Halloween Sushi
You haven't lived until you've seen a sushi bar decorated for Halloween. Mobo did a fine, if restrained job of tossing a few pumpkins and spiders and cobwebs here and there on October 31. But I was there for one thing - my favorite guilty pleasure lunch. Sushi. More...
Avanti, with Inmates in Charge
Any holiday at Ristorante Avanti can be juicy. Especially Halloween, which brings out the outrageous costume consciousness in the normally sedate staff of servers. To be candid, any excuse to dress up and act out is welcomed by this hard-working, hard-playing group,...
White Wine
Exploring local, Santa Cruz Mountains white wines is always a garden of forking paths. One sample leads to another and it's easy to get lost in a malolactic maze. To demystify, here are two terrific ideas in the category of substantial white wine — wine with enough...
Red Wine
Thinking locally is a delight for Santa Cruz wine lovers. Drinking locally. After all, we don't live in Dayton. Here's an example of what I mean - the bodacious, multi award-winning Hallcrest Pinot Noir 2004 Belle Farms. Showing elegance as well as the exuberance of...
Tamale Tip
Even if you know someone who makes great tamales, you want to be prepared for those sudden emergency tamale needs. For those moments, run on over to El Rosal Bakery & Panaderia at 21513 E. Cliff Drive (462-1308). Three kinds of freshly-made tamales ready to choose. $1...
Mozart Dances
Every now and then something occurs to melt the mediocrity of 21st century concerns clean into oblivion. Almost any dance created by Mark Morris can achieve this effect. But even the MacArthur fellow has outdone himself with his latest creation - Mozart Dances, a trio...
Tourist Dining, L.A. Part I
Granted this is high-end tourist dining, but still...when in the belly of the downtown LA art scene — I refer to the splendid, if self-congratulatory performative smorgy known as the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Mark Taper Forum, the Disney Hall, yada yada — you...
Tourist Dining, L.A. Part 2
After the performance, I roamed the broad sidewalks outside the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion along with most of the Mark Morris Dance Group audience — we were trying to come back to earth. Across the street in the gleaming Disney Hall is Joachim Splichal's flagship...
Cheap Thrill
From waaay down under — New Zealand — comes my new favorite, crisp inexpensive easy-sippin' Sauvignon Blanc. Villa Maria 2006, "Private Bin," is a fun companion for tapas and seafoods, or just for unwinding after a hard day at the keyboard. Full of citrus and...
Michael Clayton
Can you say "perfect film?" An existential tale of corporate corruption that plays like Greek tragedy crossed with Kafka. That's Michael Clayton, the latest George Clooney cinematic encounter produced by a handful of gifted directors, written/directed by Tony Gilroy...
The Emperor Has No Clothes
The subject is lettuce mix. I guess I've just had enough. Yesterday, as I once again picked over the wilted, tired lettuces in the mix at New Leaf - searching for a handful of greens that still looked as though they still retained some lifeforce, I realized it had...
Au Midi Opens
Michel Loubiere, whose wife Muriel is a talented chef, emailed to tell me that the couple will unveil their new restaurant, Au Midi, this weekend. The French dining spot is located in Aptos, in the tiny center behind the Aptos Cinema, at 7960 Soquel Drive. I'm looking...
Myth & the Coast
Take a breather from Open Studios and visit the new show of paintings by Frank Galuszka at Carmel's Winfield Gallery. Myth and the Coast is the title of a suite of 20 recent coastal landscapes and a few mythic surprises by UCSC Professor of Art and longtime plein air...
Wine & Cheese Whizzes
Andrea London is a woman whose business card bears the word "Cheesemonger." Teamed up with oenologician John Locke for a mouth-watering series of wine and cheese workshops at Soif, London and her expert colleague are re-setting palates overnight. After attending the...
Appomattox by the Bay
Strapped in and thoroughly prepared for the rippling arpeggios and sonic repetitions that are Philip Glass’ prevailing strategies, I was surprised and transported by the majestic themes and counterpoints of his new opera, Appomattox, at its world premiere last week...
Auf Wiedersehen!
More changes. Hugh Weiler, partner and consummate barkeep at Soif (shown here in a characteristic pose), is off to marry his sweetie Barbara in Sacramento and live happily ever after. The charm, calm, wry sense of humor and stupendous knowledge of wines that Weiler...
Tripp Does Cheese
Here's a highlight of Theo's chef Nicci Tripp demonstrating one of his delightful house cheeses for Wine Country magazine.
Going for Baroque
There are still a few things that justify enduring the slings and arrows of outrageous airport security checks, sitting for 10 and a half hours in a tiny, cramped seat, being rudely herded through the Frankfurt airport - and then getting into a smaller plane and...
Changes
Severino's Community Butcher is heading back east! The talented couple, Hilary Prescott and Justin “Blade Runner†Severino will be leaving the area at the end of the year. Headed for Pennsylvania. “We’ve got family there, we can afford to buy a home and raise...
Florentine Highs
The carpaccio topped with fresh raw porcinis at Cammillo, in the Borgo san Jacopo.
Florentine Days
Don't even think about visiting a major world museum like the Uffizi without making advance reservations. The tickets I procured on-line (we have done this before, here and at the Louvre) saved us at least an hour, maybe more, in line. Even so there was a short wait...
Farmers Markets Rule!
If you haven’t yet gotten the message that the Saturday morning Westside Farmers Market is THE happening place, then allow me to put you straight. Last weekend the market seemed to have doubled its size — harvest time has filled every one of the organic produce,...
Best Pasta
The maccioroncini with wild rabbit and celery ragu at Beccofino.
Details of a Wednesday Afternoon
One of the best parts of travel is the walking — not only does it help to digest even the most generous meals, but on foot the details of a city seem to emerge from the shadows. The street furniture, ledges to sit on that the princes of Florence thought to include...