by Christina Waters | Aug 13, 2013 | Home |
Channel your inner Zorba and come join the feasting, singing and dancing the weekend of Sept. 6-8. That’s when the Santa Cruz Greek Food & Cultural Festival fills the corner of Church & Center streets with the sound of bouzouki and the aromas of moussaka, spit-roasted lamb, baklava, and of course ouzo!
Easily one of the most enjoyable and authentic street festivals on everybody’s calendar, the Greek Fest offers food, drink, dancing by Greek dance groups from all over the Bay Area, traditional arts and crafts, splendid desserts —baklava, loukoumades, and even a raffle for a trip to Naxos!
Come dance, play, and eat like a Greek – Fri. 5-10, Sat. 11am-10pm, Sun. 12-8pm. You won’t believe how much fun this is!
by Christina Waters | Aug 8, 2013 | Home |
Richard Diebenkorn: The Berkeley Years, 1953-1966.
Like all Bay Area fans of Diebenkorn’s über Californian abstract expressionism, I went to see the deYoung partial retrospective (the Ocean Park/LA period of the painter’s life is not included) with high hopes.
And indeed the large show gives us deep access to the painter’s early efforts, his inevitable deKooning experimentation and his evolution into the quintessential visionary of the vast, sweeping coastal vistas of the West. What we don’t find in all of these large-scale, oft shockingly dulled, yellowed, and cracked canvases is a central engine of insight.
We can see how his work evolved—lots of Matisse, Cezanne, and Bonnard influence, lots of pure California consciousness and Bay Area figure painting ambience. But somehow there is a missing center to it all. As if he could not find that elusive point of fullness, the essential “aha!” magic that deKooning had all day long.
The work is enormously appealing to painters who can literally watch the various phases unfold—drawing, gesture, painting, over-painting, and generous organization of huge acres of cobalt blue and terra verte green. A painter’s painter he was. But a quiet melancholy inflects the oeuvre and ultimately drains the joy that a single Matisse can provide in an instant.
My take-away is that painting large enables discoveries of color voodoo unavailable to small, careful works. Also that the deYoung cafe makes a terrific espresso. And the drive back down Highway One leads through a landscape of real world Diebenkorns.
The show @ the deYoung Museum runs through September 29
by Christina Waters | Jul 22, 2013 | Home |
Basil panna cotta.
Fresh strawberry and plum garnish.
Topping of pistachios.
Sauce of nectarines.
@ Gabriella.
by Christina Waters | Jul 22, 2013 | Home |
A succession of beautiful dishes arrived at our table at Gabrilla Cafe last Friday night, and some of our favorites turned out to be as delicious as they were good-looking.
After a salad of mixed butter lettuces, melon and hazelnuts we turned our attention to a split plate of housemade nettle tagliatelle pasta. A sensuous sauce of shellfish and Poblano peppers bathed the pasta, as well as bits of fresh calamari, sea bass, mussels, orange cherry tomatoes and slender ribbons of smoky poblano chiles.
A knockout dish.
by Christina Waters | Jul 22, 2013 | Home, Wine |
We are loving the oak-free finish and intricate interior of Ryan Beauregard’s 2009 Chardonnay “Metallique” — aged in stainless steel so that the heady grass, citrus and jalapeño oil varietal qualities of chard can reach forward.
Vibrant and refreshing, it’s available at Shoppers for a rock bottom $14.99. This one opens beautifully and is even better the second day.
by Christina Waters | Jul 9, 2013 | Home |
Now that I’ve been back for almost two weeks, the glow is beginning to fade. Milan’s architecture bears the legacy of northern European rulers, hence the faux Viennese appearance. Save for Leonardo’s justly famed Last Supper, (or il Cenacolo Vinciano) it hardly qualifies as a tourist destination. This means fewer tacky t-shirts and more resident Italians. Unless you’re continuing on up to Como and the enchanting lake district, you might never stumble across Milan.
Classy to the max, Milan was founded by Celts and made famous by Fendi, Ferrari, Armani and Zegna. Fashion rules here and designer eye candy is in full view 24/7. I was here to indulge in Wagner’s four-opera Ring cycle, performed at the elegant Teatro alla Scala in a seven day marathon. The Ring was performed at major opera houses all over the world this year in honor of the composer’s 200th birthday, but (more…)
