, vinaigrette, crispy bacon and a fried egg on top. You pierce the egg and voila!, the rich yolk drenches the greens in unctuous protein.
Panini and quiche and other goodies too. Lunch. Soif. Walnut Avenue. Weekdays. And to sign up for Soif’s two-part Santa Cruz Mountains pinot noir classes, see post below.
by Christina Waters | Feb 13, 2009 | Home, Movies |
Randy “The Ram” Robinson is a broken-down hack, prolonging his former pro circuit glory days with the help of drugs, booze, pain-killers, and sheer grit. As embodied by former wunderkind Mickey Rourke, The Ram is a born loser who knows how to do just one thing — thrill the suckers who want to see blood. And that thing has taken a shattering toll on his aging body and squandered soul.
The Wrestler is about as close to the center of that blood-splattered ring as most of us will ever get, and director Darren Aronofsky dives into the low-rent New Jersey wrestling circuit like a Quentin Tarantino in his prime. Rourke gives himself utterly to the camera, every scar, every trick, he doesn’t flinch about revealing his character’s sweetness, good-heartedness, despair and decline. While it’s his outrageous physical appearance — the stringy blonde locks, the mangled muscles — that we’re supposed to read, it’s Rourke’s husky, intimate, desperate voice that stayed with me long after the film was over and The Boss was singing over the credits.
The grey northeast never looked more wasted or (more…)
by Christina Waters | Feb 12, 2009 | Home, Wine |
Once upon a time a great American filmmaker named Alfred Hitchcock owned a 19th century estate on acres high above Scotts Valley. Today that same rugged land is home to Heart O’The Mountain winery, where Bob Brassfield, and his son Brandon, craft some mighty examples of Santa Cruz Mountains terroir.
The very first vintage of Heart pinot noir was 2005, and the 2006 is tasting incredible. A half hour after opening, this big wine offered black cherry, redwood bark, granite and a backbone of cloves, sitting smoothly (if tightly) in a web of tannins. By the second day, the Heart O’The Mountain 2006 Estate Pinot Noir had opened into a sumptuous middle of loganberry, perfumed by old roses.
Trivia factoid: Bob Brassfield was one of the original (more…)
by Christina Waters | Feb 11, 2009 | Food, Home |
Terrific news for Westside lunchers — O’mei is open for lunch, Tues-Sun 11:30-2pm. But wait, there’s more! The “O’mei Express Menu” is priced for the real world, starting at $5.95 and topping out at $7.95. And how is it? Inventive, tasty, quick and cheap.
We tried it on Day 2 and came away full and happy. The meal began with a small plate of al dente broccoli in a bracing soy-sesame-garlic dressing ($2), while sipping hot green tea served in a bistro tumbler and a mega-glass of tart-sweet hibiscus cooler. Then came lunch. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Feb 6, 2009 | Home |
Tasting wines is rugged, grueling work. But I don’t mind. Especially when it involves dozens of the Santa Cruz Mountains increasingly notable pinot noirs, and especially in the company of the winemakers themselves. (Jim Schultze of Windy Oaks considers the second flight.)
From what I tasted yesterday up at the atmospheric Burrell School Vineyards schoolhouse, the upcoming Pinot Paradise Grand Cruz tasting event will be something to remember. You owe it to yourself to come and sample wines that just get better, and exhibit more finesse and consistency with each year.
Pinot Paradise Grand Cruz Tasting – March 29
Villa Ragusa, in downtown Campbell, 2-5pm.
$55 in advance / $65 at the door.
For details, check the SCMWA website — but definitely plan to be there!
