by Christina Waters | Nov 11, 2009 | Food, Home |
Come join former Lick Observatory director-turned-winemaker Joe Miller & company, for the Grand Opening of Hillcrest Terrace Winery on November 14 from 12:30-6:00 pm, when there will be an opportunity to taste the wines, grab some food, and watch Mayor Cynthia Mathews cut the ceremonial ribbon. The winery is located at 429B Ingalls Street — yes, THAT Ingalls Street, where the action apparently never stops. Hillcrest Terrace will be open for tasting, etc. on Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5pm, and most Friday afternoons (831-426-1500). . . . And for those of us waiting breathlessly for the next great thing at La Posta, the wait is over. The new chef’s name is Catherine Stern, and she’s fresh from Scotland, where she spent quality time in a two-star kitchen. Details coming soon. . . . According to a family source, the chef of the recently closed In Vino Veritas has left Scotts Valley in a big hurry, if you get my drift. Meanwhile, his old place in the Felton Guild is back up and running as an Italian restaurant once again. . . .When in Aptos, you might want to peruse the Autumn Artisans Faire – Friday, Nov. 13 7-10pm (that’s the preview party with hors d’oeuvres/$10), and Saturday, Nov. 14 10am-4pm (free), at the Aptos United Methodist Church. These folks promise a Christmas-worth of fine arts and handcrafts by talented local artists, plus live music, a silent auction and munchies for purchase. Full details are at the website.
by Christina Waters | Nov 9, 2009 | Food, Home |
The Backstage Lounge – the latest exciting idea in dining entertainment from David Jackman, is open for dinner 5-10pm nightly serving Asian-inspired dishes, with beer on tap and a few good wines. The opening menu features wraps, rolls, potstickers, pork ribs and roast duck – unexpected dishes, perhaps, but interactive and spicy.
You know where the Rio Theatre is? (hint: 1205 Soquel Ave, in eastside Santa Cruz) The Backstage Lounge is right next door.
by Christina Waters | Nov 9, 2009 | Art, Home |
Two of my favorite artists’ visits in October happened 600 miles apart.
The new, enigmatic Blurred Landscapes large-scale photo montages by Sara Friedlander — created, cunningly manipulated, and ultimately altered by painted overlays, lingered long in my imagination.
These pieces have the impact of a childhood dream. To see them, is to have an immediate sense of recognition. And yet, Friedlander weaves images from geographically far-flung regions — images from Japan might be edited into a forest in the Czech Republic — in order to create these eerily soothing dreamscapes. After being printed, re-organized, and printed again on heavy archival paper, the images are then enhanced with oil and acrylic paint detailing. So the Landscapes are at once multiple-generational assemblages, and yet one-of-a-kind originals.
The best news is that Friedlander’s Landscapes are now lining the walls of old Lulu’s on Pacific Ave. so if you missed seeing these impressive pieces during Open Studios, you can feast on them over a morning macchiato.
by Christina Waters | Nov 9, 2009 | Home |
And the potent desert miniatures by Los Angeles/Mojave oil painter Mary Austin Klein, provided indelible visuals of a landscape that is my second home. As small as the portable altars that accompanied wealthy Renaissance nobles on their travels, Klein‘s intricate braiding of glittering light and deep purple shadows offers choice bits of the geological grandeur of the Mojave, for take-away and at stunningly low prices.
The painting shown, of the Bullion Mountains overlooking Joshua Tree, is a mere 4 x 6 inches, the very smallness of which gives the work an almost magic realist quality. As much a tiny object as a painted representation, it has undeniable allure. Yet, like all work done almost exclusively from photographs, Klein’s paintings fail to convince us that they are pieces of a living domain. There is an absence of expressiveness in these works that contradicts their graphic virtuosity. (more…)
by Christina Waters | Nov 2, 2009 | Art, Home |
It must have been tough living in the shadow of Richard Wagner, but that’s just what powered the career of Richard Strauss, who like his contemporary Gustav Mahler, spent many a sleepless night wondering just how to channel Wagner’s mojo.
Just after the turn of the century Strauss unveiled his voluptuous version of Oscar Wilde’s naughty Salomé, and promptly had his opera banned in most world capitals the minute it hit the stage. As Wilde/Strauss have it, there was much more to Salomé’s desire than simply a baptismal tantrum. She was fatally obsessed with having the Baptist, in God’s way. And as enacted by pliant German soprano Nadja Michael, Salomé was a sensuous handful.
The San Francisco Opera’s current production of Salomé uses set design as well as dramatic motivation to heighten the sexual tension among John the Baptist (sung by a bare-chested Greer Grimsley), the lusting Herod (more…)
by Christina Waters | Nov 1, 2009 | Home |
The best pork chop in living memory was had by me last week at Ristorante Avanti. The pastured pork from Marin Sun Farms was tender and wildly delicious. The plump chop was embraced by a pool of creamy polenta, green beans with toasted almonds and several roasted crab apples — the sweet, tangy taste of autumnn. . . . Meanwhile, you would be doing yourself a favor to join the Seabright neighbors, dining at La Posta on Tuesday evenings. Not only is there a deal-of-the-century option – pasta plus wine, or pizza plus wine, for $15!, but you can slip into the magic realism world of authentic mandolin music, listening to mandolin master Paul Rangell (shown above).
Rangell’s collection of Sicilian, New Mexican, eastern European, etc. folk music is almost supernaturally encyclopedic. And he’s a gifted artist as well. Accompanied on guitar by his wife, Emily Abbink, Rangell’s insistent mandolin (more…)
