and plenty of it. Starting this Wednesday, February 2,  there's a reception for the opening of two shows at the Sesnon Gallery in Porter College. Free. One features a retrospective of the pioneer video installation genius of Ant Farm founder Chip Lord, whose most...

Perhaps not as pressing as the NFL playoffs, but much tastier. Last week, you'll recall, I traipsed all over the county sampling imaginative and just plain delicious creations showcasing fresh Dungeness crab. I also tasted some of our top local wines. It was the sort...

One of Windy Oaks Estate's many supple estate pinot noirs — the 2008 Terra Narro — has taken another gold (second year in a row) from the Beverage Tasting Institute's World Wine Championships. Congratulations to winemaker Jim Schultze, whose beautiful garnet...

With its cavernous ceilings, sleek sophisticated surfaces (thanks to Mark Primack) and wine list studded with euro-stars such as Grüner Veltliner and various Austrian reds, Laili could be the east-Asian sibling of Soif. We checked out the new Afghani dining room for...

Paradise Beach Grille knows how to have a good time. Playoff games on the flat screens. Live music in one corner, and the blue Pacific in the other. Winemakers pouring top premiums and a kitchen turning out gorgeous (see the image) dishes showcasing fresh Dungeness...

Savannah-Chanelle is one of the top Santa Cruz Mountain wineries, and their elegantly robust red wines usually end up on our table on a regular basis. I made a very happy discovery this past weekend as I ate plate after plate of local Dungeness crab (somebody's gotta...

Painting in a dozen shades of sepia, the Coen brothers take us back into the last century when there was plenty of frontier still left in Arkansas and the law was still a gleam in Wyatt Earp's eye. Our first glimpse of Jeff Bridges as the "one-eyed fat man" Rooster...

I know I've over-used "the deal of the century" and other hyperbolic aphorisms, but I gotta tell you this luscious Bordeaux blend called Skyline, from Thomas Fogarty will take your breath away. I love this wine! Love it. A solid marriage of cabernets and merlot, with...

Chia Stimulus Program: Hoping to jumpstart the green hair thing, we popped our Chia Obama into a plastic "greenhouse" to bathe in a moist soup of chlorophyll and liberal vibes.

Now I ask you - wasn't it worth the wait?

The sounds of bittersweet Italian folktunes filled the air last night, Tuesday, at La Posta, as we joined our friends Ralph and Ray for our end-of-the-year feast. Wild mushrooms in parchment, grilled yellow-fin on a buttery puree of cecci topped with toasted...

I scored a couple of these laugh-til-you-cry terracotta busts with Barry Obama's face at the Scotts Valley K-Mart while delivering cookies to my Auntie Da. Chortling so hard I could barely grasp my credit card to pay, I whisked them back home and wrapped up one to...

"Oscar bait!" some have said. "Dazzling!" Who are they talking about? What planet have they come from?  Did they see the same Black Swan that I did? —  the new film by Darren Aronofsky, whose past work (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler) skates the same...

Yalumba is the label, Bush Vine Grenache is the grape. The vintage year is 2008 and the territory is the Barossa of Australia. Here is a new world grenache with both attitude and grace, loaded with fruit grown under the Southern Cross, where strawberry meets pepper...

Amidst the holiday wreaths of crimson chiles, the jalapeno jellies, organic goat cheeses, wild-gathered herbs and local honey, there was memorable bread. Memorable. Wish I'd gotten the name of the bakers who sold me a square of fresh plum and almond open-faced...

That would be the 2009 version of Richard Alfaro's well-received Lindsay Paige Vineyard Chardonnay (roughly $25.) This Alfaro Family Vineyard beauty starts full and pliant and stays that way, from a buttery nose, through a field of toast, apples, hints of jasmine and...

Last week I sat down to a substantial platter of red chile tamales, accompanied by a fat moist green chile enchilada, a helping of buttery pinto beans and Spanish rice so nuanced and tasty I almost wept. For this — plus a crisp sopapilla and honey butter — I paid...

The bouncy ambience at Sushi Totoro always makes us smile. Especially with the postmodern lightshow lasers and gazillion ornaments hanging from the ceiling. Brightens up even the most non-holiday tekka maki. Go take a look. Sushi Totoro - on Mission, near...

Leggy and statuesque, blonde Finnish soprano Karita Mattila shredded the scenery and chewed up the remains during the final performance of Leos Janácek's The Makropulos Case, last week at the San Francisco Opera. Her confidently reckless stage presence and vocal...

Kumamoto oysters, icy cold and briny, along with smooth jazz. A nice way to start the week. Soif Wine Bar.

At Gayle's Bakery, it is arguably Christmas all year long. But still, the sight of these fresh green petit fours did put me in an instant holiday mood.