by Christina Waters | May 14, 2007 | Home |
A mighty creative team comprised of some of UCSC’s most sparkling theater talent collaborates for San Jose Repertory‘s current production of Rabbit Hole, by David Lindsay-Abaire. Following the bittersweet fortunes of a couple on a journey through the highs and lows of the human condition, Rabbit Hole won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was a 2006 Tony Nominee for Best Play. Whew! Now, add to that the impressive, locally-based credits of director Kirsten Brandt (a Theater Arts lecturer slated to direct The Tempest at this year’s Shakespeare Santa Cruz); scenic design by Theater Arts professor Kate Edmunds, costumes by SSC’s incomparable B. Modern, lighting by UCSC professor David Lee Cuthbert, with music and sound by Theater Arts lecturer Jeff Mockus.
Rabbit Hole runs through June 10. For reservations, contact San Jose Repertory Theatre, located at 101 Paseo de San Antonio, (between 2nd and 3rd) in downtown San Jose. Ph: 408-367-7255
by Christina Waters | May 14, 2007 | Home, Wine |
It was my friend Mateo who came up with the perfect description for this fine young Sauvignon Blanc. “It’s the perfect summer gardening wine!” And it is (though let me take a minute to acknowledge the only-in-California phrasing of that line.) He referred to the Santa Ynez Valley Winery Sauvignon Blanc with the colorful label – vintage 2005 – 13 % alcohol, and moderately packed with fruit and nuts. I’ll be more specific. We found a cantaloupe and citrus opening, with a hint of jalapeño smoke in the center and a walnut finish. It tastes as interesting, but not as multi-media, as that description indicates.
Here’s the most interesting part. The $6 price tag. Available at Trader Joes, the wine is inexpensive enough to play a starring role in your next outdoor picnic, bbq or garden party. You have been advised.
by Christina Waters | May 9, 2007 | Home |
I’ll be dishing it out this Thursday. Literally. Soupline Supper, to benefit the Santa Cruz Homeless Services Center will serve soups from the area’s top restaurants, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 17, at Holy Cross Parish Hall, 170 High St. in Santa Cruz. Celebrity politicos including Neal Coonerty, Emily Reilly and John Laird, as well as smart-mouth pundits and foodies, like me, will be dishing out the array of soups at the Parish Hall. Beautiful breads and pastries, plus the soups and beverages are all donated by Bittersweet Bistro, Café Cruz, Pearl Alley Bistro, Chaminade, Clouds, Shadowbrook, Gayles and many more of your favorite restaurants and caterers. A terrific event since it gives neighbors a chance to get together, dine well, and give all proceeds to the Center — the Soupline Supper is now in its 8th year. Join us! Tickets are $20/person or $40/family. Available at the door or you can reserve by calling 458-6020, ext. 2123.
by Christina Waters | May 7, 2007 | Food, Home, Travel |
Despite my motto, “The East has ceased,” it was a delicate springtime that greeted me in Pennsylvania and New Jersey last week. Dogwood in bloom, azaleas purple through the tracery of pale green just beginning to burst into sight – really lovely. That’s the grey-green Atlantic Ocean you see on my masthead this week. And there was terrific food and some memorable museum-going. But it’s nice to be home.
Fans of the bizarre and medically wierd will definitely want to visit Philadelphia’s venerable Mutter Museum. Founded as part of the august College of Physicians by close personal friends of Ben Franklin’s several hundred years ago, the extraordinary teaching museum has been updated and expanded over the years. Today the collection of medical oddities, mostly housed in an old Victorian library lined with glass display cases, still packs a macabre punch. Yes, two-headed babies, mesmerizingly grotesque skeletals remains, and all that, but the museum is especially strong in its collection of rare and antique surgical implements. Makes me wonder how any of our ancestors survived! And if as a kid, like me, you were fascinated by Eng and Chang, the original Siamese twins, you’ll find much here to satisfy your curiosity. Claudia and I absorbed as much as we could before heading off for lunch. That evening, we sampled the new Susanna Foo dining room in Radner. (more…)
by Christina Waters | May 5, 2007 | Food, Home |
Downtown Santa Cruz’ impossibly chic and appealing boite, Soif, continues to make us happy. Wine-wise, we’ve been having lots of fun with whites from Slovenia, and reds from Sicilia. Food-wise, the Soif kitchen — under the guidance of chef Chris Avila — references the season with a luscious roasted cauliflower gratin that is downright irresistible. Small plates of those sensuous fresh sardines, boquerones— on a thick slab of aioli-topped crostini, make magic with glasses of anything involved the syrah grape. Ditto the crostini topped with sauteed arugula. A substantial appetizer of super-sized sea scallops on a bed of that amazing cauliflower, kept us company last week as we sampled our way through some excellent red wines.
Soif host, Hugh Weiler sets the tone (pictured above with server Ceci Coon, who like all the house staff, manages to be sensitive, charming and informed – all at once).
by Christina Waters | Apr 22, 2007 | Food, Home |
Steve Spill is an ace photographer, bon vivant and, as it turns out, can whip up some mean curries when he wants. And he wanted to last week, in the professionally equipped kitchen of the King Street bungalow he shares with his Sylvia. Munching pappodoms and an array of lip-numbing chutneys and sambals, we watched as Spill simultaneously surfed a dozen dishes bubbling and roasting and stir-frying on six burners and two ovens. Was he completely in control of the situation? Is any chef? It was often difficult to tell, as everything needed continuous stirring, browning, and turning. From a wall of spices lining one section of the kitchen, floor to ceiling, Spill had retrieved the ingredients that mysteriously merge into the perfumed results. Onions and lamb had been chopped and seeds toasted and crushed, earlier in the day. Thanks to a large trove of New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs and a few choice zinfandels, a dozen of us worked through the appetizers and then at exactly 9pm, dove into fragrant dishes the color of sunrise and sunset. My favorites included the crisp chicken kofta, the elegant, fiery mint, cilantro and chili chutney and a sensuous dal that would have done any London curry house proud.
Homemade mango chutney, chili and lime chutney, a South African tomato chutney – these zippy dips were cooled by a succulent cucumber and yogurt raita. To spoon over Spill’s perfect jasmine rice, were fat roast new potatoes – curried of course – a sauteed okra dish called bhindi bhajee, crunchy long beans with tomato, a delectable, tender lamb bhuna and rogan gosht. The latter was a splendid stew of lamb, laced with cardamom and cinnamon and tons of garlic and ginger. Probably many more spices as well. Heady stuff! Can you say “ambitious”? Steve had made even more but my palate eventually gave out after so many big flavors.
I can’t remember the last time a “civilian” chef produced such an impressive line-up of brilliant flavors. The atmosphere was wonderful too. My compliments!
